The Queue: What a slow week
I’m not sure what it is about this week, but pretty much every day has felt like it should already be Thursday, and now that Thursday’s here, I’m beyond ready for it to just be Fri-day night. Maybe it’s because I’m excited for the weekend, maybe it’s because my PTO starts in 8 days. Regardless, this week has felt slow.
But who cares about speed when you have a Queue?!
So, who wins Varian Wynn vs. Matthias Shaw? More accurate question, would either of them still be living afterwards? Would anyone “win”?
Well only one of them can currently be Roomba’d sooo….
Okay just kidding. If they’re both going all out, I’d still give this one to Shaw. It’s effectively Rogue vs. Warrior, except Shaw very likely has more cunning and know-how than Varian. Plus, assuming anything goes, Shaw could easily poison his weapon, Magatha-style.
Honestly, I don’t think there will be a Blizzard Launcher 5 years from now. I’m still in the camp of “Microsoft will roll WoW into Game Pass” and from there… a Blizzard Launcher sort of feels redundant. You could easily become the Microsoft Launcher and have a Blizzard tab built in. What games will be big at that point?
WoW, Overwatch 2, and Diablo 4. Maaaaaybe that unnamed survival game. Even if we do get a StarCraft revival from Microsoft or more details on the unnamed survival game, we’re 1.5 years from Microsoft’s acquisition finalizing and from there, I don’t think you could get a game out in 3.5 years if you’re starting from scratch. Certainly there may be games further along in development that we just don’t know about, but that’s a bit of a different case. Blizzard could surprise announce and release a new IP tomorrow and that would change my answer :P
QftQ: Besides the various Jedi/Sith codes, what fictional mottos stick with you?
DC Comics: “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power, Green Lantern’s light.”
Dune: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
Stephen King, Dark Tower: “I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind. I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.”
And, also, Stephen King: “God pounds his nails.”
Part of this is because I just plain can’t think of mottos right now, part of it is because, well, it’s cheesy but it works and I like it, buuuut: “The world could always use more heroes.”
It’s simple, inspirational, applies to anyone, and encourages empathy. It does a lot in very few words, and after 2 years of the pandemic, I need the world to have a hopeful outlook.
Please throw your mottos in the comments, though, because I’m sure I forgot a favorite and I will totally edit this to add things in.
Q4tQ: Do you think the main problem with WoW today is the monthly subscription model? This model kind of locks releases into a schedule of production, which is something the devs are not being able to keep up with all the problems happening up there. Let’s say an expansion usually lasts 24 months, with 3 patches averaging 8 months each (even though we know the last patch usually last longer), if people paid “Per Patch” instead “per month” (in a very paidDLC-like model), they’d have more freedom to launch patches when they are ready, and the players wouldn’t need to push or play every day and every time because they wouldn’t be obliged by their recurrent sub fee.
I think it’s *a* problem, but I don’t think it’s the *main* problem. I also don’t know if I agree that the subscription model is what determines production schedules — production changes all the time. Sure, Blizz absolutely plans release windows, but those windows are more determined my fiscal quarters than the fact that people are paying monthly. FFXIV also has a monthly subscription and look how it’s thriving!
What you’re describing sounds more like an issue of, well, the production schedules and release timelines. And yes, I do think those are big issues for WoW. I’d prefer a steady drip of content all throughout a patch — assuming it doesn’t feel like a forced time delay — rather than feast and famine like we get now. The X.Y.5 patches help in that regard, but I think we still need something either one step lower or in between that and a major patch.
In the end, though, “freedom to launch patches when they’re ready” just isn’t something that relates to the sub. The subscription model is something that, to me, is largely a holdover from when MMOs first hit the market, but the production schedule the team follows has certainly evolved since then.
Triangle Strategy demo impressions: I love seeing suggestions I made actually get into the game and improve things. The new color coded grid makes it so much easier to see where to move your units around. Also, they might have asked one of the voice actors to redo their lines, because the character now sounds like an emotional person instead of a monotone script reader.
It’s always interesting to me seeing what parts of a game change close to release and what parts are set in stone well in advance. Having had a fair share of Day Job projects that involve gaming production schedules, it’s far from a linear process, and things like final voice lines coming in at the very end but having monotone readings in the demo is something I find fascinating.
Q4tQ What did you like from the Nintendo Direct?
Spla3n (A.K.A. Splatoon 3), of course, was at the top of my list. I wish we’d seen a liiiiittle more but it’s confirmed for summer and that’s really all I need. I’m also SUPER excited for the new Kirby game — Lost Shards on N64 is one of my favorite games of all time, and this one feels like a mix of that and Mario Odyssey (which is also very good).
Mario Strikers also gets a shout-out because the GameCube Strikers was fantastic and it’s been a long time since we got a soccer game from Nintendo. My little brother was ecstatic about Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but that’s not a series I’ve had a chance to dive into yet so my reaction was “this looks pretty but I have no idea what’s happening.”
Q4TQ Are there any games you’re hoping go on sale at Nintendo today?
Honestly, no. With Horizon Forbidden West out in a week and Elden Ring after that — plus a Pokedex in Arceus that won’t fill itself — I have plenty to do. I don’t need to buy more games for a minute :P
Q4TQ: who’s your favorite video game character of all time?
This is too hard to answer because I have so many faves across different franchises and I also know I’m inevitably going to forget someone. All the same, here goes!
Basic Campfire.
That’s our Queue today! Please leave both questions and comments below, but especially that first one. We writers love it. Cheers!
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