Broken dreams are kicking off the World Championships this year. Earlier in the day Svenskeren was suspended by Riot, here's the official statement from Riot: Svenskeren Ruling Below are some images of the offending name change.
I wasn't born in Taiwan, but, I am Chinese and have been to Taiwan with my family many times. I can tell you now that I am a little cheesed that Svenskeren was so racially insensitive. But, that isn't my main gripe. It's that he did it both as a professional and on purpose. If you're a professional at anything whether it be a batter, a shout caster, or even a CEO you should always be aware of what you say and do. If you're going to be a public figure you should act accordingly. I get it players need to blow off steam and have fun, hell even I'm racially biased sometimes. Here's the clincher don't do it in public, you can have an opinion, even vocalize it. Just don't get caught.
The biggest problem with this is the community partially defending Svenskeren. I say partially because they believe the ruling was fair, but should have been postponed. Wake up call people, Svenskeren is a part of SK Gaming, he is responsible for his actions as a pro player. Defenders of SK Gaming believe Riot was in the wrong for punishing the entire team so close to the start up of the Championships by removing their star jungler. If a team can't control a single player's actions, then they should be punished respectively as entire team. Just because they're a starting player doesn't mean they should receive special treatment so that they can have a shot at being Champions. Just think of the news headlines if they won, Racially Insensitive Player leads team to Victory. Not only would that hurt Riots reputation for allowing it to pass. But, it hurts SK Gaming's reputation for allowing such a player to represent them.
Please post your opinions on this topic below. I'll answer any questions and even hold a reasonable debate if you'd like.
I might be giving praise too early and where it's unwarranted but over the course of the last 36+ hours I have systematically played through almost all of the story, as well as almost reaching the lvl 20 soft cap (currently lvl 19). I have fallen in love with the game literally. We've even had our first lover's quarrel where I threw my controller down in protest.Sit down, grab some popcorn and enjoy you're in for one hell of a review. (A long one at that)
Story: Eh? Well it's not bad, but I'm not a fan. Why am I not a complete fan you ask? Because, it feels and sounds like medieval space war. I mean for Christ's sake we have the main guidance and speaker refer to impending evil as the "Darkness" couldn't you have come up with something better than that Bungie? Then we also have this weird sense of hey let's include lines like "That Wizard came from the moon," "an evil more evil than all other evils." It feels poorly written in that sense. Hell even some levels reflect some weird medieval space theme (Hive bridges look like old metal rope bridges). Here's what I love about the lore. The integrated Grimoire cards. Seriously in a game that would otherwise be devoid of good lore these bit-sized pieces of story are easy to digest and add tons of depth to a rather ambiguous story and cliche trope. It's far from a perfect 10, I was actually expecting more from the Destiny story team since they gave us Halo. The lore there is vast wide and encompassing with a solid future feel. Here I feel like I'm taking a trip to a distant past before "humanity" as we know it ever existed. 7/10
Gameplay: Some of the best and worst of this game are here. My opinions have also changed within the last 36+ hours. The best part of this game is the leveling mechanic. It's simplistic yet enjoyable giving you a 2 tiered tree to grow you character. Eventually you'll max everything but the growth period is a fun one. It ties both the story and multiplayer customizations to one tree which I find quite attractive since it prevents me from having to replay the multiplayer to unlock "perks". Similarly, I find this system enjoyable for weapons; finding legendary and exotic weapons in the story is already a pain in the butt, I wouldn't really want to have to unlock them again in multiplayer.
