The Learning Mindset

Friday! Yes it is already here. With most Friday's you don't want to do much of anything and really today shouldn't be more different. With this week's Reader Post Roboroadkill talks about something many people always mention, but do not go into. When you are trying to improve in the way you play any game there is a period of adjustment when you are not really better at all. This discourages people from actually putting in the effort because no one really likes losing. So have a read

A lot of the time don't want to take the necessary steps to improve because in the short term it might affect their performance. In my basketball experience I've dealt with (And still sometimes dealing with) some players who will not want to change their shot because their performance in the short term will be affected. People asked me for advice on shooting all the time, and when I'd give them my two cents on how they could improve, I'd always tell them "It's going to be uncomfortable, you're going to miss a lot of shots, more than with your current shot. But if you can get rid of the microwave mindset in the long term your performance will get better" The ones that really wanted to get better, listened. The ones that didn't made the excuse that they didn't want to miss shots NOW to affect how they will shoot later.

This is very true for Starcraft players. A few months ago I got advice from masters/GM Zergs and I'd only implement the stuff that would help my improvement now, and not for the future. This hurt me a LOT. In retrospect I had it better than any Starcraft 2 player could really dream of. Lots of time on my hands to grind out games to improve my mechanics, and a bunch of high level Zerg's to help me out with game knowledge and decision making. But the lure of those darn ladder points was just to strong and look where I am now. 

You MUST remember to that working towards a future goal requires all your attention to remain in the present, but don't sacrifice your performance in the future for short term gain. Great, you went on a winning streak by roach all inning every game. You just learned how to roach all in, learn from those games if you can, but if you want to be a macro player don't roach all in, focus on macro and don't cheese because you want ladder points. 

^^ This is very important for people who want to take the step towards a learning mentality, otherwise you're just going to get mad because your ladder points are going down even though you're getting better. 

Now on to the real meat of the subject which is why you lose more when trying to learn. This is a complicated subject, and I haven't completed my research but I've made some discoveries that have been interesting. 

In basketball the game goes so fast at the higher levels that you literally can't think you must do everything on instinct. The reason being is because once you have already thought about which kind of layup you want to do the widow for doing said layup is already gone. 

However when you're training, you're always thinking about what you are doing and continue to improve it through mass repetition. The same thing applies the Starcraft 2. 

When you are in a learning mindset you're always thinking about what you're doing to correct it. When you scout something you're always constantly running things through your mind about how to stop it, when the timings hit etc. Over playing massive amounts of games with this technique things will start becoming instinct. This is in fact the reason why commentary diminishes the level of your play drastically when you're streaming. Instead of the players just reacting on instinct they find themselves having to think about what they're doing and on top of that actually SAY what they are doing. 

So when you go into a game with an analytic mindset you're going to lose more games because reactions aren't as quick, not as precise, mechanics will diminish because brain power is being used elsewhere etc. But what people don't seem to understand is that something more important is going on. I'm only 15 so I barely know anything about the brain, so I'm not going to try to dump some scientific stuff on you guys, but this is what I'm finding. If you grind out massive amounts of games while thinking about what you're doing, all this information becomes subconscious. You're absorbing massive amounts of information and you don't even know it. 

Think about Koreans in a pro gaming house. They are constantly analyzing replays with each other, watching, and playing the game. They are absorbing so much information on a daily basis that everything is being drilled into their subconscious. 

How the winning mindset works

As I mentioned earlier before with basketball and how no good player thinks about what they're doing when they're playing and are simply reacting on instinct, basically their mind is blank. This applies to Starcraft 2. Ever notice pro players sitting in their chair just kind of getting into the zone? Blanking out so to speak? Well this is because their goal is very simple: Win the game. When the goal is to win and not to improve your mind needs to be blank. Everything must be instinct. You can't think about how you micro your Zergling's just do it. Those 50 ZVZ's you played with your friend focusing on Ling Bane control will now pay off because you aren't thinking, you are just reacting and playing off instinct. 

I did an experiment where I tested how this worked. I played a whole bunch of ladder games thinking about my opponents builds, scouting information, how I was going to react etc. The learning mindset. I had around a 50% winrate against mid - top diamond players, basically my level of play. Then after doing that I switched it up and approached the game as a pro player would, the goal was to win. Immediately I starting destroying everyone. My macro and micro mechanics were crisp, I was responding to everything my opponent was doing on time and I wasn't even thinking about what I was scouting I just immediately reacted. My winrate jumped to around 70% percent immediately even in my worst match up and I was making a ton of progress on the ladder. Then I pulled the plug, started playing with the learning mindset again and my winrate starting going down. 

