You Fail At Knowing About Shadow of Mordor If...

Fail Day! Yes here we are and if you are reading this you should probably already know why I am doing Fail Day on Shadow of Mordor. That is unless you live under some sort of rock and don't know that I have been talking about this game for months now waiting for it to be released. So as always is the case when a game is being released and I am looking forward to it let's see how prepared you all are for it.

You Fail At Knowing About Shadow of Mordor If...

• You didn't know it comes out today
• You are unaware of what the ring of power is
• You did not know Mordor was part of Middle Earth
• You are wondering why haven't seen Legolas
• You are not playing it on current Generation
• You are playing it on XBOX
• You are not looking forward to beheading orcs
• You know nothing about the death pact
• You have no idea who Sauron is
• You have no plans to make orcs fight for you
• Mindless killing of orcs doesn't peek your interest
• You are not looking forward to riding random beasts
• You are expecting Hobbits to make an aappearance
• You think this has something to do with the movies

and finally

• You have no plans to play

There it is you took your break now you can get back to playing. At least that's what I will be doing!

Beta Is Beta

So here we are on yet another Monday, which means besides random complaining it is time for me to showcase something for you to start of your week. This week I bring you a Machinima created by Mooclucking called Beta is Beta. Basically if you have ever been in a Beta test of any game you will find this machinima rather enjoyable. It pokes fun at all the those things wihc never make it into a real game unless, of course, it is made by EA. If you have never had the opportuinity to play a game while it is in Beta just think about this video and wonder if you really still want to play a game which is in beta.



So what do you think?

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes your weekend is about to end it is time to feel sad about it. I know take a minute I am sure you can continue to read after you do so. With the weekend ending though it reminds us that we are closing in on the days of some of the most anticipated games. So there is that. While we are waiting though we can answer some questions. If you are still not sure of how to send in your questions you can look at the top right of the page or simply email them to gaussafication@gmail.com. So on to this week's questions

Shadow of Mordor are you ready?

I have been looking forward to this game since the trailer game out back in the spring. All I can say is I am ready to chop off some Orc heads and enslave them to do my doing. There are some many things about this game which fasciante me. If you haven't had the chance watch all the trailers and gameplay videos you can. You will just want to want to play this game as much as I do.

What are your thoughts on the TeSPA cardback?

Well I am assuming you are reffering to the fact of how it won't be available to everyone. If you have no idea about this cardback you can check out the information here. Now I love this idea on how it is promoting ESports. This will get people involved and also have some great exposure to those who may play the game, but really are not involved in the community itself. What I don't like is the small number of people it is only available to. This cardback is about promoting ESports so really if any player who cannot join a chapter wanted to contribute to ESports by donating to TeSPA and have it verified by them then really they should be able to gain access to the cardback. This isn't going to happen but I think it would serve the purpose and really give everyone some chance of gaining access to it besides just those attending university in college in the US.

So you may actually finally get access to the Heroes of the Storm after the shutdown.

I can only hope. Along with everyone else who hasn't had a chance.

There you have it this week's questions all answered. Thanks to everyone who sent something in if it was answered on here or not. It would not be possible to to do this without all of your contributions so as always thank you and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hearthstone On The Resume

Happy Friday everyone! With Fridays there is always something to be happy about isn't there. Probably the most notable being the weekend to follow, but I am sure there are other reasons to be excited. Now I must say when looking through the posts I received for this week's Reader Post I was simple baffled by one. I know it seemed quite trollish but then it also amused me so I have decided to share it. It comes from Rorytomy and without explaining it to you I am just going to let you read it.

I've been trying to incorporate Hearthstone in my resume for job applications and I was wondering how it could be done. So far I have included it in my accomplishments section (ex. achieved legend 3 seasons in a row, won certain major group tournaments) and my skills section where I mentioned how it has built my analytical thinking, team coordination, and leadership skills. The reason I want to use this is Hearthstone has been a major part of my work experience over the last year so I want to take advantage of it as I don't have much else to write about.

It's also important to be prepared to talk about everything you have in your resume, as you'll likely be asked about it in your interviews. Hearthstone can definitely be used in many of the common behavioral interview questions such as:

1) Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure. 

2) Have you handled a difficult situation? How?

3) Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?

4) Tell me about a time when you had to take initiative.

You can use examples where you were on the wrong end of a thumping for most of the match and then was able to think your way out of a bad situation, wipe the board, and engineer a comeback. Employers are looking to see that you don't just give up in the face of adversity but you are a go-getter and are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goals.

So what do you think, any ideas?

Now You understand why it amused me? Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Titan Canceled

In case you had not heard Blizzard officially stated to the media on Tuesday that project "Titan" had been canceled. The statement itself was

"We had created World of Warcraft, and we felt really confident that we knew how to make MMOs, so we set out to make the most ambitious thing that you could possibly imagine," CEO Mike Morhaime commented. "And it didn't come together. We didn't find the fun. We didn't find the passion. We talked about how we put it through a reevaluation period, and actually, what we reevaluated is whether that's the game we really wanted to be making. The answer is no."

