The Legend of John Royce , a Mount & Blade: Warband story.

“Ser, they’re at the gates!”

John Royce sighed. He strode past the anxious defenders, noting their shifty eyes and uneasy expressions. One of the guardsmen was in silent prayer, his mouth forming silent words that were only for his comfort. Others have taken the habit of sharpening their swords or axes, furiously scraping the sharp edges in hopes of getting their minds out of the upcoming battle.

“We’re too few,” John Royce thought, “There’s no way we can stand against an entire Khergit army.”

He still remembered the breeze that entered when the soaked messenger stepped into the inn, handing him a sealed letter from the castellan.  It took him half a day to assemble what men he could lay his hands on, and immediately set forth for Segunda Castle.

It was a close shave once they reached their destination. The enemy was sighted almost immediately when the gates closed behind his men, sparing no respite for John Royce and his weary troops. At least he could take comfort that he was on the right side of the walls.

He made his ascent up the stairs leading to the battlements, trying to stay focused on the current situation. Perhaps they could repel the invaders long enough for Swadian reinforcements to arrive. Segunda Castle, however, was secluded from the friendly capital cities, and John Royce could only place his hopes that one of the lords would pass by during a patrol.

“Ser, they built a siege tower over the night. I think they mean to attack soon.” Jeremus said, peering out of the distance. He was one of Royce’s retinue, bodyguards and advisors, and had a keen eye for mechanical structures. John Royce looked out at the direction, and true to his word, he saw a tall pillar amidst the fog. It was growing larger in every second he stared.

“With all due respect, ser, they outnumber us three to one. Is there hope in fighting such a battle?” Jeremus questioned. He pointed at the dark mass of Khergit troops in the distance.

“I can see experienced knights, trophies hanging from their armor… the banners of multiple Khergit houses wave in the midnight air. Ser, can you not see this is suicide?”

“What would you have me do, then?” Royce shot back. “Surrender the castle? They would not let us leave peacefully. We’ve slain far too many Khergit men and women to simply settle this on a compromise.”

It was true. The Swadian-Khergit conflict left countless dead, and a great number of villages looted and pillaged. There was too much hatred between both armies for such matters to be resolved by diplomacy, the moment was long gone. Jeremus opened his mouth, but closed it the next second, clearly out of words to say. He swallowed, and slowly nodded.

“Best get ready, Jeremus.” Royce put on his steel horned helmet. “Tell the troops to make ready. If they seek to claim Segunda with their men, they’ll have to pay a very high price for it.”

P.S: Just a lil' sample from Mount & Blade: Warband. It's a must-get if you get a hard-on for medieval times. Manage your own army! Serve a kingdom or strive to take over it! So many things! It's like Game of Thrones, but you're the spotlight! Get it now!

-Airalien 

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A Gamer's Woes: Tick Tock, Stop the Clock!

 

“Wow, the complete Assassin’s Creed collection going for 50% off! That’s such a steal!” – My exact words about 6 months ago during the Winter Steam Sale. 

Why are you waiting for, my inner voice went. Assassin’s Creed is a good game. 50% off for the entire series was the best you can get. My cursor slowly went towards the add to cart button. In just a few minutes, I could be in Jerusalem, or Venice, stabbing Templars and exploring my heart out.

Ah, another voice more deep and menacing, but will you have TIME for it?

Well, shit.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about till now, this basically outlines the story of every gamer who faces cheap deals and offers for various games. It’s not the deals that are bad, of course, they’re super great! It’s the lack of time to finish said purchased games is what I’d like to highlight.

But they’re just video games! Sure, they may be just that. But inside each video game is a story waiting to be told. It’s like buying a dozen books from a bookstore and putting them on the shelf to collect dust. That just won’t do! I want to know how Altair eventually regains his honour among the Assassins, to see Mass Effect’s Shepherd finally repelling the Reaper’s conquest and bring peace to the galaxy once again, and to experience how Joel and Ellie cope with the wasteland in The Last of Us.

But I can’t do that, because of constraints. I’d have to work, obviously, and there are commitments towards the family, and friends.