When implementing the learning mindset and using it to aid in the winning mindset the results can be amazing. 

This isn't 100% but my findings have been interesting to say the least, and I'm looking forward to delving into this deeper. 

Hopefully you enjoyed the read and found it helpful. Thanks for reading!

So? I think he has done a really good job of explaining even if basketball is involved. Certainly some food for thought while you are ladder this weekend.

If Video Games Were Like Game of Thrones

So as most of you should know Game of Thrones season premiere is on Sunday. Like yesterday when it gave me motivation for the list. Today it gives me motivation for a different kind of topic. What happens if Video games were like Game of Thrones? Now what does that mean? Well basically when things don't work out how they really should. They just end in such a way that leaves you in shock and wondering why they would do that. So here is a few examples of what would happen if that was the case.

• Ellie shoots Joel at the end of The Last of Us
• Aerith survived Sephiroth's Sword, but then Cloud ends up drowning her
• Vivi is the first Black Mage to die
• Earth loses Mortal Kombat
• Ezio kills Christina
• Tirion doesn't make it out of the Ice Block and we as the heroes all join the scourge 
• Tassadar is Amon
• Mario finds Princess Peach dead in Bowser's Castle
• Lee kills Clementine as a Walker because she didn't shoot him
• Dekard Cain is one of the Lords of Hell

See now wouldn't that be entertaining? As you can see I have a little Game of Thrones on the mind.

I'll Miss You..

So here we are Wednesday only 4 days from Sunday and the Season Premier of Game of Thrones. Now if you don't watch Game of Thrones you should. Even if it doesn't follow the books completely it is still far and away the best show on television. If you don't watch it you will not know that it is know for some of the most shocking deaths anywhere. So when coming up for this week's list I thought I would share what I believe are the most shocking deaths in Video Games. Now this is obvious but spoilers.

5. John Marston - Red Dead Redemption

So John is a criminal that is made obvious by the get go. He is willing to give up the other criminals for his family to have a chance at a better life. After he does what he is told the very man who was supposed to give him his freedom betrays him and he his killed brutally by an onslaught of bullets

4. Joker - Arkham City

So Batman doesn't kill anyone. That really is a Batman thing it doesn't happen, but then this happened. Even if it was by accident it still happened, and I will never stop being shocked that this happened.

3. Lucy - Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

So this is the girl that saved you. Brought you to some other Assassin's and lead you on to the path for better things. Then all of the sudden your body loses control from this other weird being and you stab her. Granted you find out later she was a double agent, but ya that happened.

2. Aerith - Final Fantasy VII

Not sure you could do anything with Video Games and Death and not include this scene. This afterall had all the shock value. Even with the graphics of the day you could see and feel the intensity of the scene and the shock value when our favourite big baddie pulled the sword out of her.

1. Lee Everett

You could probably include the shock value from the moment he got bit. You were left wondering if you messed up and what you were going to do. Then, of course, with Clementine shooting him in the end you are just left with what in the living hell did I just play.

There you have it my choices for the most shocking deaths in video games. Not sure if it is the best tribute to Game of Thrones, but it was an attempt. Do you have any shocking deaths you thought should have been included? As always bitch about it in some way or another.

You Fail At Fighting Games If...

Fail Day! With the release of Mortal Kombat X just around the corner I figured now was the best time to use this Fail Day that I have kept pushing back for awhile now. What is it you may ask? Well it has to do with fighting games in what I believe people fail more in than any other game. So here we go.

You Fail At Fighting Games If...

• You have no idea where "Finish Him" comes from
• You believe your skills as a button mashing facerolling pally makes you the perfect fighting game player
• Your idea of a combo is using more than one button
• You believe people who use ultimate attacks or finishers must be hackers because you can't do them
• You always play characters which have the designation of cheap
• You don't know what the differences are between all the Street Fighter II games
• You predictably go for grapples whenever in close range
• You play the guest characters in other games because they come from games you play
• You don't think wrestling and boxing games are fighting games
• You turn down gore whenever possible
• You don't play them because they are not realistic
• You play them for their story mode
• You think your ability to beat the single player mode makes your awesome in everyway
• You rely on ring outs in Soul Calibur

and finally

• You have an opinion on the best fighting game there is but it is the only one you play, and you could careless what anyone thinks

There you have it this week's edition of Fail. Hope you enjoyed it or raged through the entire thing. Either way I am completely cool with it.