Now what does this mean? Well it means we may never know what Titan actually was. It also means Blizzard probably will not be making another MMO besides World of Warcraft unless, of course, they decided to make a World of Warcraft II. This could also mean some of the developments of Titan may beused for WoW or are already in the process of being used for WoW. Now this maybe because MMOs in generally aren't nearly as popular as they were back when project Titan was announced. The gaming world itself is shifting itself away. Now this is by no means me saying that MMOs are awful and no one should play them. There are still a few good MMOs out there WoW being the best of the bunch, but the general public really isn't getting into MMOs the people playing them are those people that are still left playing them from before.

Now because I am curious I am hoping to hear something about what Titan actually was, but I am not holding my breath. Although on Tuesday MMO Champion was reporting a new and unannounced project by Blizzard might be in the works called Prometheus so it will give us something else to sit back and wonder what it is.

We Will Be Together Again Soon

Woke up this morning and couldn't believe it is actually already Wednesday. How the days keep flying by it seems. Here is hoping they continue to do so since next Tuesday is one of the most anticipated games of the fall season for myself. Shadow of Mordor. With this in mind I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to talk about my Favourite Middle Earth based games of all time in this week's list. So here goes.

5. The Hobbit

Here is the game that started to make people believe that some reviewers really either are told waht to say or they really don't have much of an idea what they are playing. Back in 2003 this game didn't receive the greatest of reviews even with all the hype which game with it, but the general public loved the game and in most cases self reviewed the game at minimum 20% higher than most common reviews. 

4. J.R.R Tolkien's Riders of Rohan

A game which brings me back to my childhood and really can be called one of the first RTS games ever released. We really can thank this game for the future existence of Warcraft and Starcraft. The only criticism this game received was the fact that if you knew nothing about the back story you would find difficulty with the game. This though was the case as with most game adaptations of the early 90s

3. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

One of the best games released of the PS2 generation the game received some of the best reviews of any game for the system itself. This coming from a time when Movie to Game adaptations were know as money grabs this game was not only fun for followers of movies and the series but for everyone as a whole.

2. Lego Lord of the Rings

Now I will be the first to admit that even I was surprised I actually was playing this. After I did I was not only amused and having a great time, but I wanted to play more and more. So before you wonder why a game like this even makes the list I suggest you play it.

1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This game in many circles is know as the best movie to game adaptation ever, but even with that as a whole the game itself is know as the best PS2 and XBOX game ever made. To get some titles like that you expect it really is something. It is the game I compare every Middle Earth to this one so truthfully really can there be can any ranked above it?

There you have it this week's list. Agree or disagree as always let me know. To those counting the days to Shadow of Mordor with me I know what you are going through.

You Fail At Pre-Warlords Of Draenor Lore If...

Fail Day! Yes it is already Tuesday. It is weird how people aren't not weird about it already being Tuesday, but if Monday or Friday comes out of no where it is an extremely big deal. Oh well it was just a random thought time to focus up. Recently I have been receiving a lot of questions and have taken part in a lot of Warcraft Lore discussions regarding Warlords of Draenor and the Lore leading up to it. So why not answer some of those questions while also making it a Fail Day at the same time! So here goes!

You Fail At Pre-Warlords of Draenor Lore If...

• You don't know what Draenor is
• You thought you killed Garrosh in Siege of Orgrimmar
• You haven't been watching the Lords of War Series
• You are not sure why all the orcs in the trailer are brown skinned
• You don't know the name of the Pitlord in the trailer
• You are still confused how all these people who died are alive
• You don't know how Garrosh escaped prison
• You have issues with time travel
• You are not confused as everyone else with Velen's lack of a heads up to what is happening
• You think Kilrogg is just a reference to a warlock ability
• You always thought Kargath was just a random Horde hangout in the Badlands
• You keep asking why the Dark Portal changed colour
• You aren't asking yourself the Sargeras question

and finally

• You still have no idea who Grommash Hellscream is

There it is this week's fail all rolled up and done so nicely. Maybe yo got some answers, or maybe you were slightly insulted. Either way my mission is complete!

Timelords of Draenor

Happy Monday Everyone! I know most if not all of you are not in the best of moods because it is just that a Monday, and those of you that aren't are probably already on Tuesday reading this. I figured just as I do every Monday that the best thing to do is not expect too much from anyone and give them something to watch for their viewing pleasure. This week I have something not only for WoW fans, but something with a Doctor Who twist thanks to Scott Leyes and I hope you all enjoy it.



I know you don't have to thank me.

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes we are here at the end of the weekend. Hardly even seems like the weekend has even started yet. Also we are pretty much officially done summer so that is rather depressing since soon enough there will be snow to shovel. Oh well we do what we are supposed to, you know like answer questions on Sundays! So here we go.

Have you had a chance to look at the Hearthstone ranks graphs?

I am assuming you are talking about what was release last week giving the percentages of people at specific ranks. If you haven't seen the article click here if interested. I find it interesting, but I would really like to see this based on activity. I know some months I play more than others. Some months are hardly play at all and just get to rank 20 to make sure I get my pretty cardback. With that in mind I feel Blizzard needs to do something in order to give people incentive to play ranked games. Sure you get to 20 and you get your cardback, but unless I have a lot of time to invest there is no one I am going to attempt to get to legend. If there was some reward even just a simple one. I would think people would push there way to the 15,10, and 5 levels just to get such rewards.

