My friends are a good influence on me

With all the holiday games coming out this season I don't think I know of any friends that can afford them all. And nobody likes buying a game because of the hype only to find it's a dud once they start playing it. That's why some of my friends have been talking about one of them buying a game, playing it, and then letting everyone else know 1) whether it's worth the full price as new, 2) wait until it's cheaper, 3) rent it, or 4) stay as far away from it as you can get. This process only works as long as you trust your friends and have the same taste in game. Or, if not, know what your tastes are and how those differ from your friends. And that got me thinking about the games I've picked up from the influence of my friends.

There are a lot of games that I picked up because of my brother dain bramage. But those games, and the "why"'s of how I got them I'll save for a later post. This will be about my friends online so all of these games will be "newer" compared to what dain influenced me with.

The first game my friends influenced me to get was Gears of War. I can't tell you how many times I was playing Star Wars Battlefront on my original Xbox when Cleelost and eventually El Sand Dog would send me invites to play that game. It was one I considered getting but it would require me to buy an Xbox 360 and I wanted to wait as long as I could before I did that. I eventually caved and bought the game and system and the rest, they say, is history.

I watched dain play Chromehounds many times with CyberWrat and Zenra Nukenin and while I enjoyed watching I never thought I would play it because it was so far out of my comfort zone. One day, for some reason, dain had me sit in for him while he did something else. I didn't know what I was doing but Cyber, Zenra and everyone else in the squad didn't mind. They were nice, courteous, and very understanding of a noobie that not only didn't know how to play the game but wasn't all that interested in playing it either. That soon changed.

I found a cheap copy of the game and joined the squad myself. I had a steep learning curve but they never minded when I couldn't help or contribute to the team. They constantly offered advice and parts and helped me build a hound that would fit my style of game play. Because of that I learned to like the game (I wouldn't go so far as to say I love it) and I made some great friends and strengthened the bonds with existing ones.

When it comes to racing games I prefer cart racing to realistic racing. If I want to see/do that I could just go out on the freeway. Cyber recommended Burnout Revenge as a realistic type game with some cart racing type elements to it. I saw him play the game many times and when I found a cheap copy I bought it. Instead of just trying to race, the game offers the chance and reward of hitting people or doing spectacular jumps and crashes. Not very realistic, but also not very cart racing style either. I liked the game and I still enjoy playing it today. Unfortunately I lost all my saves and rankings when my stuff got stolen so now I'm starting from scratch again.

I can't tell you how many days I saw Quality JimBeam and Genghis Khan and c5ride playing Fallout 3. I heard about the game but since I haven't done well in open world games in the past I wasn't itching to play this game. After countless hours of listening to them harp about the game's virtues I decided to get it myself. While I didn't get far in the game outside the vault (another stolen casualty) I really did like the time I spent playing it so much so that I pre-ordered Fallout: New Vegas. It takes a lot of me to play a game very little but like it enough to pre-order the sequel. I'm looking forward to F:NV now if I could just find the time to finish the first one.

I also remember when Marvel Ultimate Alliance came out. All my friends were excited about getting to play their favorite comic book heroes. I have comic books, but they're all Star Wars ones. I've never been into the other comic book heroes. Although I do remember watching a cartoon on TV with the Wonder Kids ("wonder twin powers activate") but I don't remember what show that was. I had several friends get that game and play it a lot. I wasn't really going to get it but Hell Weasell and G Sneaka wouldn't take no for an answer. They kept telling me about the game, comparing it to other games I might have played, and I think they might even have guaranteed I would like it. So I bought it.

By the time I got around to buying it most of my friends have moved on from that game. But Weasell and Sneaka have played with me while I work my way through the game. And they were right. I do like the game.

One game I knew nothing about before it came out, and very little about once it did, was Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. I saw Genghis play this for hours on end. He said he's probably played it for 100 hours yet still hasn't advanced the main story line. He was doing nothing but side quests. When I asked him about it he said it's like an open world Balder's Gate style game. Different, but close enough for my understanding. He said you'd put in hours and hours in the game and it would well worth the price. And I'm for getting my money worth on a game. He also warned me that I would need to spend large chunks of time playing it instead of short 10-15 sessions I usually get in games.