Victory Teaser

Happy Easter Monday, or  Happy Monday to everyone else. If you have been out of touch with the gaming world you may not have noticed that some footage of the newest AC game code named Victory was leaked. This is an Assassin's Creed game set in Victorian England. Now it does kind of suck that this footage was released but that didn't stop a fan from making their own Assassin's Creed Victory Teaser Trailer which is going to be my showcase of the week! So have a watch and let me know what you think.



Well? Thoughts?

Ask Gauss

Happy Easter everyone! Or just happy Sunday to everyone just sitting around enjoying their weekend. Not matter what you are doing you are here for a reason. That being to see the questions I am answering this week, or maybe even seeing if your question was one of the ones I decided to pick. If you are unsure how to send those questions in there is a bunch of ways on the right side of the page to get a hold of myself or you can just email me at gaussafication@gmail.com with that taken care of let's get to the questions.

What was your favourite April Fools joke this year?

There were quite a few good ones this year in games and out, but I always tend to get the biggest laugh out of random patch notes from games. This year didn't disappoint with this epic line from the Hearthstone patch notes

The spell Blizzard now causes enemy minions to attack Soon™

I know it is funny but I probably laughed way too much at it.

Do you think difficult games like Bloodborne will ever catch on?

I am not completely sure what you mean by this. If you mean everyone will want to play them then I think it is where people expect it to be. I think some of the changed they made from the souls games to Bloodborne made it less punishing in terms of the death, but the game itself is not easier. Games out now always have a specific audience that really is great about gaming now there is something for everyone. Also games that tend to be part of a too large of an audience normally always fail at making specific audiences happy. I think Destiny is the perfect example of this. If you like a game should be happy with that making others wanting to play it can have a bad effect of the quality you like.

I was sad to see no April Fools joke form yourself

Maybe that was the joke?

There you have it questions for the week all answered. Hope the answers were good for the ones asking and for those of you reading. If I did not get to your question I will eventually if I answer it on here or not.

A Pirate's Life

Happy Friday or Good Friday if you are into that. Most of us are probably sitting around enjoying your day off and wondering what to do. I guess I should feel honored you decided to come here and see this week's Reader Post. Or maybe not since it really is the only post of the week I don't write. Well this week we are looking at Hearthstone and Slickriptide's wanting to make a Pirate themed deck.

I've been thinking a lot about Gang Up in anticipation of BRM. One of the problems of the pirate "tribe" is that their synergy is with things that are not pirates; typically weaponry. If you put enough pirates in your deck to effectively exploit those synergies, then you usually end up with too few non-pirate cards to make an effective overall strategy, and those non-pirates have no synergy with the pirates. 

In thinking about this problem I had imagined a "Press Gang Leader" card that would be a minion with a trait that read, "All of your minions are pirates". The effect would be that any minion you played would activate a "when a pirate is played" card (Ship's Cannon or One-eyed Cheat), would receive a Southsea Captain's buff, and would be a potential draw for Captain's Parrot (which would be borderline overpowered, or maybe just flat out overpowered).

The problems are obvious enough that I never posted it as a suggestion. Now, I see instead a card that lets me play a pirate and then put three more copies of that pirate into my deck.

I'm finding this to be pretty interesting.

Granted, it would be way better if they went into your hand, but this deals with one of the biggest problems that pirates have - If your deck runs well with pirates, it probably runs better *without* them. 

Gang Up lets you put in a handful of pirates and include the cards that make your deck *good*, then play one pirate and pull a bunch more of them out of thin air. You still have to draw them, of course, but now you have a way to circumvent the 30-card deck size.

I won't even start on the glory of a deck with seven Captain Greenskin's in it. If only this card had been around in the days of Stupid Pirate Tricks...

Rogue is clearly the hero to aim this strategy at. Since GvG, Valeera has a bunch of weapon boosting tricks and she has always had one of the best card drawing engines outside of Warlock. If her weapon is destroyed she just shrugs and pulls out another. In fact, destroying her own weapon is one of her things.

This opens a lot of potential. If your deck is already packed with pirates then you have six more opportunities to fire your Ship's Cannons. Potentially six more 3/3-with-taunt Dread Corsairs that can be played for free with a 4+ weapon. Six Southsea Captains. Six Bloodsail Raiders, boosting their attack off of your boosted weapon.