Watch the FFXV trailer?

In case you were not aware

Now before anyone says anything I realize this is in Japanese. What I believe should be pointed out is this game is still in progress and it already looks spectacular. I know people have been iffy about everything they have seen from XV so far because of how long it may have been in development and how they changed platforms mid development. From what I am seeing from it now though not sure I can complain since this really is one of the first games which truly looks Next Gen all the way. Time will tell, but I am liking what I am seeing.

Dark Souls Ivory King thoughts?

Death appears to be in the future for many people.

There you have it questions answered for the week. Thanks to everyone who sent something in and everyone who continues to do so every week. Enjoy what is left of your weekend and the nicer weather!

Could It Be Ny'alotha

Friday! Yes you can have that smile on your face because the work week is coming to a close. I know I have been busy reading many of your submissions for the reader post this week, but one really caught my eye. Risingforce sent in some thoughts on a location which takes place in the Well of Eternity series which has always puzzled me. I know on various occasions I have had many discussions on what this place could actually be. I will leave you with Risingforce and his thoughts.

Please forgive me if this topic has already been discussed -and I'd be ever so grateful for any further reading on the matter -but having searched Wikis, Google, WoWInsider and Scrolls of Lore I still haven't found an answer on something that's left me curious for years since first reading it. A landmass is visited by Rhonin and Korialstrasz over The Great Sea as refuge on their travels to Kalimdor in the beginnings of The Well of Eternity. The island is soon revealed as somewhat of a Lovecraftian nightmare whilst the identity thereof is only hinted at and never revealed.

Chapter Three (around page 16), begins:

"Impossible as it seemed, somewhere along the way Rhonin fell asleep. Despite that, even then he did not tumble from his seat to certain death. Korialstrasz certainly had something to do with that, although to all appearances the dragon appeared to be flying blithely along."

The sun had nearly set. Rhonin was about to ask his companion if he intended to fly through the night when Korialstrasz began to descend. Peering down, the wizard at first sighted only water, surely the Great Sea. He did not recall red dragons being very aquatic. Did Korialstrasz intend to land like a duck upon the water?

A moment later, his question was answered as an ominous rock appeared in the distance. No…not a rock, but an island almost entirely bare of vegetation
The scene is setup with Rhonin and Korialstrasz seeking refuge on a landmass whilst traversing The Great Sea, the location is unknown to the reader and not revealed since though we are told later this is certainly not Tol Barad. Rhonin, upon landing on the 'island' is immediately "swept over" with a feeling of dread. Here, Rhonin experiences "the same kind of horrific, mournful cries again" similar to that of what he felt passing over Tol Barad.

Clues we are given of the landmass:

• "Too small for a city"
• "a series of shadowed, ruined structures"
• It could have been “a fort or perhaps even a walled estate"
• Korialstrasz to Rhonin: "Something tragic happened here"a horrific, hissing sound beset [Rhonin's] ears" upon waking from a nightmare

For the location, we are given a clue:

Korialstrasz: “We must pass near the Maelstrom to reach Kalimdor, and we will need our full wits and strength about us for that. This is the only island I have seen for some time.”
Rhonin: “What's it called?”
Korialstrasz: “That knowledge is not mine.”

One of the island's inhabitants is described, upon Rhonin's wakening from a slumber:

If someone had taken a human skull, dipped it in soft, melting wax and let that wax drip free, that would have come close to describing the gut-wrenching vision at which Rhonin stared. Add to that needle-shaped teeth filling the mouth, along with red, soulless orbs that glared hungrily at the wizard, and the picture of hellish horror was made complete.

The assailant is described further, moving towards Rhonin with "legs much too long", with "bony arms that ended in three long, curved fingers" wearing over its macabre form "ripped remnants of a once-regal coat and pants." The identity of the assailant is hinted at, with K saying to R: “I believe it was once one of those who called this home.”

Of the assailant, Rhonin asks if it was the work of the Scourge to with Korialstrasz replies “No…this is much older…and even more unholy an act than the Lich King ever perpetrated.”

We are told next that there are others:

“Kras—Korialstrasz, it entered my dreams! Manipulated them!”
“Yes, the others sought to do the same with me—”

Korialstrasz to Rhonin, on leaving the landmass: “We are safe…for the time being. Several are now less than what remains of yours and the rest have scattered into every crevice and gap in these ruins. I believe there are cata-combs below and that they slumber there when not hunting victims.”

So, this passage really stayed with me  but I think the curiosity remained because it was such an abstract in the narrative and not returned to. I expected to find more information about its location but I believe that passage in the Well of Eternity is all we are given.

There are a few clues and even facts we can gather, it is certainly not Tol Barad nor Nazjatar. Maybe it was part of the Broken Isles, but then the Broken Isles should be quite too close to the Maelstrom -and we are told through Korialstrasz's dialogue that our protagonists have not yet reached that far. I guess an academic response is that the landmass could what remains of the Kul'Tiras navy's attempt to establish a base on one of the Broken Isles -an exercise that would be met with doom.

Personally, I believe that Rhonin and happened upon the infamous Ny'alotha.

