On The Virtual Rights of Avatars, Part I - Avatars are Not Free and Equal
14 years ago Raph Koster, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design, lead designer of Ultima Onlineand creative director of Star Wars Galaxies, penned an article called Declaring the Rights of Avatars....
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Letters from Tamriel, Part VII - The Gaming Dilemma
I am well and truly back in TESO, having logged in now basically every night for the last two to three weeks for varying durations of time. At the bare minimum I train my mount, update my crafting...
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Letters from Tamriel, Part VIII - A Return to Morrowind
OK, I'm having fun again.At the foot of Ash Mountain. In a different time, in a different era, (and on a different platform) my younger self stood before a similar volcano and dreamed of heroic...
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TESO, Wildstar and Archeage Walk Into A Bar
In the red corner, Wildstar.In the blue, The Elder Scrolls Online, commonly abbreviated as either TESO or ESO.Two up and coming subscriber-based MMOs with aspirations of greatness. Or at least, a...
View ArticleOn The Virtual Rights of Avatars, Part I - Avatars are Not Free and Equal
14 years ago Raph Koster, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design, lead designer of Ultima Onlineand creative director of Star Wars Galaxies, penned an article called Declaring the Rights of Avatars....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Letters from Tamriel, Part V - A Brief Interlude
Much has changed since I last wrote about TESO. I lack the discipline to churn out regular blog posts, preferring to play rather than write about games, and when I actually do write, I end up creating...
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Letters from Tamriel, Part IX - The Redguard
TESO is not a game conducive to alts. For one, the grind to level cap - currently VR14 at the time of writing, and soon to be expanded to VR16 with the arrival of the Imperial City DLC - is a mammoth...
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Letters from Tamriel, Part X - The Templar
It's a sad indictment of my state of mind that even though I am aware that TESO is not a game conducive to alts, I am still levelling up two, perhaps three characters at once. Part of it is a type of...
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Letters from Tamriel, Part XI - Saviour of Nirn
I am a saviour of Nirn.Not "the" saviour of Nirn, mind you - merely "a" saviour of Nirn. There is quite a few of us running around - you can tell by the title when you mouse over another player. I set...
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The Long War, Part I - X-Com Revisited
The sequel to X-Com is scheduled for release in February 2016, and as a long time fan of both the original DOS titles and the reboot released a few years ago I have to admit to being very excited about...
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The Long War, Part II - The Origins of X-Com
First ContactIn October 2015 SETI observers at the University of Berkley in California were astonished to pick up radio transmissions emanating from space. Fearing some kind of prank they ran...
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The Long War, Part III - Japan
Establishing a Base of OperationsPrime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan was the first to volunteer his country as a possible base of operations for the new task force. Japan had a modern and well-equipped...
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The Long War, Part IV - First Contact
X-Com SelectionsX-Com selections were completed by the end of February 2016, and Colonel Bradford's strike team was finally beginning to take shape. Out of the 6,000 soldiers from the UN brigade...
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The Long War, Part V - Opening Moves
The Unfriendly SkiesThe biggest concern for X-Com was the alien's undisputed mastery of the skies. Many analysts wondered why the aliens didn't just bomb the planet into submission. Earth had no answer...
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The Long War, Part VI - France
Victory in the AirOn 10 March 2016 satellite XS-1 picked up another UFO travelling at low speed over Osaka. This was the third UFO sighted in the same location in the space of two weeks. This...
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The Long War, Part VII - Global Unrest
Counter-measuresX-Com had no way of ascertaining the size and scope of the alien threat. Telescopic observation seemed to point to Mars as the aliens' base of operations - astronomers tracked the...
View ArticleA Belated Happy New Year
I'm back.Not being the most prolific blogger at the best of times, I made a resolution last year to post twice a month as an exercise in self-discipline. When I hit that magic "24" post mark in October...
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Tales from the Blizzard, Part II - Skill and Randomness in Hearthstone and...
Blizzcon is my favourite e-sports event, primarily because it is the annual apex of the e-sports I most avidly follow, notably StarCraft 2 and WoW Arena. Hearthstone can now also be added to that list,...
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X-Com Returns
You might have guessed that I'm a big fan of X-Com from my inaugural posts here, and my stalled attempt at fan fiction here. The sequel has rekindled my deep love of this series, which started way back...
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The Long War, Part VIII - The Phony War
Previous: The Long War, Part VII - Global UnrestApril, 2016By the beginning of April, X-Com could claim to have successfully completed nine missions. In addition to their successes to date, X-Com were...
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