The flip side, of course, is that Gang Up can probably be used to better effect on something else that isn't a pirate. That's the way of the world. However much that happens to be true, the fact remains - This may be the single best card so far for a pirate-themed deck to include.

I have always wanted to see a pirate deck work, but just like any themed deck there tends to be gimmicks involved for it to be successful. Not that they aren't fun to play though! Enjoy the start to your weekend even if it is not a long one!

Warhound Online

So yesterday was April Fools and with it came jokes from games all around the world. I know some people hate it and it "ruins" gaming for the day, but I for one think it is amazing. From the fake patch notes to some games actually implementing things into the game. One particular year was by far and away the best.

Who remembers logging into Starcraft oon April Fools day 2013 to find that your SCVs, Drones, and Probes had all been replaced. And what were they replaced with? Well Warhounds, of course. You see there was much talk about the warhound being a unit during beta that really had no place. It was OP or somewhat situational and there was no real place for it. It was then scrapped and we never saw it again until they became all races workers for the day.

I have never laughed so hard every single game in my life. It really was the greatest thing. If you were playing against someone and it was their first game they were beyond confused and thought their game was glitching and you would just play along and say everything was fine on your end. They would come to your base and say the exact same thing. Never have I ever played with people that were confused by such a simple thing, and didn't realize what day it was.

Really though April Fools is about things being fun and not very serious so to all the people freaking out about things yesterday learn to have a sense of humor and not be overly serious about everything. It is a game and should be fun afterall.

You Must Construct Additional Pylons

Here we are with another Wednesday. You like me this morning were probably wondering what this week's list was going to be about. I always have a few ideas, but then it has to come down to me actually making the decision of which one to do. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to choose the best icon phrases from video games. The are recognizable with a game and not necessarily just one character in the game. So here we go.

5. This Is My Story - Final Fantasy X/X-2

Final Fantasy X and all it's parts had one thing in common besides the universe. It was this phrase that we first heard in the opening sequence, which was also the first time Final Fantasy characters ever spoke. There are not many better than this one.

4. Endure and Survive - The Last of Us

The Last of Us is not only a game, which will go down as one of the best ever. It is a game whose story is one that kept you there being part of it wanting more. Scared for each character as you progressed further and further through it. Then we have this phrase from comic books within the game exactly what we should be doing.

3. Requiescat In Pace

Ezio may be one of the most loved video game characters of all time. He brought us many memorable moments across 3 games and one short film. The thing he is know most for is letting those he killed or those who he found dying rest in peace.

2. Lok'tar Ogar - Warcraft Series

Screw the Alliance these are the words which will forever be given to the world from the Warcraft universe. Victory or Death so simple, but yet so true.

1. My Life For Aiur - Starcraft Series

Are there an words that are more iconic? You could even look to the title and say this series has more than one iconic phrase. Both of them actually made it into Cards Against Humanity. Even if I play Protoss there isn't much arguing about this one.

There you have it. Are there other iconic phrases you think should have been included? Well then let me know one way or another.

You Fail At Raging If...

Fail Day! This is normally where I would say this is the day where you feel better about yourself because of others failures, but today isn't an ordinary fail day. How you may ask? Well that is simple. You see there is times while you are gaming that you get upset, slightly pissed, and then there are those times you rage. Now today is all about how one could possibly fail at raging.

You Fail At Raging If...

• You simply start over when your save file is corrupted
• You just start laughing when those baneling landmines blew up your marines
• You have never had some ask if you were ok when you screamed so loud the pictures fell off the walls
• You don't have a shrine of broken remotes
• You have never punched a monitor
• You have once thought about if you could snap your keyboard in half over your forehead
• You have never needed "time" to walk it off
• You never just leeroyed shit just so everyone else would feel your pain
• The words "Oh that's awesome" are said when your Black Mage gets berzerked
• You keep smiling when your legendary weapon refuses to roll a socket
• You whispered that hunter congrats for stealing your two-hander
• You have words to describe being top decked Flamestriked
• You don't have a story for all the random marks on your walls

And finally

• You just stand up calming turn off the machine and walk away with a smile on your face

There you have it. This week's edition of failure. Hope you all got a good chuckle at yours and other expense.