This was one of the hardest games for me to find, but when I did, it was a reasonable price so I got it. It took some times getting familiar with the menu system and map settings but I was just starting to like the game when it was stolen. One day I'm going to make sure I don't have anything to do and I'm just going to sit down and play this game. I'm sure I won't get far in the story with all those side quest, but I know I'll love every minute of it.

The hardest game for me to find, once I decided to get it, was also the game that took the most convincing and the longest time before I got it. That was Civilization Revolution.

I remember playing the demo when the game first came out but I just couldn't get a handle on the game. I deleted the demo and never thought about the game again. That was until QJB started playing it constantly not too long ago. When I asked him about the game what he told me about it didn't match up with the demo I had played many months (or years?) earlier so I didn't put the two ideas together. Based on his comments I decided to download the demo and found out I had already done so, but still didn't connect the dots. Once the game started however, I realized this was the one that I felt was trying to show me the game in gibberish. My first playthrough of my second download of this demo didn't go so well. I talked to QJB about it and he gave me pointers and tips about the game. I tried the demo again and things started to make sense. I think I played through the demo several times each time wanting to play a little bit more than what the demo offered because I was getting interested in the game. So I decided to buy it.

Unfortunately this was the hardest game to find. I did find it once but when I opened the case there was no booklet inside. I've implemented a policy that I won't buy a used game unless the booklet is included. I just like having a layout of the button/controls just in case I forget. I know I can find that information in the game but it's easier to read sometimes from the booklet. I think it took me two months to find a copy of this game (booklet included) after going into every GameStop between work and home several times a week (there are 6 stores nearby my house or on the way home from work).

Even after I got the game and started to play the full version I realized there was still a lot of stuff I didn't understand about the game. Thankfully QJB provided great "after purchase customer service" and walked me through a lot of the game. This turned out to be a game that sucked several hours out of my game time without me even noticing. I was warned about that, but I didn't believe it. Now I know better.

In addition to disk games there have been a few Arcade games that I've picked up from the recommendations of friends.

Death Spank is one of them. Sneaka said the humor in it was twisted and wrong . . . and that I would love it. How could you pass up something like that. Although I've had some problems in the game, he was right about the humor. And all my other friends who played it said it matches Sneaka's sense of humor . . . and they were right too.

I also picked up Monday Night Combat because of Sneaka. I'm not very good at it and I only know how to play the assault character type but it's the camaraderie of playing with friends that I like the most of that game. And the times when I get sneaky and kill someone. I am getting better at that.

I picked up Battlefield 1943 based on a suggestion from Evil Ric. I had been getting burned out on Call of Duty games but he said this game was different. It was and it wasn't. I never played it as much as my other friends so now I've left alone to get that "play 100 games" achievements which is actually harder now because the game has gotten so laggy.

I picked up Gin Rummy to play with Zenra and because I'm a huge gin rummy fan. It's nice to sit and play a game and have a civil and polite conversation with someone. I wished more of my friends had a copy of that game so we could all play it like we all played Uno back in the day.

I also picked up SpyGlass Board Games based on some conversations with Kralon. I like playing chess, checkers and othello (reversi in that game) but I wasn't sure if the price was worth it. It has been, except for the fact that I can't seem to beat the AI in checkers so I can get that last achievement.

I might not like my friends talking about games I have and spoiling the plot for me but I do listen to them when they talk about the games I don't have. Sometimes I pick them up and sometimes I don't. I think Red Dead Redemption is a game I never will get because of what my friends said about it and the fact my friends now know what types of games I like and don't like. They said I wouldn't like the open world aspect of it.

I consider all of this advise and influence good on me and my gaming. I've picked up games I probably wouldn't have paid attention to otherwise. Unfortunately my friend's advice is a bad influence on my bank account. Maybe I should start sending them the bill when I pick up a game they recommend. I wonder if they would stop recommending games if I did that. I wonder what hidden gems I would miss out because of that.

Gaming Goals

I've decided I'm going to set goals when it comes to my gaming, but I'm not going to call them New Year Resolutions. Why? Partly because I haven't been very good at setting them at the beginning of the year (and finishing them in the year as well). And partly because setting a resolution sounds like you're trying to make yourself do something that's painful or distasteful . . . like a diet. I've decided to call my goals "Gaming Goals" and I can set them any time I like. A "goal" sounds much more pleasant than a "resolution". And it means you're working towards something, not forcing yourself to do something. But maybe that's just me.