Questing feels intuitive but unfortunately repetitive I often find myself on patrol missions redoing missions and hearing the same audio log twice. That's alright since there's a limited amount of data but, It wouldn't hurt to have different audio logs. On the note of repetition is where this game fails the hardest. There's this sort of rinse and repeat method of facing bosses and doing strike raids. That all result in the same tired mechanic of being trapped with a boss in this tiny room running in circle while doing tiny damage. I get it bosses are supposed to be tough but the problem I have here is the boss fights all feel the same. They need to vary this up with future dlc patches. Like instead of just running around dealing damage. Give bosses some actual mmo type skills force players to dodge one hit KO skillshots. (Even though I hate this mechanic in other MMOs I feel like destiny needs to spice things up)
The weapons system isn't perfect either, it's simplistic and intuitive, but, It feels dumb at the same time. You upgrade weapons and add stats by giving resources. But, that's all there is to upgrading weapons. I don't feel good about it since ultimately I'm not customizing my weapon I'm just enhancing it with powerups making it feel like any old MMO. I wish Destiny had taken the Ghost Recon method of guncrafting and employed it in their game. Would have fit the theme and deepened the weapons systems.
Overall the gameplay is still very solid. Character classes all feel unique, with uniquely fun subclasses. Shooter mechanics are rock solid and incredibly balanced although some weapons feel wholly overpowered in multiplayer coughshotguncough. For producing a solid experience with only real faults regarding repetitive gameplay, the game still garners a score of 8/10.
Graphics: Mmmm. The graphics for a console exclusive game right now these are quite fantastic. Defininently living up to the next gen hype. Water effects respond correctly and crisply. Textures are well done and models while limited are impressive. Here's where I have the most problem with the graphics, the models are SOOOOOO limited. I played the beta and was like, oh ok these are just choices for beta hopefully they'll have more for live. Eh, not really, what we saw in character models from the beta was basically what we got with a few improvements to overall character design. Hairstyles are extremely, limited to short styles with very little emphasis on future. Seriously cornrows? I'm pretty sure we all evolved out of that hairstyle ages ago. The facial animations and everything are fine but customization being limited and what not really made me sad. I was expecting to get something just a little less than Mass Effect level customization. Hell we couldn't even customize the height of our character and how hard is that? Sorry Jason, I lied at GDC, promising good reviews :(. That being said the models that are in the game are all incredibly well done. The animation doesn't break any of the characters and 90% of the time you don't even see your hair or face so it's ok.
Environments feel varied and lush with nothing feeling overly repetitive (Thank the stars). Unfortunately "dungeons" tend to be repetitive, but it actually ties in with the lore so I'm not so critical of this. Enemy types and models are extremely well done with lots of differentiation and easily extinguishable characteristics.
Giving us extremely well polished characters and environments while skimping out on some really good possible additions I give Graphics a solid 8/10. (Jason I will give you a better score if you guys give us more cosmetic options in future DLC, Longer hair, more markings,etc...)
Sound: I quite love the soundtrack. It brings me into each fight and makes me feel like I'm a certified alien killing badass. Gun firing sound FX reel could use some more variation. (I'm hoping that will improve with more weapons via DLC). Environmental Sound FX are amazing and I'm pretty sure I shit myself whenever I face the Hive. Those ear piercing shrieks are terrifying in the dark. Explosions sounds powerful and commanding and all minute details for reloading and masterfully done.
Seriously also having a commercial with Led Zeppelin totally awesome, amiright?
The sound department gets a 9/10 for almost perfect audio and including a led zeppelin song in the commercials.
Overall the game as an entire package only scores a 8/10 right now, still pretty solid if you ask me. With future DLC this awaits to be seen as it could fix some of my complaints. This game is a definite must have for all next gen console owners. Waiting to see how it pans out over the course of the next "10 years" will be a pleasure all its own.
Social System: For a game that wanted people to do co-op and
interact and as an MMO aficionado I find this area rather lacking, but it
doesn't factor into my score. I wanted to state it's incredibly difficult to communicate with other players and find friends and instead of being a social game played with others, I've found myself burning through the story alone. That in itself is troubling. There needs to be a system of communication available for players to easily interact with one another, if not in the actual maps then at least at the Guardian's Tower (The only main "town" in an MMO). Especially as the game gets harder and harder.
Yup I was lucky enough to get one of these CE editioned Destiny games.
