Tonight we talk about several things that Blizzard claimed were impossible, making their way into the 9.1.5 patch.  Is this fan service or an act of desperation in trying to stem the hemorrhaging of players?  From there we talk about how other games have done a better job of making sure that players’ feedback was heard and understood.  Thalen talks about the release of Psychonauts 2 and how it has been a long time coming.  Kodra discusses the frustrations of the game featuring callbacks to a virtual-reality-only game that very few players have been able to experience.  From there we talk about Marvel Crisis Protocol, a skirmish scale miniatures game as well as the revolving door of miniature games that have come and gone from game stores.  Finally, we preview a topic for next week, as we talk about all of the weird places that Magic the Gathering is going to go this coming year.

Topics Discussed

  • Blizzard Eats Crow
    • Undoing Covenant Restrictions
    • Undoing Conduit Energy
    • Fanservice Racial Changes
    • Too little too late
    • Why we still can’t play Blizzard games
  • Psychonauts 2
    • Connections to previous games
    • Collectable platformers
  • Marvel Crisis Protocol
    • Marvel Skirmish Miniatures
    • Coming and going of Miniature games
Direct download: aggrochat_episode357.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:20am EDT

Tonight we start off with the travails of Belghast attempting to heal things on Scholar.  Kodra chimes in with his own experiences in the same class.  Bel talks a bit about getting to the bottom of the weird obsession that seems to be taking place with hitting +99/+99 aetherpool as fast as humanly possible in Palace of the Dead.  This leads to some discussions of WoW mindsets showing up in FFXIV players.  Bel and Ammo talk a bit about The Diadem and super chill leveling gatherers.  We talk at length about Wildermyth and how it does an excellent job of replicating the tabletop RPG experience in a digital interface.  Finally, we talk a bit about Art Software and Ash’s explorations of what works for him with Ammo and Bel chiming in a bit towards the end.

Topics Discussed:

  • Bel Trying to Heal Stuff
  • Gotta get 99/99 Fast
    • WoW Mentalities in FFXIV
  • The Diadem
  • Wildermyth
  • Adventures in Art Software
Direct download: aggrochat_episode356.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:15am EDT

Tonight we start the show with some discussion of copyright trolls trying to prove how broken our system is by copyrighting a Magic the Gathering deck.  From there Grace talks about her experiences with the Kickstarter Kitfox game Boyfriend Dungeon.  We revisit The Ascent as Bel, Grace, and Thalen have now played the game and relate their experiences of how it is not really Diablo but also really enjoyable.  Ashgar and Kodra share their experiences of playing Bullet <3 in co-op and the challenges it presents.  Bel talks a bit about the most recent controversy in FFXIV of people freaking out about Cruise Chaser not being a PVP mount and instead sold on the store.  We talk a bit about Moonfire Faire and the bear friend mount.  Finally, we wrap things up with a discussion of Katana Zero and Kodra’s experience playing it.

Topics Discussed:

  • Copyrighting your Magic Deck
  • Boyfriend Dungeon
    • The Joys of Smooching Swords
  • The Ascent
    • Grace, Bel, and Thalen have played now
  • Bullet <3 Co-Op
  • Cruise Chaser Controversy
  • FFXIV Moonfire Faire
  • Katana Zero
Direct download: aggrochat_episode355.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 10:56am EDT

Tonight we start off with Bel confessing his love for a class that he never expected to like in FFXIV, the Dancer.  From there we talk a bit about FFXIV in general and how weird the Bozjan Front is.  Tam shares with us a game that is actually way more in the wheelhouse of Bel, Grace, and Thalen and is effectively Cyberpunk-themed Diablo.  The Ascent is a game that was shown at E3 and actually the final product is pretty great.  A topic that has been hanging on the list for a while is some discussion of Civilization 6 multiplayer and contrasting it to previous versions of the game.  More specifically Kodra shares his experiences playing with asymmetrical difficult levels.  We talk a bit about MTG Arena leaning into its computer game nature and doing some things that absolutely would break paper magic.  Finally, we talk some about the board game Bullet Heart.

Topics Discussed

  • Final Fantasy XIV
    • Dancer
    • Bozjan Southern Front
  • The Ascent
    • Cyberpunk Diablo
  • Civilization 6 Multiplayer
    • Assymetrical Difficult Settings
  • Magic Arena
    • Historic Horizons
  • Bullet Heart
Direct download: aggrochat_episode354.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 11:04am EDT

Tonight we had the whole gang back and start the show talking about how Bel was apparently replaced by a totally different person as he both healed a few dungeons and ran raid content in FFXIV as a mage class.  From there we talk a bit about Blaugust which is starting the day this show releases.  The rest of the show is sort of a rapid-fire remembering of games that had dropped off our radar over the years or that we just plain forgot about.  We talk about MMORPGs gone by, games that had DLC releases, or just games that we started but never actually got back around to playing.  We dive a bit into Genshin Impact and the most recent content release as well as apparently the ability to play your pc/mobile account on the PlayStation 5.  Lastly we finish the show with a discussion of Ghostrunner, a movement puzzle platformer game featuring a deep cyberpunk aesthetic.

Topics Discussed

  • Bel Heals and Does Castery Things in FFXIV
  • Blaugust 2021 is Here
  • Great Games that dropped off our radar
    • Games we forgot about
    • Games we have returned to
    • Games that got good when we weren’t looking
  • Genshin Impact
  • Ghostrunner
Direct download: aggrochat_episode353.mp3
Category:gaming -- posted at: 9:53am EDT

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