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Today I review the VR game Climbey on Steam. Gameplay footage is on the HTC Vive. I really enjoy this game. It's fun, challenging, and rewarding. I definitely recommend picking up a copy if you're interested in this type of virtual reality game.

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Welcome to the first episode of The Story So Far, a Dungeons and Dragons 5e chronicle of stories and ideas I've used in my games. This episode covers the very first episode of D&D that I ran, some things I did at the beginning, and how the game ultimately kicked off. It follows the party through Neverwinter, Cragmaw Hideout, and on their way to Phandalin itself. In the next episode, we'll pick up in Phandalin and focus on the increasing number of adjustments I started to make to the Mines of Phandelver storyline that eventually took it off the rails completely.

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Played some GW2 last night after randomly seeing the new feature pack they just rolled out. Haven't played in quite awhile. Game still seems mostly the same but a few new cool things added. The biggest thing I still want though is more defined class roles (healers, tanks, etc). Fights still seem awfully spammy and random without them.

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Damn cold weather! My truck won't start... >:O

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Time to pick up where I left off with Laravel 4. Then off to building some simple apps on TSR. Eventually.

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Uploaded a new VLOG about conspiracy theories. Sorry for all the "likes" and lack of preparation. It's the first video I've uploaded in awhile and I need to get my YouTube-sea-legs back. Thanks for watching!

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<3

Ordered Internet for my apartment this morning. Installation was scheduled for literally 30 minutes after I pressed "order". Fucking awesome!

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Recently added the Marketplace Podcasts to my regular downloads. Good source for keeping up with diverse news topics.

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Man...I want to get a dog. :(

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit! Another Elder Scrolls Online BETA WEEKEND!!!! :D

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In case you're wondering how to Google search for blogs and discussion (which Google removed recently), simply try these links: https://www.google.com/?tbm=dsc AND https://www.google.com/?tbm=blg

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And here's my YouTube channel where I try and create useful and/or funny gaming content. Most popular item right now is my Civ 5 commentary.

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Here's where I be Tweetin', mostly about #CSGO, gaming, and #eSports.

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competitive tf2

Found this guy's blog, read it, and felt I needed to set him straight about competitive gaming. Here's the original text by Donovan Bacon:

So, after GUI’s small little tournament earlier this weekend it got me thinking about competitive TF2.  Mainly, the problems I have with it.  So here we go.

First, TF2 has more then 4 classes.  In most of the games I have seen all competitive players go Soldier, Medic, Demo, or Scout.  What about the other classes?  I know that in some cases other classes are “acceptable”, but in my opinion, the almost class restrictions really lower the amount of fun that can be had in TF2.  With just those 4 classes you can either expect soldier/demo spam, an uber, and a scout coming from behind and either capping or shooting you in the back.  Then running away.  While I wouldn’t call it predictable, you in a way can expect being juggled or a soldier rocket jumping around you or a demo sticky jumping, etc etc.

Second, competitive play is way too serious.  It’s a team game.  When you die you shouldn’t rage at the medic for fucking up, or the soldier who went for that last shot and died, or the scout that was jumping around so much you couldn’t even heal him.  Raging at your team isn’t going to help you win.

The third problem is a problem with lack of acceptance of new weapons.  For example…. Pretty much every scout weapon except vanilla (and the fish).  All scout guns besides the Scattergun are seen as either OP or noob weapons.  Sure, the Shortstop might be a ‘tad overpowered and could have its damage lowered a bit, but it’s not game changing.  It’s really just better for mid range fighting and coming up from behind.  I see the Scattergun as superior if you’re going to be getting in people’s faces.  The FaN isn’t OP or a noob weapon either.  Sure, new players will probably use it because obviously an unlockable weapon HAS to be better then the default.  But that doesn’t mean the gun itself sucks.  If anything, it could use a buff.  But it’s extremely good at CP maps, especially those with cliffs.

If any weapons are OP, I think it’s the heavy metal gloves.  Shits insane.  Also, Medic crossbow should allow headshots.  Aaaaaaaaaannnnnddddd…. The demo suicide stick should have a fuse.  Pull it and explode in say.. 5 seconds.  Epic.

He decided not to publish my response which I feel was kind of rude because it wasn't so much about him, but gamers in general who aren't aware of eSports and this style of gaming. My response:

Hey, I understand your frustrations with competitive TF2, but I wanted to offer you some insight into the issues.

First, competitive gaming is about subtleties. When players are competing at a high caliber you can't have say, weapons that are a "tad overpowered" because it upsets the balance of the game. It may appear an invisible detail, but at competitive levels it matters. Subtleties are the name of the game and that's why weapon restrictions exist.

In regards to the class restrictions, this is also done for a reason. Through hours and hours of analysis, competitive gamers have determined that certain team structures are better than others. Two soldiers are necessary because one must be roaming (seek and destroy) and one must be protecting the medic. A demo is necessary because of the high damage output, but having more than one would be too powerful. Scouts are incredibly fast, good at picking players, and work well in a duo, so having two makes a lot of sense. And obviously a team won't go far without a medic. So you can see that structuring a team in this way is generally the most successful, although permutations do exist. For instance, switching a scout for a sniper to try and gain leverage by taking out the other teams medic. Or using engineers to block a hallway so your team can regroup or control the enemies movements.

Finally I wanted to mention your comment, "competitive play is way too serious". But I wanted to assure you that it's serious for a reason. A lot of people think eSports is a fad or just a hobby, but gamers are making serious careers out of competitive gaming. Team Fortress 2 is definitely on the low end of this but games like Starcraft 2 are providing professionals with life sustaining salaries and benefits. eSports is getting more and more serious everyday! But on a more personal level, these people LOVE the game. Not like normal people love TF2, they really love it. Love it because of these reasons, because of the subtle skills they've earned, because of the intense competitive action. Competitive gaming IS serious and we wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Hopefully these few short points make sense! And if you have the time, take a moment and look into eSports. We need more support and I think you'll be pleasently surprised with what you find. Cheers!