Harth Plays - Borderlands 2

I've started a Borderlands 2 let's play on my Youtube channel with a friend. I'm playing The Siren, Maya, and he's playing The Gunzerker, Salvador. Borderlands 2 is great, great fun; Come check it out!

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On Video Game Reviews

So I said in my last post that I was going to expand upon why I tend to (when referring to game reviews) as "Reviews". The reasoning behind this is because my idea of a game review is much different than what the industry standard tends to be. I find that many of the things common in industry standard reviews to be practices that misrepresent games which causes, sometimes horrendously, inaccurate statements about the game to be made.

Many of the issues I have with most reviews stem from one major thing. That thing being number ratings. Number rating tend to be incredibly skewed towards one end of the spectrum. On a scale of 10, games all tend to mass up around the 7.5-8.5 range. This means that the scale essentially becomes 5-10 because 5 would then be considered a below average or even completely bad game. Nullifying half of the scale defeats the purpose of having the scale to begin with. Ideally, around a score of 5 is a score that would be considered average because that's the middle of the scale.

A New Beginning: Part 2?

A new beginning... again? I remember making this blog because I wanted to get back into writing about video games but that never really went anywhere because of my Youtube channel. I made a few sparse news updates and some opinion stuff but I never really went anywhere with it. 

However, I've "rebranded" myself once again. This time it is something (hopefully) more legitimate, if you will. This time I'll hopefully get around to doing something with it as well. Ideally, I'd like to get back into daily updates but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

This time around I'm planning on writing various pieces on interesting news throughout the gaming industry, providing opinions on any subjects I feel necessary, and I'd like to get into "reviewing" as well. I say that with quotation marks for a reason that I'll delve into at a later time. I also intend for this to be a fair bit higher quality than some of my past blogging excursions. We'll see.

-Harth

... Actually, before I go, perhaps I should explain the new name. There isn't a particular reason behind the new branding of "Gamer Ward" but I feel that it kinda fits for some reason. My weird, messed up, pointless logic behind that is due to the definitions of the word Ward. One definition(as a noun) is simply a division/district of a city/town/hospital. 

The other (as a verb) is to avert, repel, or turn aside. I find that it kinda fits me because I'm usually drawn to shield-bearing or tank classes in MMOs and RPGs. One could also make subtle connections  to this blog helping ward off stupidity and dishonesty in gaming journalism. Although, that is probably taking it way too far and is probably a sign that I need sleep... or that I belong in a ward of the first definition.

The Growth of Starcraft II and E-Sports

--- Please note that when I say "just woke up", I mean I am still somewhat tired/half asleep. I apologize for any spelling/grammar issues. ---

I just woke up a few moments ago and saw, on Twitter, that iNcontroL had written a fairly lengthy proposal to the Starcraft community. In this proposal he requested that everyone be involved to make SC2 and e-sports become as big as they possibly can. He proposed that we show our players and our sponsors the love and support that they deserve. Please note what I said there. OUR players! OUR sponsors! They're the ones who allow e-sports, the greatest thing in the world, to exist. They're what allows e-sports to thrive and grow. And for that, they don't get enough love. I can't agree with iNcontroL more when he proposes that everyone tweet at, email, or get in contact in some way with their favorite players, teams, leagues, and sponsors to tell them how much you appreciate their work. It means a huge amount to everyone involved.

http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=287965

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm - Terran Units and Changes

Lastly, the mighty Terran Dominion. The Terran armies are getting a few new units and a couple of slightly surprising changes that may enrage some of you.

The Thor will be getting completely revamped in Heart of the Swarm. It will become much larger and, from what I've seen, is much closer to the Odin in the Wings of Liberty campaign than a current multiplayer Thor. Its price has been increased to something incredibly huge (I think it had a cost of 800 minerals although it may have been 600). It will also have a limitation of only allowing one on the field at a time just like the Protoss Mothership. It will be losing its anti-air capabilities and have them replaced with much more powerful bombardment cannons. It will require time to set up and pack up similar to a siege tank when it uses these cannons. It will still require an Armory and will also require a Fusion Core.

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm - Zerg Units and Changes

Zerg is getting several interesting changes in Heart of the Swarm. Let's get right to it.

The Zerg is getting the Overseer unit removed in favor of a new unit called the Viper.

The Zerg Viper

The Zerg Viper is a new unit intended to replace the Overseer. Blizzard sees the Overseer as "a failed opportunity" and have decided to create something entirely new with some very interesting abilities. First off, Blinding Cloud is an ability that reduces the range of all attacking units inside the cloud to that of melee range. It also prevents energy-based abilities from being used. Abduct is a Death Grip style ability that can be used to pull units towards the Viper allowing for easier picking off of high value targets such as Collosi. Lastly, the Viper has a one time use ability called Ocular Parasite. This ability rips the eye stalk off of the viper and attaches it to any non massive unit, granting that unit Detection.