I think the hints we have been given within WoW pertaining to Ny'alotha also compliment the narrative and explain away the abstract treatment we are given within The Well of Eternity:

From the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron:

In the land of Ny'alotha there is only sleep... In the sleeping city of Ny'alotha walk only mad things. Ny'alotha is a city of old, terrible, unnumbered crimes...
*snip* In the sleeping city of Ny'alotha walk only mad things. Ny'alotha is a city of old, terrible, unnumbered crimes.

One way of approaching the identity of the landmass as Ny'alotha is perhaps to suggest that the abstract within The Well of Eternity (book) only visits an outcrop of it, certainly the rocky mass Rhonin aspies on approach would not be big enough to represent the epic that should be Ny'alotha. Of course Ny'alotha can be wildly speculated endlessly as to its definition, origin, location, accountability, existence -or plane of! -but my curiosity has always tied this brief abstract to the work of Old Gods, and I hope you will too.

Whether my humble speculation is wildly flawed -or not, I invite all opinions! -I think it's a nice passage and would be fun to explore any discussion around what may have happened to this island and its inhabitants, its location and what may lay there in waiting now. If a location or any facts can be confirmed then you'd be solving a longstanding curiosity!

So my Lore friends what are your thoughts? I know this theory has sparked some interest for me.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Release The Names!

So if you haven't heard Blizzard is finally doing something many believe should have been done for quite some time now. What is it you may ask? Well characters who have not been logged on World of Warcraft since November 13th 2008 will run the risk of losing their name. Say what? It means if you or anyone has a character who has not logged in since that date someone creating a new character or using a paid name change will have the option to use that name. Yes I know this is pretty big news.

If you want the official news release you can read it here

Now I for one am all for this announcement. You see for years now it has been a running joke that it is not only near impossible to name your characters anything close to what you want. There has been videos even joking at the matter posting gibberish and some how some way someone has the name. This process has resulted in the popularity of using unique spellings and special characters to have some semblance of the name you wanted.

My only argument to this is 6 years seems like a very long time I would have gone with 2010, but will actually see how this works itself out. Now I now some people are thinking as they always do that this is some sort of money grab. Why because they think players are going to buy a subscription to a game they haven't played in 6 years just to keep their name? I really think not. They other argument is this is going to generate a nice amount of money for Blizzard on paid name changes. Don't get me wrong, I am sure many people will use this opportunity to use the service, but in no one do I think this was Blizzard's major incentive to do this. They care about the players no matter what anyone thinks and truthfully in my mind they are doing this for the newer players who will actually not have a bad experience when creating their new characters

Even After Everything You've Done, I Would Have Saved You.

Here we are in the middle of the week once again, and I am sitting here with a list of topics for my lists. I am not going to use any of these this week though. I was thinking and with next week so many great super hero shows are either starting a new season or starting fresh I thought this would be the perfect time to make a list of my favourite Super Hero games of all time. So here goes!

5. Saints Row IV

Now I know most of you wouldn't even consider this to be a super hero game. Well I say think about it there are humans with super powers which can do outrageously improbably things. So really it is a super hero game isn't it? Not only that it is insanely fun because really anything you can think about you can do.

4. X-Men Arcade

Back in the 90s there were great games of the beat em up style. It  seemed like a monthly thing to have a new brawler where you'd slowly walk to the right and punch the hell out of bad guys. Most of these games are now forgotten to history but X-Men stayed with me. It wasn't that complex at all, and it wasn't groundbreaking by any means it was just better than the others. Cleaner. More fun. Oh, and it let six of us play!

3.  The Punisher

It was the Punisher game we deserved, but maybe not the one the world was ready for back in in 2005. The ESRB almost gave it a rare AO rating for violence, and several countries demanded edits before allowing its release. It’s hard to blame them, the game played was ultra-violent even by todays standards. You could drown a man in a toilet, crush a skull in a piano, use a piranha-filled aquarium as a dunk tank, and even play matador to a rhino, using a bad guy as a cape. What made this game something to remember for me though was fighting Yakuza alongside Iron Man, storming a beach with Nick Fury and killing Russian mercenaries with the Black Widow.

2. inFamous 2

inFamous 2 isn't based off of something we already know.it was a super hero story created directly for gamers. While I liked the first game it wasn't until the second that I really thought this is a super hero game I will never forget.

1. Batman Arkham City

What else could it be? All the other games gave legitimacy to titles based on comics, but the Arkham releases were the first to be game of the year caliber packages. Arkham Asylum understood Batman like no game before, embracing and perfectly recreating the character at his best. He was a warrior, a detective, a stealthy predator, and most importantly, a hero. Arkham City improved upon all this and more and to me is the obvious choice more so than any other as best super hero game.

There you have it this week's list all put together. Do you have a favourite not making the list? Let me know or complain about my list and tell me what should replace what. It is what these lists are for.

You Fail At Destiny If...

Happy Fail Day everyone! Now it has been a week since we have all had a chance to play Destiny in one way or another so as normal today is the perfect time to say why you, others, or myself have failed at it horribly. We all are obvious experts so let's just get to it.

You Fail At Destiny If...