Now, I’m not saying I would rather cut ties with my social life just to finish my games. But sometimes, I’d just like to sit down and finish a whole series without being interrupted. I’ve too many damn games in my Steam account that’s just begging to be played and I can’t seem to find the right time to do so.

During a week’s break, I actually played through the entire Mass Effect series and boy, was I glad. It felt so good knowing that you’ve accomplished all that first-hand, instead of reading boring text from some Wikipedia page. I spent about 100 hours (because I’m an over-achiever in these type of games, I might need help soon) on the whole game, and I’ve no regrets; it was a good tale worth the duration.

But there’s still plenty for me to go, and that’s a long road for me to walk. With the upcoming Steam Summer Sale 2013, I’d best be prepared for more unfinished stories to carry while I attempt to clear the ones I’ve already have in my hands.

Rushing through these games kills your enthusiasm for it too. When Borderlands 2 first came out, we had very little time to play, and we ended up skipping many side missions to complete the game itself. In the end, we were pretty burnt out and had no idea where the story was leading us. It ruined the experience for me, and felt like a chore to play the game.

But why not just stop buying them? Isn’t it that easy? It is easy. I could just unsubscribe my credit card off my Steam account; try to avoid the internet for about a week, and presto, no more worries! But gaming is in my blood, and these deals are like nectar, even though it may seem like a no-brainer to some. There’s always that little tiny voice inside me that comforts me, telling me that I’d definitely make the time for this specific game, despite the other ten it convinced me to buy during previous sales.

I may sound insane, but this is common to many others who are familiar with such gaming deals. Our blog is even based off from the problem (now you get it). It may feel like a psychological problem, but it’s not a horrible driving need, more like an annoyance, knowing that you can never complete those great stories waiting for you back home while you’re stuck at the office.

Sometimes, I’d wish I could just freeze time and space, turn on my computer, finish all my games, and let real life resume. But unless I stumble upon a universal remote controller straight from Click, I’d take my chances on salvaging what time I have. Real life isn’t all that bad, of course. Family and friends are still the way to roll on Earth, in the end.

But just let me stab the Templars first before we decide on the weekend’s plans, please?

-Airalien

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A Gamer's Woes : Multiplayer Gaming In My Region

In this day and age, an integral part of gaming is of course, multiplayer gaming.

A lot of people love it; being able to play with/against other players make awesome experiences which you just can't get with just AIs. I love it too. Here at WGT Gamers, we enjoy playing online games with each other, be it against other people or just good old fashioned co-op.

Since multiplayer is so popular these days, there are quite a variety of multiplayer games to indulge in. Most of them are pretty popular with large communities, such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike, DOTA, League of Legends and many, many more. Then of course, there are the lesser known multiplayer games such as, Natural Selection 2, Chivalry : Medieval Warfare or War Of The Roses, just to name a few.

Well this post isn't about me just stating the different multiplayer games that are available, it's to shed some light on a huge gripe I have with multiplayer gaming, in my region at least. I've always enjoyed multiplayer in games, mainly because I can play with my friends ; achieve something great with our team work, or just messing around having mindless fun. Lately though, I've taken refuge in a lot of single player games because....well....there just aren't any multiplayer games to play. 

WELL HOLD UP NOW LETTUCE, YOU JUST LISTED A BUNCH OF GAMES IN THE PARAGRAPHS ABOVE!

Maybe I didn't phrase it correctly; there's noone to play online with.

I live in Singapore; well all of us here at WGT Gamers are Singaporeans. If you want to play online games with low ping here in little SG, that's not a problem with AAA titles such as Call Of Duty,Battlefield 3 or Counter Strike ; there's always people playing those games.It's no problem playing those games because they're so popular.

Then of course there are games like League Of Legends and DOTA which are immensely popular here in Singapore. You can easily just play those games online with no problems. The manpower is there, because the interest is there.......and I guess that's the problem.

I recently received a code for War Of The Roses, which is a multiplayer medieval-themed game. I've wanted to play it in the past, but didn't get to it. So, I thought that was cool and proceeded to download the game on Steam and play it. I went in, customized my avatar's symbol and colours, did the tutorial for a while and then went to the server browser to finally kick some ass online. The server with the lowest ping was 231.

