CO-OP Insanity

So today I decided to rant about something that has the Starcraft II community at least a minority of them up in arms. This sentence

In the future, additional commanders will be offered for purchase, but as the first commander being added to Co-op Missions, we’re giving Karax away absolutely free to all Legacy of the Void players.

Yes that is the one. This was said in the Karax release article which can be seen by clicking here.

Now why has this got people going crazy? Well it is the fact that Blizzard is going to be charging for future commanders. They believe since they purchased Legacy of the Void they should be getting everything for free from now on. This with already the fact that the Nova missions would be additional cost people are borderline insane. Now I have a problem with DLCs which should have been included in the release of a game. Legacy of the Void is a full game. There is a 19 mission campaign, a 3 mission epilogue, a new coop mode with exclusive commanders, and the most anticipated multiplayer RTS revamp. That is a full game. This also isn't a release that is happening right away. This is something in the future.

If you want to keep playing Starcraft II for years especially having the multiplayer continually worked on it has to have money to pay for the developers. It is as simple as that. They aren't charging you for new units, these are fluff things. These are things that are just extra and therefore should be a charge. Think of it like a Store mount or pet in WoW you can use them in your adventures but do they really serve any purpose besides fluff? No not at all. So don't get yourself going crazy over something so non important. If this was a a new multiplayer unit only people who paid would have access to that would be a completely different story.

So take a deep breath and everything will be ok.

Ask Gauss

Here we are the first Sunday in July, and if you are like me you are wondering where all the nice weather is. I guess it just means there is more time to spend inside and enjoying your gaming time. Before you get to any of that though it is Sunday which means it is time to answer some of the questions sent in. For those of you who don't know how to send in your questions you can do so easily by any of the means on the sidebar of this page or you can email me directly at gaussafication@gmail.com. With that out of the way let's get to the questions.

Do you take offense to someone not likely a game that you think was amazing?

Honestly? No. Now to clarify there are people who don't like games for the sake of not liking them. They have never played them and hardly know anything about them and just hate them on principle. The Final Fantasy Series is the biggest example of this. If someone dislikes something and can tell me why they don't like it or why it really isn't there thing then that is completely different. I respect people's opinions, but I hate bandwagon gamers who just jump on something for the sake of it. Diablo III has got a lot of hate this way and really people have just hated on it because they thought it was the popular thing to do.

Do you think Free to Play communities will never have a non toxic atmosphere?

Truthfully? Probably not. When people have free rein to basically be an asshole anonymously they will continue to do so. It really is sad that gamers as a whole at like this. To me this gives gamers a horrible reputation and really is one of the prime examples on why the general public especially the older crowd will not take gaming as a past time seriously. As with anything the worst of something is always looked at never the middle ground and never the top end always the worst of the worst. So you can thank all of the LoL ragers and entitled brats for everything they do for you.

So the Butcher?

Ya he's fun isn't he?

Thanks to everyone who sent in a question. As always if I don't get to it on here I will eventually if I answer it on here or not. You are all always so patience and know that this wouldn't be possible without all of your contribution.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Token Fatalities

So as most of you know I am for the most part not against DLCs. I don't mind DLCs that are cosmetic where people have a choice pick them up to make characters look in specific ways or do certain things. I do hate day 1 additional content DLCs because to me if you are releasing a game and the additional content is there it should be included and be for everyone. Now this doesn't include collectors or limited edition bundles because again this to me is almost always purely cosmetic and is not really anything of significance to the game itself. Also I hate DLCs that unlock content which is doable in game as a shortcut. I know this doesn't effect me, but this to me defeats the purpose of going through a game and playing it. This is a mixing of free to play game style with a purchased game and in my mind is bordering on the greedy end.

One thing I can't stand though is companies is releasing addons or DLCs which are 1 time uses which are also shortcuts. The new Mortal Kombat has purchasable 1 time use "Easy" Fatalities. Basically giving you the ability to preform an easy fatality with a simple couple button combo. Not only are fatalities not hard at all to preform charging people a one time use shortcut to me is wrong. Now to me this purchase seems completely useless, but I know people will buy this.

Some might say this is a company profiting from players lack of skill, and who cares. I care. I hate it when companies think they can take advantage of people in such a way that rewards laziness and complete lack of motivation. Why? Because this breads a population of entitlement and these will be the people that will be the ones bitching on forums and causing the games that I love to be changed for their benefit.