• You are not playing it on current gen
• You were expecting a true MMO
• You aren't left wondering how it is a repetitive grind-fest without any real grinding
• You don't think the scenery is some of the best ever
• You think anyone giving criticism to the game must be wrong with everything they have said
• You believe the game is difficult
• You don't like Peter Dinklage
• It doesn't leave you wanting more
• You think it is game of the year material
• You love the server shutdown warnings
• You don't find it odd they already have a DLC and expansion schedule 1 week after the release of the game
• You think the story is one of the best ever written
• You enjoy the spider boss in Nightfall Mansion

and finally

• You still think playing it on XBOX is ok

There you have it this week's edition of Fail. Hope you all enjoyed it if I was referring to your misgivings or not. Happy shooting!

The Frostwolf

Here comes Monday, well actually it is already here but you my just now be accepting that it is actually the case. With Mondays comes Machinima though, well at least in the little bubble of the world I choose to live in. This week I have decided to showcase a machinima from one of my favourite makers who has not only given us things of the years to laugh at, but also given a bit of the serious side once in awhile as well. I am, of course, talking about Nixxiom. This time he brings us a story set on Draenor and deals directly with the Frostwolves themselves. So have a watch I am sure you will enjoy it just as much as I did.



Wasn't I right?

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes here we are at the tail end of the weekend and up here in the land known as Canada seems as if the warmer temperatures are finally starting to say goodbye. Just means there is more excuses to stay inside and get my game on I guess. Also you could argue there is more time for me to reply to your questions in a timely manner. So I will try. With that in mind let's get to some.

So why do you hate Destiny?

Again I don't hate the game. I actually enjoy playing it. I have just said the game is rather repetitive in the main storyline missions. Often criticism gets mistake for hate for me and I am not sure why that is the case. I have been having fun playing and I will continue to do so. This just means the game is a good game just not a great one in my books. Just leaves you wanting more in a variety of ways because the game itself doesn't have a real identity. So hopefully that puts this to rest .

Did you happen to see that ridiculous play from Reynad during the Hearthstone matches at Dreamhack?

If you haven't had the pleasure


All I can say is this is the type of play which sets you apart from great players. I never even thought of this while staring at it just as long as he did. All I really could think to do after it happened was to slow clap and say to myself I am not worthy.

When was the last time you played LoL?

The last time I was bored enough to update it and log on.

There they are answers to questions for this week. Thank you to everyone who sent something in regardless if it was answered on here or not. Would not be possible without all of you. So again thank you, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Nature Of The Game

Friday is here and you can take that deep breath as the weekend is almost upon you. I know isn't it a great feeling? Now I am assuming most of you read my post yesterday about Destiny. I have been enjoying the game even though I did have some negative thoughts about the game. I thought maybe it was because my lack of interest in shooters that the game itself would have a hard time keeping my interesting for more than it would take to see a little of the end game content. I must say I didn get a lot of interesting feedback including this submission by FlipmanV for today's Reader Post. If you agreed with my post yesterday or not this is another interesting point of view.

Are some gamers simply naive towards the basis of game design?

Destiny's gameplay is repetitive is something Gauss and others have said, the argument I hear to counter this statement is: 

Well, in Mario all you do is jump. In Call of Duty, all you do is shoot people. In Star Fox, all you do is shoot ships. In Tetris, all you do is stack.

Using this argument only shows that you lack knowledge or experience in gaming. Seriously.

Mario games are essentially a logical, action puzzle game featuring different challenges until the end. CoD and Battlefield takes you through the story while mixing up gameplay. Ride a tank, race through this jeep, use pistols only, stealth mission, etc. Star Fox [64] is a rail shooter in which the field is dynamically changing. Bosses also require different strategies to beat. Actual strategies. A puzzle game is logic-based. Saying it's repetitive implies that you're not willing to learn any potential combos and strategies. Most puzzle games are insanely difficult to master.

Let's look at Destiny. All the missions remain the same. You ride your Sparrow to the destination. You kill enemies. You then have your Ghost hack some sort of machinery. Then you fight a wave of monsters and eventually leading up to a boss, while boss summons more monsters periodically.

Now, the enemies aren't any different. You hit their weak spot, which is 90% of the time, in their head, eyeball, or stomach. You shoot and take cover when you're low on health. Your strategy doesn't change, you're literally not doing anything different. There's stuff like the Hydra and Hobgolbin which gives the illusion that it requires "strategy", but waiting until they lower their shield is not a strategy and requires no extra skill.

There's no missions like in CoD/BF in which you have to ride a gunship, or a sneaking mission, or a boat mission, or any other mission that simply doesn't involve whatever the hell you've already done on the first 3 missions.

Other than the sword-fight level, there's no instance in which you needed to change your strategy or do anything different. It's about as mindless as it can be. Similar to Assassin's Creed I and I believe even Gauss would agree that was one of the most repetitive games ever created.