I wasn't surprised, I've experienced this multiple times before in games like Tribes : Ascend, Natural Selection 2, Chivalry : Medieval Warfare, Primal Carnage, which are all really awesome, great multiplayer games. I just can't play those games because there are no servers to play on. I do see many high ping servers from other regions like Europe and America and I'm just so jealous that those people in those countries are able to play these games easily.

I have no problems playing Counter Strike or Battlefield 3, I own them and I enjoy playing them. However, there are some instances where I just want to play something of a different pace and setting. I do not enjoy actions RTSes like DOTA and LOL, they don't interest me at all. Now I'm just worried for the multiplayer games that'll be coming in the future, whether there'll be servers for me to play on. I won't be able to experience those games just because not enough people play those games in my region, and that's just sad.

Maybe I'm just oblivious to a hidden secret society of Singaporeans that play these games. If I am, then take this post as a distress call to save me from just playing the same old multiplayer games. If there is indeed a sanctuary where Singaporeans actually play other multiplayer games, I'm calling out to you..............save me.

For now, I'll just stay in my hole, appreciating my single player games. Single player games are awesome.

- Lettuce

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Any last words? YES DAMMIT.

You know those times when you're casually playing a friendly game of Counter-Strike (or any other game for that matter) with your buddies, when suddenly some young competitive punks who think they're MLG material drop by to rain on your parade? Turning that fun-filled match into a swear-filled, sweat-producing and rage-inducing tournament?

WHERE'S THE REST OF THE TEAM CAN'T LET THOSE KIDS BEAT ME ARGHGHGHGHH!!!11!!!!11

Well, if you're a victim of that, fret not! Watch this video and shed manly tears that these wrong-doers have at least been served justice! (Or just watch the video and laugh your heart out, your call. Still shed manly tears, though.)

-Airalien

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Who needs the Dragonborn?

So I was bored one day and decided to head back to Skyrim. The beauty of having endless user-generated mods is always a pleasure to try out. Especially this one:



It allows you to control almost ANY NPC's in the game. I figured I don't exactly have to be the Dragonborn to exact revenge against them bandits.

Here's the link if anyone's interested: http://www.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36047/

Be warned, it's still early in development, but it's performing fine for me.

-Airalien

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The Rebel Moment

I was looking through my stash of old CDs and look what I found!

Its none other than my old copy of Star Wars Rebel Assault 2.It was probably one of the first games I've ever played on the PC. I think I was about 5 years old when I first played this.

I popped it in but since its old software, it couldn't run on my Windows 7 PC. I had to use a DOS emulator, called DOSBox.

I successfully managed to get it running, and here's some of the gameplay I compiled.


- Lettuce

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Seeking Sanctum from extraterrestials.

You, especially those who frequent on Steam, may have heard of Sanctum. The prequel was generally well-received by those who played it when it came out in 2011. Unfortunately, it didn’t garner as much popularity among the community. My guess would be that many were probably unwilling to try out an intricate formula. The thought of playing first person in a tower defense game would probably put off most casual players.

I bought Sanctum during 2011 winter’s Steam Sale because it was dirt cheap (then again, every game is dirt cheap on a Steam Sale). However, I’ve not touched it till today for some reason. Every time I get around to playing it, something more important usually slaps me across the face and I forget about it.

So, when Sanctum 2 was released, I was definitely keen on playing it. Bought it immediately on Day 1 and began installing it the very next second.

I must say, I really enjoyed myself, even when I was playing solo. It really is a refresher from “serious” first person shooter games, and much simpler. Granted that they don’t possess the in-depth character personalities that Team Fortress 2 has for its classes, or a huge array of weapons like in the Modern Warfare series, Sanctum 2 comes with its own charm that has got me head over heels.

It’s definitely more fun when played with other people. Coordinating your efforts, sharing resources and the occasional “trying to kill your buddy with the falling building placement” is what keeps you from growing tired of this game. Especially in the last waves, where strong, durable enemies come out to obliterate your core (the thing you’re supposed to protect); holding that last stand with your teammates brings out certain camaraderie amongst strangers.

Definitely try out Sanctum 2 if you’re in need of a different recipe for a first person shooter from the others out there currently. If you have friends in the same position, I would strongly advise you grab them now and blast some aliens away.

-Airalien

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