Archon Mode

Monday! Yes it is Monday and you are probably slightly depressed, but then maybe not as much as a normal Monday because it is in fact a long weekend this coming weekend! I know! Man that was a lot of exclamation points! Let's not get to ahead of ourselves though. This Monday and every Monday it is time for me to showcase something for Machinima Monday, where today like a lot of other days I don't actually showcase a Machinima. This week I am going back to a staple in Carbot for his animation showcasing one of the new features coming out in Legacy of the Void. So have a watch!




I picture things like this happening all the time...

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes you are not dreaming your weekend is over. At least next weekend is a long weekend, so you have that going for you! As is the case every time the weekend is nearing an end it is time to go through my emails for the week and answer some questions. So let's get right to that.

Is it just me or has Sylvanas been in like every Heroes game I have played this week?

We were just joking about this the other day when we were playing as a group of 4. Every game our 5th ending up being Sylvanas. Now this wasn't always a bad thing as some people actually could play her. In other cases though it was quite sad. To me I don't know how you can justify playing your first game as a new hero with other people. You have no idea what the abilities do and you are just testing out the character. It really only will lead to you been a drain on your team. Sure by the end of the first match you might have a better idea but you really could have ruined the game for everyone else on your team.

Do you think Bloodborne really just shows that PS4 is the better choice?

Now Bloodborne is a great game I will give you that, but it really isn't a game which can decide a console war. Why? Well it isn't a game that everyone can get into. It is a hard game which not everyone will be able to get past. Sure it isn't as punishing as the Souls game, but it is not easy by any means. I really think Uncharted 4 is the one that will affirm this generation will be PS4's victory but will have to wait till next year now to see that come.

Why do games have to be exclusives?

So companies have nice things to fight over.

There they are this week's questions and their answers. Hopefully you all got something out of it and know to those who sent something in and I did not get to it yet, I will eventually! Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone!

Am I Good?

Friday! Yes it is here and we are all waiting for what the weekend has for us. Many of us will be playing a variety of games this weekend and some of us will be still be playing Bloodborne. A game which tests your limits as a gamer. For this week's Reader Post Gilly sent me in not only a review of Bloodborne, but also his take on if he is in fact good enough to play it. Have a read!

Am I "good" at games? I don't know.

I'm 30 years old: I've been playing video games for 25 of those years, give or take. I spent two weeks this year completing Mega Man 1 through 4. I've sunk hundreds of hours into Spelunky. Whether I'm "good" at games is up for debate; I love challenging games. Despite this, I've never loved the divisive, feverishly adored/hated Souls games. Their challenges felt too great to overcome, their systems too inscrutable, their technical issues too great in number. They felt frustrating instead of challenging.

Bloodborne -- the latest entry in the series and the first without a "Souls" moniker attached -- changes that. This is a game I love to hate. But I mostly just love it.

So, what makes Bloodborne different from previous series entries? It's not nearly as much of a dick as previous games. Yeah. Really.

I'm not trying to be flip -- that's a totally serious statement. While previous games punished players incessantly with compounding measures, Bloodborne encourages you to keep trying. That is a crucial difference in game design, and one that should make it more appealing to a much larger audience.

I used the word "inscrutable" earlier in reference to the systems of previous games. Bloodborne is, by contrast, concise and easily understood.

Also, maybe don't fight the electric beast first thing

In the first part of Bloodborne, you've got two main pathways to go: toward two different bosses. One is hard, but beatable. The other is nigh impossible in the early stages of character development.

Again, maybe I'm not very good at games.

Instead of pushing me down, Bloodborne forces me to play smarter. And it doesn't make me feel like a jerk when I don't. I don't know if I'm good enough for Bloodborne, but I'm trying to be.

I will agree it is much more forgiving then the Souls games, but not in a way which makes it easier. With that in mind enjoy your weekend no matter what you are playing!

It Is All Worth It In The End

So here I was playing Bloodborne and obviously dying quite a bit. Not that I am opposed to dying, because in a game like Bloodborne and those like it you learn from your deaths each and every time. If you don' then you really are going to be overly frustrated and then just end up raging, and maybe even loosing a couple remotes in the process.

Now when all this was happening I was trying to think to myself why I enjoy playing games that are difficult. Now when it comes down to it I always love a challenge. I think most gamers do. They tend to do things, which others never think would be impossible. This is why we have trophies and achievements, to show how messed up and demented we can be. It is not only the challenge though. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment that what I am doing is not going to be done by everyone who picks up a game. I like the fact that I was able to pull that off after the time I put into something. I love the fact that I scream yes, jump for joy, clap, or give myself a pat on the back. I love doing something that warrants a screenshot or an instant text to a friend.