Thank you FlipmanV for your take on this whole thing. Like I have said before I have been having fun playing the game and I will in all likelihood be playing it for a couple weeks before I think I will lose its flare and then will put it down for awhile. This doesn't mean it is a bad game it just means it isn't a great game.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Non Spoiler Destiny Review

So as is custom on Thursday when I am playing a new game going to give my non spoiler game review. So there should be no reason to complain about how I ruin the game for you for any such and such reason. If you are worried about that know that I am not even half way leveled up so their really is no way I could possibly do that anyway. so here goes

I like the feel of the world, It is well designed and the visuals are something many other games will be comparing themselves to. I am not sure Destiny's interesting lore is going to pull itself together into a good story, but who knows I could be wrong.  Not coming from a true shooter gamer I can see the gameplay fundamentals are there along with the  the level designs. The missions themselves which connect you to the lore seem always to be go here then there and shoot things on the way. There is not much dialogue about the story itself except when Mr. Dinklage makes his presence known.
Now compared to most MMOs the story showcased and lore is basically the same you would get in any run of the mill MMO, but when you start comparing it to an MMO you realize it is missing many key elements which an MMO has.

The levels are huge by single-player open world game standards, but compared to an MMOs, they feel quite limited. One favourite thing to do in MMOs is shout across an entire zones to let it be known you have arrived(Pi anyone?). In Destiny you can't so much as talk to the people you see unless you are in the same party. As someone who has played a few MMOs it is hard to accept that as the norm.
This is why I think the makers shyed away from calling Destiny an MMO. It feels close enough to start talking about it, but once you do things don't really fit into place. I think anyone who has played it could agree that it really doesn't fit into any category at all, because you find elements in the gameplay which fit into certain niche but then thats it, and then you try to find something else to compare it to.  There is no denying that Destiny shows off amazing looking worlds, and gives you an countless exciting firefights. But the game feels so in-between game types it is hard for me to find the type of person I would recommend it to.

I know this sounds negative, but I have been having a good time with it. Aside from the combat the others aspects of the game are not done nearly as well as other games which focus on them. It does them enough to have fun with it, but I just find myself wanting more or forever comparing it to something else. I feel like Destiny is going to be a game people will talk about how they had a bunch of fun playing it, but it could have been so much more. I guess only time will tell with that though.

Yeah, Now We're The Cookies

So have you ever only picked up a game thinking why am I buying this? Despite the reviews you still think the game itself won't be one you will actually enjoy? I have done this quite a few times and I will admit some of those time I am pleasantly surprised at how much I have actually enjoyed the game. Now with Destiny I have this same feeling, but the jury is still out on it and will have to decide. For now though these are the top 5 games I was won over on.

5. World of Warcraft

This seems like such a weird choice knowing what you all probably already know about me, but it is true. I have always loved Warcraft Lore and the RTS games were some of my favourite games ever, but an MMO? I wasn't sure. I had not really enjoyed the MMO genre much up to this point and was actually angry that one of my favourite franchises was switching to this format. I then played it though and the rest is really history isn't it.

4. Grand Turismo 

Now I have always enjoyed a good racing game. I even enjoyed the games which allowed you to build your cars and engineer though exactly how you saw fit in order to improve their racing capabilities. Even with that I had been disappointed in the racing genre for years and even with all the great feedback coming out I wasn't overly excited when I picked it up. I am glad I did because this is still far and away the best racing game and probably in my top 10 games I have played all time.

3. The Walking Dead Game

It really is a simple truth that most games based on Television or Movies are not worth the time of day. This game was even being released in episodes and I thought a small price to check out a game which had received pretty damn good reviews. I am forever glad I did for it really is a gem.

2. Heavy Rain 

Murder mystery games tend to not hold my interest. Also I figured since this game had such a high budget a lot of the hype coming out was around the fact that they were pushing it. I was pleasantly surprised and finally figuring out the origami killers identity was a special moment.

1. Uncharted

Now Uncharted is one of my favourite franchises out there. The gameplay is never short of entertaining and the stories are always well thought out and inspiring. This wasn't always the case. When I was first hearing about Uncharted all I could think about is it was serious game coming from the makers of Crash Bandicoot. It really took a lot for me to pick up this game and try it and now I think why in the hell did it take me so long to do so.

So there it is my list of games I love, but came close to never trying them. What games make your list? Is it similar to mine? As always let me know one way or another.

You Fail At Knowing About Destiny If...

Happy Fail Day everyone! This week I might be doing something surprising I will be talking about a shooter in the same breath as something I will actually be playing. This would be Destiny as I have picked it up and will be giving it a shot. At least for a couple weeks. So if you haven't heard or no nothing about Destiny this is for you.

You Fail At Knowing About Destiny If...

• You didn't know it was an online FPS
• You know nothing of "The Collapse"
• You were not aware it is about exploring our solar system
• You didn't know they have been avoiding calling it an MMO
• You missed them calling the game "alive"
• You didn't know you won't be able to play the  Dust Palace mission if you don't have a PS4
• You didn't know the game is heavy based on matchmaking
• You haven't looked into which focus interests you the most
• You have made the connection between "the traveler" and "God"
• You didn't know the 3 races are Human, Awoken, Exo
• You were not aware the class choices are Hunter, Warlock, and Titans
• You are not pumped that the robot is going to be voiced by Peter Dinklage

and finally

• You will be playing it on XBOX

There it is this week's edition of Fail! Happy shooting everyone!