Maybe I am overreacting, but there has got to be people out there that think this is wrong just as much as I do.

Entitlement

For quite awhile I have always complained about people who seem to be entitled when it comes to the games they played. They are angry because the game isn't exactly what they expected it to be. It is not what they believe the series is about. Games are games and because it isn't what you wanted doesn't make the game bad it means it really isn't what you wanted. Sometimes people fail to see the difference. This brings me directly to the Reader Post for the week written by StriderShinryu, which is basically everything I have ever wanted to say abut the subject put into a few words.

I have been saying the same thing for a while now: a complaint about entitlement usually comes from an entitled person. Be it a publisher that thinks they should have free reign to do whatever consumer unfriendly practice they want, the creator that thinks pleasing fans is the least important part of their job in lieu of pleasing themselves, or any social justice critic that wants everything put under the microscope but their own opinions, they're not any less people out to get everything they want than they think gamers are. 

From there, the attitude can entrench the entitlement because you stop treating people you want to change the opinions of as..well. people, and the angry backlash comes off as dodging the question. Why exactly did you like ME3's ending that I'm missing? Why should we be thrilled by always on DRM? Why is calling Call of Duty a Cancer, and lowering insults at those that play it Okay, but not Flappy Bird? Why are concerns about feminist methodology unfounded?

 Answering questions might reach people. Acting indignant that people don't agree with you, or have different opinions and values, there's no other term but entitled, and you can't hold on to yours while expecting others to let go.

There's nothing wrong with voicing your criticisms and opinions. In fact, fairly often, the "entitled" and the vocal critic have similar complaints, but it's in the delivery and expectation that the critic becomes the "entitled." If you take efforts to actually think about what you're saying, how to say it and what your expectations are, it's pretty easy to make complaints without coming across as an entitled petulant brat. That sort of approach is actually the basis of all professional criticism.

The other issue is expectations, and this ties into a lack of respect for a developers intentions. You are certainly in the right to voice whatever criticisms and complaints you want, but that doesn't mean you are owed a product that exactly matches your unique desires. You are owed a working game that falls in line with what the game was initially promoted to be. That's pretty much it. You can like or not like the final product but it not lining up with exactly what you want doesn't make it broken or bad, and it definitely doesn't make the company that made/published it evil. It just means that you don't like it. A developer can make whatever game they want to make with whatever IP they happen to be working on based on their own decisions and the guidance of their publisher should there be one. Just because there's a name attached to it that you're a fan of doesn't mean they have to make it based exactly on what you want or what that IP was in the past.

In short, be vocal with your complaints if that's what you want to be, but don't be a whiny brat when you do so and don't expect every game out there to be made exactly how you personally want it to be made.

Once again thank you to everyone who submitted a post, and make sure you enjoy your weekend.

Entitlement

Topic for today is an interesting one. For all of those who are in a raiding guild probably have come across what I am about to speak about. If you are an officer in a raiding guild you probably know this topic way to well. First off let's start with a definition.

Entitlement: to believe you have the right to do or have something; qualify; allow

This applies to raiding in several ways. People show up and they expect raid spots no matter their performance, attendance, or past actions. This happens a lot with long time members who feel they have "earned" the spot. You see as a raid leader you have to first of build a successful raid and a fair one. If someone has been gone or has never done the fight are they truly a benefit to have in the raid? Of course not.

This also applies to loot. That item is my best in slot I should get it. I deserve it. Maybe it is someone else's bis, maybe this person is here more, maybe this person getting it would benefit the raid more. Loot whores are normally people who have a very high sense of entitlement. Anything and everything that they need should go to them because they are there and should get it. If they don't they feel they are betrayed.

To be in a successful raiding guild you have to realize no one is entitled to anything. If you show up do your thing like you are supposed to you will be rewarded for it. Never believe that you deserve something over someone else. The best players are the ones that realize this and are there for the success of the raid not the success of themselves.

The whole argument can be applied to the Shadowmorne items themselves. The wielder of the Shadowmorne feels entitled to the items because they came from his weapon. Forgetting the fact where the weapon came from and who allowed him to get it.

If I have any message today it would be "get over yourself"

Reminder that tonight is the last day to get in your submissions for tomorrow Reader Post which has to do with what you or someone else has decided to put in the guild bank.