Man is it sweet. You can check out the video and be a little bit jealous
here on youtube.
I'm sure this isn't really new news, I'm about to bet it's been floating on reddit for a few days now. But, we've been informed of Monte's retirement from the CLG coaching scene.
MonteCristo is stepping down as the coach of CLG. It became quite apparent during the LCS/playoffs that CLG needed an in-house coach among other things. While Monte has done plenty in pushing CLG forward not being available during key periods makes helping as a coach nearly impossible. The result? Relegation for CLG.
LCS isn’t the same scene it was two years ago, today the players need
to work almost around the clock to stay at the top of their game. Two years ago at the very birth of the League competitive scene it seemed ridiculous to hire a coach or analyst.
But in today’s scene a coach/analyst are so vital; they provide support and guidance that players sometimes can't recognize. Reginald has been outspoken about Monte’s coaching and has made this video in response.
Reginald's video points out the key problems with not having an on-site coach. Having raised TSM to the organization that it is, Reginald, I'm sure knows the pains of managing too many things at once. His Season 3 performance at world was lackluster at best. Reginald points to the fact that it isn't Monte's ability but the distance he has with his players (Quite literally continents).
Monte is a highly profiled analyst in E-sports and is highly
qualified. The problem isn’t his ability, the problem is that he is a
full time analyst/shoutcaster for OGN.
Monte had this to say :
“For the past year I’ve served as the coach for CLG, and it’s been an
honor to work with the team in the thick of the LCS. However, as time
went on it became increasingly clear that the organization requires an
in-house coach and that I could not fulfill the needs of the players as
long as I pursued my work in casting. Since I am choosing my career as
an analyst over a full-time position with CLG in 2015, I feel that it is
necessary to step back from my role as coach immediately. I am grateful
for the opportunity to work with Counter Logic Gaming and wish the
team, the staff, and George the best of luck in the future.”
Good luck to CLG in all their future games and here's my opinion on Monte's situation.
Most of what has been said is true and I agree with it. Monte's way too far away, no one, even in regular sports coaches from continents away. It's just not doable. That being said people criticizing Monte's talent as a coach/analyst/shoutcaster need to back off he has the credentials for it. If anyone has ever watched any sports analyst I'd say Monte stacks up quite nicely in his particular field.
Chairs the long neglected accessory. As a gamer we sit on our asses about 90% of the time the other 10% is for food, sleep, or other various things. Yet so often we neglect sitting in a proper posture or even in a proper chair. I've sat on everything from floors, to stools, to suitcases while playing games. Well, it sucks hardcore if you have to bear with that all the time. People who do it know what I'm talking about. Lower back pain, sweaty ass, etc... You get the idea. It's just downright uncomfortable or good for you.
A proper chair can really be your ticket to a successful gaming session.I'm here to recommend the DXRacer R-series chairs. I made an upgrade from this
Yeah that made me shudder too.
To this new chair.. You can see my rig here too~
Now I know that not everyone has the $240+ to spare, but let me just tell you to save up. you won't regret getting this chair. For the past 2 months that I've had this chair my posture has gotten better and my back aches are almost non-existent. I get less sweaty in this chair because of the breathable cloth.. (There is a leather option for this chair as well, for those who are able to always have the a/c on.) This is probably the best investment peripheral wise I've made and DXRacer has not disappointed me at all.
The materials they use are strong and the securing bolts are tightly attached. The chair tilts back 170 degrees with an additional 10degreees tilt from the released hydraulics bar. You'll be able to both sleep and game in this chair isn't the great. Fuck the bed.
The older model I have is no longer in production apparently. You may be able to find some on ebay or warehouse sites. But, the new chairs are at a higher price point with better materials. My chair came with a sturdy plastic base. The new chairs come with metal bases allowing for studier construction and adding longevity to the chair. In my mind that definitely justifies the new price point. You guys will just have to save for a bit longer or ask for a raise XD http://www.dxracer.com/art26_dxracer-oh-rc01-nr.html