Funny And Lucky

Here we are on a Monday looking for something which will at least get you feeling better about being where you are and doing what you are doing. With that in mind for this week's Machinima Monday I thought I would showcase a series which is all about things working out just the way you want. This Hearthstone series by Trolden is called Funny and Lucky and every week it showcases plays within Hearthstone community which basically everything happened in really the funniest and luckiest ways. The current episode is #62 so have a watch and can't help but smile at the results.



Now you just can't help, but feel better just by watching that can't you?

Ask Gauss

Here we are up early on this Sunday morning and wondering where my pancakes are. Sometimes I just wish I had the super power of instant food preparation. Imagine all the time I would save! Sadly I do not have super powers, but one can dream can't they? One can also ask questions, and that is what today is about! I know that was awful, but here we go with the questions.

So now since more than a week has passed has the seasonal flare of Diablo passed?

I guess what you are asking is it just the same old thing as it was, but with a new character. Now you could say that if it was just about the leaderboards and all that fancy stuff. I think though when you add in the greater Rifts especially for the Hardcore characters it makes things a lot more exciting. When you raise the difficulty or get to the next difficulty rather you really don't have a gauge on how hard it could be. You are basically excepting the fact that this tier of the rift is going to be much more then you can handle. It really is a gaming rush that Diablo needs and I am enjoying it.

Did you see the new Card Back for this season of Hearthstone? What do you think?

If you haven't here it is.

I honestly think this is the best one they have done. It really gets all of the elements you would think from a pirate perspective while really not going too crazy with the design. I think I will be showcasing this one next month for quite some time,

Do you think there is too much Orc beheading in the gameplay footage of Shadows of Mordor?

Is this really something people complain about?

And there they are the questions answered for the week. Thank you to everyone who sent something in and if you cannot find the links on the top right of the page feel free to send in your questions directly to gaussafication@gmail.com and regardless if I post them on her I will get to them eventually. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Not This Again

So here I am on this Friday still wondering why I am not in the Heroes of the Storm Alpha. Yes, I know there is a limited pool of players and yes I am upset that I am not actually one of those players. Now with that in mind many of you often besides poking fun at how I am currently not in the Alpha send me honest opinions about the game and your feedback on it. This week's Reader Post is one of those and how the environment of Heroes is changing towards some of the other MOBAs out there and how a change can possible take place. So here I give you Tora's take on it all.

It's happening again with Heroes as with all of the other MOBAs out there.

Players are looking at "total kills" and "total damage" and using those as baselines to brag about who is and is not a "good player".

This is a problem, as many players who develop game breaking bad habits will use these scoreboards in ways that justify their bad habits in the game.

This is just as bad as people who used "recount" in WoW to justify being "Good DPS" or "Good Heals" despite the fact those scores only show 1/2 of the picture.

SOME key aspects are as follows:

* Twitch Movement - these players will spam click the map to move back and forth like they are on some sort of illegal narcotic. This interrupts their spell casting and hinders their actual participation. You can literally have 3 twitch movement players around 1 honest player, and those three will do 0 damage, while they are individually picked off by 1 honest player.

Why do some players use Twitch Movement? So they can use a separate counting program to display how many "commands per second" they are performing, making them LOOK like good players for league videos and gameplay.

Solution to stop this: There are HUNDREDS of ways to penalize this behavior, so I have no idea what to suggest at this juncture. The only thing I can think of is something akin to a click counter evaluator for the score board.

* Max Damage Out - this is good half of the time. I have known players who are bottom barrel in damage out, but because they know strategy they win more times than they lose. See, Damage out can be manipulated through a combination of twitch movement and just randomly attacking resetting creeps, structures and doodads. They boost their Damage out to look like they are awesome, when, in fact, all they do is waste their damage on sponge targets which yield very little.

At the same time I know players who top charts and are awesome in every way.

That's why this is such a difficult topic, but this concept of Max Damage Out will plague this game like all others if some sort of evaluation of "effective damage out" isn't being made. 

One of MANY possible Solutions: Effective Damage could be an evaluation of how much damage is done to a singular target (or multiple if aoe is used) in a row until the target is downed or the character dies. I don't know, there are many ways to resolve this.

Finally

* Strategic Playing

PLEASE, GODS, PLEASE, DEVS, PLEASE ANYONE support a function which evaluates EFFECTIVE strategic use of Warning Symbols, Quest Collections, and Destruction to Buildings.

Strategy is always subjective, but there are certain CORE elements of strategy that CAN be evaluated.

There have been games in other MOBAs where I've had a bad time, I've just been killed and killed and killed. Enemy outweighs our own team by 10-12 levels, and so I've been forced to do suicide runs while my teammates defend home base. Because the enemy team was so concerned with DPS and Player Kills, they completely ignored my little level 12 guy as I tore down building after building until I won the day. My entire team lined the bottom of the scoreboard, but our strategy beat the tar out of the enemy.

This game needs to be the first MOBA game out there that measures strategic playing. Yes, it is subjective, but as I said above, SOME elements of strategic gaming can be measured.