For now here are the Gaming Goals I've sent for myself. Their deadline is open-ended unless otherwise stated.

1. Finish Final Fantasy VII (I think this one has made the list for the last three years in a row) by June 15th
2. All achievements in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2), Lego Star Wars II (9), Catan (2), Puzzle Quest (3), and Spyglass Board Games (1)
3. $100,000 bankroll achievement in Texas Hold 'em
4. Get my gamerscore to 11,111 exactly
5. Post on my blog at least 3 times a week (feel free to rag on me about this one if I don't keep it up)
6. Finish Lost Odyssey story
7. Get that pesky achievement in Soltrio Solitaire for winning at all classic games (not including expansion packs) (I forget what the achievement is called)
8. Finish Insane mode with Evil Ric in Gears of War (the first one)
9. Finish that last @#$%! level in Feeding Frenzy
10. Find my Star Wars The Force Unleashed disk (I still have boxes to unpack)

So what do you think? What are your Gaming Goals?

The early bird gets the game

Okay, so I have two rants to give you today. They're both related, kind of like ugly half-siblings of each other so you're going to get them all in one package. Now who said America wasn't a melting pot any more?

Rant #1:

Gamerscore cheaters on new games.

Yes, I know people will do things to boost their gamerscore. You know, play in matches with friends only and doing things specifically just to get an achievement. I've done that occasionally. But only on the hard to get achievements because nobody plays the game (thanks Kralon for playing Spyglass Board games). The Bog map in Gears of War was the exception, but then again NOBODY likes playing that map.

What irks me is that people were getting 200 out of 200 gamerscore on Fable II Pub Games long before Fable II came out. How could they do that when one of the achievements in the Pub Games is to play as your character from Fable II? If you don't have Fable II there's no way you could get that achievement unless you cheated somehow. And even if you had the game you're still cheating because Fable II wasn't suppose to be until today. Which leads me to rant #2....

Rant #2:

People who get highly anticipated games long before they're available to the rest of us.

A couple of days ago I noticed one of the friends on my list was playing Fable II. When I saw him playing the game I got mad . . . and jealous. It's a big convoluted story that he knows someone who works in a game store and sells him a different game for $60 bucks but gives him the Fable II game instead. His inventory doesn't match up but his books will at the end of the month. To me that's cheating. And it should be illegal. If a game isn't suppose to be out until October 22nd there shouldn't be people out there playing it on October 21st or any earlier.

Then last night while playing Gears of War one of my friends said someone on his list was playing Gears of War 2. They were online looking for matches. Excuse me? Doesn't Gears 2 come out sometime in November? Last time I looked it was still October. And did he really think he'd find someone to play with this early? The rest of us just sit in growing excitement and anticipation until when the game is really suppose to come out while cheaters get the game early and get to play it? That is so not right.

Microsoft made a huge deal about banning anyone found playing Halo 3 prior to the release date. Everyone who got it early had to make sure they didn't log into Xbox Live until after the release date so nobody would know when they got the game. Of course that meant they couldn't play online multiplayer matches. Don't you just feel for those cheaters? I know Halo 3 was Microsoft's baby but don't you think they could do the same thing for Fable II and Gears of War II? Those are huge games for Microsoft. They might not be games Microsoft owns or developed themselves but I think they've done more for the system than the Halo series has. At least more good. If someone refers to a "trash-talking gaming idiot" must likely they say "trash-talking, Halo gaming idiot". I'm just saying.

So while the rest of us are abiding by the law and will wait (impatiently) until the official release date to pick up a game why can't those who cheat get some kind of punishment? How about a ban from Xbox Live for a week? I'd like to hear them say it wasn't their fault they opened up the game, stuck it in their Xbox 360 and started playing when they didn't know they weren't suppose to. Come on. Any gamer worth their salt is going to know the release date of games they're interested in. And any store who sells games early (legally or otherwise) should be fined.

The early bird might get the game, but I hope they get banned as well.