All this isn't for bragging rights though. It really is how you are proud of what you were able to do. Now non gamers will say this is stupid and why would you ever be proud of something you did in a game. The fact of the matter is, why shouldn't you be?

So yes. Hard games can drive you insane. They may cause deaths that will make you not even want to touch a game for days. They may cause a sudden burst of anger, which will leave you explaining why that mark is on the wall. What they also bring though are those memories of the first time doing that, and the struggle you went through to get there.

If a game is easy you will never have any of that. Sure you will remember the game, but you won't have those moments where you overcame something you thought you would never do. So play those hard games, push through the frustration and it all will be worth it in the end.

They Say I Can't Lose. I Say You Can't Win

Wednesday and after one day of Bloodborne there really is only one thing on my mind. Some games are just harder than others. Not that I mind it. I actually enjoy when something is challenging and isn't ridiculously easy. Instead of going over what I find to be the most difficult games I am going to do specific fights. You know those boss battles that you actually fist pump yourself when you are done with them. So here are my choices

5. Bhunivelze - Lightning Returns

The final boss of Lightning Returns not only challenges your ability to build a party correctly, but also your knowledge of the game and all its ins and outs. Really there are not many final bosses that make you use all the knowledge you should have gained through playing all in one fight. Not to mention if you happen to not have a couple things in your inventory this boss becomes almost impossible.

4. Alma - Ninja Gaiden

In a series where every boss challenges you in every way imaginable this puts you to the test. You will need speed patience and persision to defeat Alma, but when you finally do one of the most satisfying things you will do gaming wise.

3. Ornstein and Smough -Dark Souls

Either of these bosses on their own would have been brutal. Fighting them together then when one is dead assumes the powers of the others well that is pretty much borderline unfair. You will die countless times learning this encounter, but when you finally get it you may actually stand up and do a little dance.

2. Red Falcon - Contra

So you thought when you killed that alien head you would be done. That in itself could have made this list and no one would have said anything about it, but no you then get to fight the real deal in probably the smallest possible area with no room for error. This actually borders on the unfair and impossible line.

1. Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch Out

Now we all know the real Mike Tyson has some issues, but it was a whole different story when this game came out. The gaming rules of the day where that games needed to be brutally hard and this was no exception. I am still of the firm belief that you needed to know the pattern to beat him because the control you were using wasn't quick enough to respond to what you saw. The new Wii version doesn't give this justice for this very reason.

There you have it. Agree or disagree you know the deal just let me know. As I am sure there will be plenty of backlash on this one.

You Fail At Being Ready For Bloodborne If...

Fail Day! Yes it is here. That can also be said for the Bloodborne, which you are either taking a break from or waiting to get your hands on it. That is unless you know nothing about it. This is the fact which leads us directly into today's Fail Day. So here we go

You Fail At Being Ready For Bloodborne If...

• You just said "Bloodborne what?"
• You don't have a PS4
• You prefer games that are all sunshine and rainbows
• You are not prepared to die continuously
• You are easily frustrated
• You think excess gore makes a game less interesting
• You don't have a replacement remote for when one gets thrown into a wall
• You like to be coddled
• You don't know what it is like for a game to punish your muscle memory
• You didn't know when you bring someone into your world it summons a boss
• You are not pumped up for transformable weapons
• You thought Dark Souls II was easy

and finally

• You have never really played a game which was "Hard"

There you have it. This week's edition of Fail. Enjoy you multitude of deaths throughout the day!

Demon Blood PSA

Monday! Here we are starting another week and when you star the week besides coming here to see what is up for Machinima Monday you want something to start the week off right. So why not combine the two in a weird way. That is what Mooclucking has done for us with his newest creation in Demon Blood PSA. So sit back and enjoy this low resolution alternate Draenor.



Now don't you feel better?

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes the weekend is coming to an end. It's sad, but you will live to do it all over again. With that in mind I have gone through my emails for the week and picked out some questions I think many of you might get some use out of. So here we go.

Do you think the Campaign will be playable with the LotV trailer?

The will probably have parts of it playable. I an't bring myself to spoil the story so I don't see myself playing it if I get in. I will though play the multiplayer endlessly. I really think that is more of what they are concerning themselves with anyway. The campaign is a story there are units that won't see the light of day in multiplayer. Mulitplayer on the other hand is the Esports bread and butter and they want to make sure that everything with it as well and good.

