The GeeksFTW!

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 10

Stuart Pitchford — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:00:06 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 10. This is a strange episode.

The GeeksFTW- Episode 143

William McDonald — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:21:29 +0000

We are back and a little late due to some technical difficulties in recording that required a little extra editing. We both had a bit to talk about for what we have been playing as well as some news.

If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. You can also check out our other Podcast I Recommend. We really want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Zune, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , call our voiceline at 1-347-433-5389 (Geek-FTW) , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. Show notes will be below. We hope you enjoy!

Show Note Links

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 9

Stuart Pitchford — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:07 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 9.

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 8

Stuart Pitchford — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:09 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 8.

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 7

Stuart Pitchford — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:00:35 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 7.

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 6

Stuart Pitchford — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:00:06 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 6. This is the end of Part 1.

I Recommend- Episode 20

William McDonald — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:22:36 +0000

This week we have lots of Marvel Movie news to go along with the release of Iron Man 3 as well as what we have been watching and at the very end of the show we have a Spoiler talk on Iron Man 3 so if you haven’t watched it yet you can pause it and come back when you have seen it or just skip it if you never plan on seeing the movie.

If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. We really want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Zune, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , call our voiceline at 1-347-433-5389 (Geek-FTW) , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. We hope you enjoy!

Show Note Links

The GeeksFTW- Episode 142

Stuart Pitchford — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:20:13 +0000

Another episode of The GeeksFTW! Podcast is here. We talk a bit about William’s new 3DS and more Nintendo talk this week. William also goes on a rant about Xbox apps.

Show Note Links

Video: Asura’s Wrath Playthrough: Episode 5

Stuart Pitchford — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:00:49 +0000

Stuart continue’s to play Asura’s Wrath in episode 5.

The MMO Geek: Neverwinter Impressions

Eric Decker — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:14:10 +0000

Dungeons and Dragons always fascinated me as a kid. This sort of creative mentality that was designed to let you have all kinds of wondrous adventures greatly appealed to me. That said, I never had any friends who were interested in playing, and my parents wouldn’t have been thrilled with 13-year-old me hanging out with a bunch of 20- and 30-somethings who were confident in the rules. So I held off until many years later when some friends and I finally mustered up the resources, time, and understanding to give it a try. It was a lot of fun, but as someone who got roped into the role of Dungeon Master, I also found it to be a lot of work, and I lacked the time and drive to get it done regularly.

I did have a chance to try DDO, and I love that game. Great experience and storytelling. However, it’s pretty old by this point and I was looking for something more.

Enter Dungeons and Dragons: Neverwinter. I’ve been playing this game for about a week now and I must say that I am impressed. In today’s MMO Geek, I want to talk about where this game succeeds, where it fails, and any other general observations.

Character creation

I have long been reluctant to get excited about Neverwinter, and a large portion of that probably is because of the limited class choices. A big thing for me in my gaming history has always been having a bevy of classes to choose from, and that is one area that Neverwinter is lacking. I understand that eventually they hope to include far more (I think I read one estimate that placed the total at 30??), but with timeline for release or schedule to expect, I’m skeptical that we’ll get anything in a timely fashion. The current choices don’t stir up much excitement in me either: the Guardian Fighter, the Great Weapon Fighter, the Devoted Cleric, the Trickster Rogue (the class I chose), and the Control Wizard. You have far more variation in race (seven total; eight if you buy a $200 founder’s pack), so that gives a bit more customization, as well as a few background choices that add a bit of flavor to your character (where they’re from ,what deity they worship, etc.)

Overall, not bad character customization, with plenty of sliders for you to tweak your character’s look. I still find the class selection rather limited.

Tell me a story

Neverwinter’s story is fairly well done. You pick up right after the events of the opening credit sequence and are immediately thrust into the fray, fighting various undead and helping to push back the forces threatening to overwhelm the city of Neverwinter. All the quests I have done up to this point have been fairly entertaining, despite being fairly straight-forward “Kill 10 rats,” and “Bring 12 items” quests. This is partially because combat is so damn fun. The game is very much an action RPG, and I love the satisfying animations as my rogue dashes and slashes, carving up all the weak little enemies who stand in my way. The game is fully voice-acted, which also adds to the excitement of doing quests.

I’d be remiss not to mention The Foundry when talking about story. Upon hitting level 15, the Foundry puts dungeon-making tools in the players’ hands and lets them go to town on creating their own adventurers for their friends (and random strangers). While the tools are a bit complex (don’t expect to just jump into the editor and churn out 10 dungeons in a night), they really allow for a great deal of creativity while creating. I realize this features has been included in other games (City of Heroes, Star Trek Online), but as a game that is set in the DnD universe, it was bound to have some great creations. Perhaps the best quest I’ve done so far has been a player created one where you are asked to solve the mystery of a strange family history. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but if you get a chance, look up the “From the Shadows” quest line. You won’t be sorry!

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder

Many criticized World of Warcraft’s graphics for being too cartoony, and while Neverwinter’s graphics aren’t quite as dramatic, they still have a certain style to them that I hesitate to define as realistic. That said, the look of the game is absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is crisp and varied (to some extent) and the lighting is fantastic. The various areas do a wonderful job of setting the mood for whatever little dungeon crawl it is you are about to embark upon.

Cost of living

It’s all well and good that Neverwinter is free to download and free to play. However, that comes at the hefty cost of a fairly substantial cash shop. The folks at Perfect World have made it perfectly clear that while you don’t have to spend money on their game, it certainly will make things go a TON faster. For instance, horses typically cost five gold in-game. By the time I was of an appropriate level to buy a horse (level 20), I had just barely over two gold. Alternatively, you can buy a mount off of their cash shop. This sort of idea is fairly common in F2P games nowadays. The thing that sets Perfect World and Neverwinter apart, however, is the fact that as of this moment, these items are extremely expensive. To give you an idea, if I’m not mistaken a mount costs $30. As a recent college graduate, I have a really hard time justifying that.

Again, as Perfect World has said, you are never forced to buy anything. Everything in the cash shop can be achieved simply by playing the game (albeit far more than someone who has employed the cash shop) with the exception of the keys needed to unlock the epic lockboxes you occasionally find. That said, until the prices come down, I think I’ll have a hard time plopping down the money to take advantage of any available items.

A world of adventure awaits

Despite some of the issues with the cash shop and class selection options, I still must give Neverwinter a positive recommendation. The game feels very polished and runs great, and the sense of adventure you get from completing the various missions cannot be overstated. For those of you familiar with the Neverwinter setting and with Dungeons and Dragons in general, I think you’ll love it. For those of you who have never set foot into an online game or just don’t have experience with tabletop roleplaying, I think you’ll also enjoy the world that Cryptic has carefully crafted.

Download the game, make a character, pour yourself some ale, and get adventuring. If you’d like to play a bit with my Trickster Rogue, look for me on “Eburk” on the Mindflayer shard.

Happy gaming!