Possible Solution: A player receives + Strategic Playing Points for every single building directly attacked while the enemy is down. You gain a bonus % for each enemy dead while you are attacking. So if the enemy team is ACED out, and you do ONE BIG PUSH down a single lane, you gain +25% to your strategic playing point score for each point of damage you deal to a core building (towers, etc...).

Strategic Playing Points can be earned in a gradual gain for every consecutive point dealt to a building before its destroyed. 

Strategic Playing Points can be LOST if an enemy is allowed to attack an entire lane without facing ANY resistance. If your character is alive, then he or she loses strategic points if they aren't engaging a lane that has an enemy presence.

So say if you're alive and you're fighting one lane which has an enemy player in it, ok, you are doing your job, you do not lose points even if another lane is being assaulted by an enemy without resistance.

Expand this to measure the number of characters in each lane. So a group with 5 characters in the top lane fighting 3 enemies, while 2 enemies go unopposed while destroying buildings, unless the 5 characters are making progress themselves, they'd lose points for allowing their base to be taken without any resistance.

There are ways to create these metrics. Some of them would be exceedingly complex, but they could show players how to play by rewarding those who play well, and penalizing those who simply "farm for damage" without caring about their team.

I think it makes sense I know people love to stroke their Epeens but there has to be some way of dealing with it all. Once again thanks to Tora and everyone else who submitted something this week. It would not be possible to do this without any of your submissions. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Fresh Meat N' Greet

So I am not sure if you have heard, but Blizzard came up with a great new idea. Not only does it have an epic name, but it truly is a great idea. They are interviewing members of the community and then allowing those interviewed to choose the one next in line. If you would like the whole story you can get it by clicking here.

This to me doesn't only give great feedback from the community, but it also lets the community itself get to meet the players. Too often the only ones heard are the ones who are streamers or who are of a very vocal group in the community. This really has the potential to hear from the everyday player what they like about the game, what they like to do while playing, or really what they don't like at all.

This should really help Blizzard not only seek out opinions from the everyday player to improve the game from  years to come, including any planned expansions. I know I have already read all the current interviews and look forward to reading the next set and those beyond as I believe anyone who has any interest in Diablo and its future should also.

To those people this is the game you want to play let them know how you would like it to be played. Get your voice out there and really feel like you contributed something to the games future.

This Was Not Our Destiny

Here we are the 2nd day of September, and what is September good for you ask? Well besides a slight increase in depression with the realization even if you no longer are in school that school has begun it means games are on there way. Every gamer knows summer time is a huge lull in terms of big games being released. With September brings new life into the gaming industry with so many big named games getting set to release. So I figured for my list this week I would list the titles I am most excited to see coming the rest of the year.

5. Dragon Age Inquisition

Slated for October the 7th the newest game in the dragon age series will be available for play. It may just be me and my fascination with dragons, but I love this series and I cannot wait to get my hands on this game.

4. Civilization: Beyond Earth

We will get to play the newest installment of Sid Meier's epic game on the 27th of October. I know some people find turn based games too slow, but to me I just love playing the single player versions of these games just to feel like you are apart of it all.

3. Shadows of Mordor

September 30th will bring us the release of Shadows of Mordor. The game itself has so many customizations and niches just makes me want to try out how they all can workout. Also it takes place in middle earth and who does love that!

2. Assassin's Creed Untiy

Ever since Assassin's Creed was a thing I always hoped they would make one of the games connecting to the French Revolution. Well on November 11th I will get my wish, and I for one cannot wait to see it all first hand.

1. Warlords of Draenor

There are games that just get everyone pumped. I cannot remember the last time I was this excited to play a game. Warlords has everything I could possibly ask for story wise that just gives me those gamer chills. November 13th cannot come soon enough.

There you have it. Do have some which you think should have made the list? Or jsut others which deserve honorable mention? Let me know as always.

You Fail At Diablo III Seasons If...

Fail Day! Yes it is that day isn't it. It is also around me the first day of school for everyone. So no worries about running over kids during the middle of the day only have to pay attention in the morning and in the middle of the afternoon. Makes my life slightly easier. Something else which just started this past Friday was Season 1 of Diablo III and with it some cool little things. So as always when there is something new there is also plenty of ways to fail at it.

You Fail At Diablo III Seasons If...

• You have been complaining because you haven't got any of the season only loot on your non seasonal characters
• You sent in a ticket because your paragon level wasn't right
• You forgot to level your artisans
• You didn't notice the achievement spam happening
• You got an achievement for seasons which you didn't already have
• You keep spending all your gold on dyes
• Your hardcore character died before 70
• You are leveling on normal
• You went in adventure mode first to unlock all the artisans
• You are staring at the leaderboards while playing
• You were one of the people who used exploits to level
• You are not enjoying rerunning the campaign

and finally

• You haven't taken part

There it is this week's edition of Fail! Hope you all enjoyed it!

Garrosh Ice Bucket Challenge

Happy Monday! So I know all of you have seen quite a number of Ice Bucket challenges. I know I have. When I saw Ian Beckman machinima with Garrosh taking the challenge though it just showed me how far this cause is going. So it became the natural choice for this week's video showcase. If you don't know anything about the ALS Ice Bucket challenge I urge you to find out more and donate if you can, and if not at least spread the word and try to get those involved who can.



I know.