Is it just me or does gaming seem more popular this year?

I really just think it is the world we live in. People enjoy spending their time how they like. I feel there are games for everyone now and not just for specific people. This makes it easier for anyone really to "get into it". People want to feel as if they have spent their time wisely on something they enjoy and they are doing it. Now this doesn't mean there are now suddenly millions of people deciding to play 16 hours a day. because that isn't true. It is though true there may be millions spending one or two hours checking out something they wouldn't have before.

Bloodborne this week!

Yes you don't have to tell me. Will be right into it come Tuesday.

There they are questions for the week. Hope to those that got their questions on here they accept the response and for those who didn't I will get to your questions eventually. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone!

Plan C?

Friday! Yes here we are at the end of the week looking for something to make us think about what really has been going on. Now with Legacy of the Void Closed Beta being just around the corner I figured now would be a good time to talk about some Starcraft Lore. TheBentOne has a Theory for this week's Reader Post which might point to the fact that Kerrigan wasn't the Overmind's Plan A. Here it is

Ok, so we've all been doing a lot of thinking in regards to the zerg, and Kerrigan and the overmind and prophecy lately, and I've been wondering myself about the incredibly contrived and unlikely series of events that lead Kerrigan to become the only hope of defeating the generic big bad and saving the swarm.

Did the giant eons old brain really want to leave the fate of his swarm in the hands of a series of events that are far more likely to not happen than happen. I think not, therefore I theorize that Carapace Jesus is actually at least the second backup plan, as the Overmind had set in motion things that were far more strategically sound in place first.

First I'll start with what we know, Amon programmed into the Overmind the desire to kill the protoss. At some point the Overmind realizes this and also that amon plans on creating a massive hybrid army to wrest control of the swarm from him. Naturally the giant eyeball is unhappy with this. So what does he do?

He tries to assimilate the Protoss, note that this is a very important distinction from his directive, which only states destroy. The Overmind knows Amon is coming with his army of Hybrids once the protoss are destroyed, but the Overmind is going to be ready, he wants to assimilate the Protoss, which will lead to their destruction, but will also allow him to spawn hybrids of his own to combat the forces of the dark god. Kerrigan is still created as the supreme agent of the swarm designed to combat protoss psionics, but her role in keeping the zerg away from amon is negligible, unless a series of unlikely evens come to pass.

The first of these events is the death of the overmind. However it would seem that the Overmind had a contingency for this that didn't involve Kerrigan as well. His Cerebrates were hard wired to recreate him. I believe that this new overmind would continue to attempt to assimilate the protoss and lead the swarm much the same way the old one did, this was a sound plan B in case the unthinkable happened and the Overmind was slain.

Only if the second overmind were destroyed and prevented from reforming would Kerrigan enter the picture. She pretty clearly isn't the perfect choice, being of limited human scope, and requiring a long list of unlikely events needed to enable the swarms success, but as a third contingency, she is the best the overmind had to work with, and also free to seek solutions outside the overminds constraint of "must destroy the protoss.".

Personaly I'm a fan of this particular theory, because It would return the Overmind to amoral hivemind master planer and geneticist. In stead of random slave of the big bad howling the prison of his own mind. I also think it makes sense given what we know so far. So I'm going with it until blizzard proves me otherwise.

There it is. I think it makes sense because planning out what has actually happened you would think would be highly unlikely, but then it is a prophecy and those really aren't supposed to be like it is what makes them so. I'll leave you with all of that to enjoy your weekend with

Legacy Of The Void Closed Beta

So I am pretty pumped u. Blizzard released a Closed Beta Trailer for Legacy of the Void. If you haven't seen here it is



Not only does it look great, but it looks even better than it did at Blizzcon. There are so many things I am looking forward to from a competitive standpoint that Legacy of the Void seems to have tackled. Also with more micro intensive units it will make the games that much more exciting to watch. Also will make different builds used more often something I think Heart of the Swarm has suffered from because the risk and reward scenario currently isn't there.

Now I also don't want to jinx it, but Blizzard has been pretty good about getting me into there Betas lately. If I get in you all can expect some content on here with me going crazy playing it. Also I would also appreciate anyone who gets in talk with me about it good or bad, because really this is about making the game the best it can be when it makes its way out