The Queue: Freaky Friday
@Kalcheus
Actual conversation in our Discord channel:
Liz: Wednesday queues are so easy! You get questions based on all the early week news!
Kalcheus: Friday queues are easier! It’s the end of the week, everyone is excited for the weekend!
Liz: You have it so easy!
Kalcheus: No you have it easy!
Liz & Kalcheus: I wish I could trade queues with you for just one day!
But of course it’s not just one day, it’s permanent (until it’s not)! Red and I will still be alternating weeks, though. So be sure to ask Red plenty of questions next Thursday!
Anyway while I try to figure out how to navigate life as a gnome, let’s answer some questions!
Q4BWP: How long is the package pickup for Shipping going to be bugged?
Honestly? Probably never. I suspect the issue is some sort of phasing or sharding bug because it only seems to hit me when I get distracted along the way to dropping off the package. Perhaps once we’re no longer actively in Undermine there will be few enough people in the zone that phase shenanigans are less likely to happen but it’s hard to say. I just bite my lip and keep delivering until I hit ten in a row.
Although since you get a cash bonus at ten it wouldn’t surprise me if the goblins were doing this on purpose to save money!
QftQ: Have you noticed that Ret paladins barely use their weapon to fight anymore? They swing hammers, pull up swords from the ground and raise their weapons while doing so, they bring down light from the sky by raising the weapon. Templar strike uses the weapon, but it can be used from range, and the damage comes form the huge light hammer that swings down. Divine storm again, raises the weapon only. Crusader strike is the only attack that comes to mind that actually uses the weapon, but if you talent out of it (as it should be) , then maybe Wake of Ashes is the only one really?
I have noticed this and it feels kinda weird. Even Wake of Ashes doesn’t quite feel like a melee attack, more like a sweeping of your weapon to set stuff in front of you on fire.
Not that this is a bad thing! It’s a way to differentiate from the class from other melee DPS — Warrior especially. It almost makes me wonder though if they should make Paladins use the Intellect stat on their gear instead of strength because they’re quickly approaching a melee caster/”swordmage” archetype with their current set of abilities.
How often do you see like “here is this game on ps5 and this game on ps5pro” and u think “that looks exactly the same with different lighting” cus thats how I felt about the botw switch 2 preview
I’ll be honest, pretty often. While I know pundits have been saying this since the PS1 days it does feel like we’re reaching the point where visual improvements in software generation-to-generation seems to be a lot less noticeable. It makes sense, though: once they reached photo-realism all that’s left is to improve the quality in small increments. That’s not to say that there’s no gain moving from the PS5 to the Pro or Switch to the Switch 2 — especially in the case of the latter since it has an embedded screen — but if you want to have a major gain in graphics more often than not you’re better off getting a better monitor or tv.
Of course that’s part of the problem with “check out these 4k graphics!!!!”; if I don’t have a 4k monitor I’m not going to know what you’re talking about.
Q4tQ: What is the craziest, most difficult achievement or optional content you’ve completed in a game? I’m working my way towards “Perfection” in Stardew Valley, which is less about gaming skill and more about persistence through a very time consuming journey. Compare that what normally comes to mind when you mention difficulty, things like uber bosses such as Galdera, and it has me wondering which type stands out for everyone else.
Well according to my Steam profile it’s either getting Scavenger — dismantle 300 weapons — in Trinity Fusion or getting through the Stray Gods DLC with Orpheus having “no rizz” i.e. no romance. Somehow those are harder than completing the collection in Balatro!
But seriously, I feel like at this point it’s a 3-way tie from World of Warcraft:
- School of Hard Knocks achievement
- Council of the Black Harvest aka Green Fire for Warlocks when it was current
- The Tank Mage Tower challenge in Legion (done as a Prot Pally)
All three things have the same thing in common: I spent way too many hours doing something I was wholly unfamiliar with in order to get a reward I really wanted. Still so worth it.
Should I be concerned that I’ve been getting a lot of static shocks today, and just now I tried to pick up some nail clippings and when my fingers got close, they just moved out of the way.
Yes, you should be — my understanding is that the situation you’re describing happens immediately before getting struck by lightning. Quick! Take cover!
Q4tQ: in this era of gaming remakes and remasters, what game would you most want to see redone? (“None” is a valid answer.) What game would you least like to see remade?
I’ve talked about this many times, but I’d love to see a remaster of Final Fantasy VI. Not in the style of FF7 Remake, because that would take a decade or so, but in the HD-2D style of the recent Dragon Quest III remake, so it maintains a lot of the original’s style and feel while looking much newer.
As for what I wouldn’t like to see redone: the Portal games. I don’t think there’s any way to make them more of what they are, or a better version of what they are.
I’ll be honest I’m not really opposed to any game being remade. Sure a new version of a beloved classic could be awful or uninspired *cough*Warcraft 3 Reforged*cough* but it doesn’t remove the original game from the mix. It’s kind of like song covers, y’know? Some of them are as good if not better than the original — or at least they’re different enough to be a new experience.
With that as preface, I have the following titles on my list of games I’d love to see a remaster or remake of in the near future. In no particular order:
- Persona 1 & Persona 2 (both Eternal Punishment and Innocent Sin — preferably together in the same package). As someone who has become a huge Persona franchise fan I would really like to play updated versions of the first few entries in the series.
- Elite Beat Agents. Ok, this one is probably dead but still I really enjoyed it. A remake/remaster could fix a couple problems with the original; for example, they were not the original songs but close covers (this was before the Guitar Hero franchise started encouraging artists to license their music).
- Final Fantasy Tactics. We get rumors about a remake all the time and as someone who really enjoyed the original this would be a day one purchase for me, especially since I have almost no memory of it — I just remember having fun.
Q4tQ: Any speculation on what games will have a presence at the Blizzard booth at PAX East? The World Tour will be taking place elsewhere, but do you think they might do a panel or Q&A at PAX?
Bonus Q4tQ: I saw a bunny in my backyard last night. I’ve seen plenty around town and in the woods, but never near my house. See any cool critters lately?
Since the Diablo 4 team finally woke from hibernation and provided a road map I suspect there will be stronger marketing presence up until the next expansion is announced. I dunno if there will be a Campfire Chat live with PAX East but a panel definitely makes sense. Hearthstone should be present as well. I don’t think we’ll see much of anything else outside the World Tour.
I wouldn’t report this to eBird — and I’m not even going to ask the local bird groups to confirm — but I’m about 75% sure I saw a Bald Eagle flying near my neighborhood the other day. It’s not totally unlikely as there are several spots in the area they could be roosting or migrating but I would not expect to see one nearby.
Why yes, that is what Liz looks like now we’ve switched!
That’s all the time and space we have for questions today. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and be sure to ask plenty of questions for Cory to answer on Monday. Stay hydrated!
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