Yesterday was a bit of a cluster, as is the days that most console pre-orders go live. I was expecting something calm and orderly as it seemed to be with Sony’s system of signing up to pre-order, but that was not the case. Above is a link to the PlayStation 5 show that started at 3 pm my time and finally dropped the official price and release dates of the console. The all digital version I had been wanting would be going for $399 and the disc version for $499 and both consoles would be available starting November 12th. The consoles were to go up for pre-order on the 17th… aka today as I am writing this. That however is not at all what happened.
GameStop stores started doing in person pre-orders as the show as going on, and Walmart started their pre-order machine around 5:30 pm my time and was sold out before I had even managed to put one in my cart. Target dropped their pre-orders around 6:30 my time, and I had one in the cart but it sold out before I managed to successfully check out. Best Buy followed suit around 7 pm and once again I had one in the cart but they sold out while I was attempting to check out. Game Stop started online pre-orders around that time and by the time I even got the link they were sold out for both units. My last and only chance was Amazon and seemingly they started pre-orders at 10:30 last night… whereas I went to bed around 10:20 and once again missed the boat.
The logical part of my brain is telling me that there won’t be a single title that HAS to be played on the console until at least summer of 2021. However I am more than a little disappointed because I skipped upgrading to the PlayStation Pro thinking that the PS5 was just around the corner. As a result there is a huge backlog of PlayStation 4 era games that I have been waiting on diving into because I wanted to be able to play them in 4k. Once you get used to 4k there really is no going back, and I have been playing my PC Titles at that resolution for quite some time. Going back to the base PlayStation 4 just feels bad. Maybe I can snag a restock at some point along the line, but it seems like it is just not in the cards for me to get a PlayStation 5 this year.
So you remember that nonsense of signing up for the chance to pre-order through Sony? Well it turns out those emails also went out yesterday around 9 pm, with a second wave going out around 10 pm. I did not get an email in either case so that seemingly turned out to be nothing. This lottery is also not a guarantee, but instead you are given a unique URL that you then have to click on and try and order along with everyone else doing the same thing on Friday at 10 am Pacific Time. This too will sell out, so even if you did manage to be among the chosen by Sony, it is likely going to be another cast of fastest fingers first.
In the proud tradition of assholes flipping pre-orders, at the time of writing this there are 1919 sold listings for a PlayStation 5 on Ebay. I knew that more or less based on past experience that it would be secure a pre-order or just not have access to a PlayStation 5 this calendar year. In the past I was always one of those folks trying to get them after they were already long sold out. The first console I remember having extreme shortages for was the Nintendo Entertainment System, but the first I actively sought out was the Nintendo 64. It was the summer of the next calendar year before I was able to find one that was in store and available for purchase. With the PlayStation 2 I completely missed the boat and lucked into someone who had effectively bankrupted themselves buying it in the first place and picked it up second hand. Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Switch… I want to say I managed to pick them both up a good 4 or 5 months after the release as the major restock waves hit.
The frustrating part is that I probably could have easily scored a disc model if I wanted that. However I have been focused on trying to get one of the elusive unicorn all digital models. I say they are illusive because in all of the cases I talked about above, the Digital was the first to completely sell out. This seems to be because Sony maybe underestimated the demand for those who are like me and have zero use for a physical drive. So far I have been seeing reports that retailers are getting roughly 20% of the number of Digital units that they are physical units. In the case of GameStop this was reported to be an allocation of 10 physical units and 2 digital units per store.
Yesterday Microsoft threw a not insignificant amount of shade at the fiasco going on with the PlayStation 5 pre-orders. They begin taking pre-orders next Tuesday and are promising that they will all go live at the same time and folks will know exactly when that times is. I guess time will tell if they can somehow manage to wrangle all of the third party vendors into following the company line. I expect that it will be just as chaotic as the PlayStation mess turned out to be. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on the point of view, I will not be participating because the new Microsoft console doesn’t really do much for me personally. I think it is a phenomenal deal if you are a console only gamer, but I have a PC and I have access to pretty much all of the same games. The PlayStation has always been about exclusive titles and I have a backlog of those that I had been wanting to wait and play in a higher resolution.
The Ninth Generation of consoles has begun like so many before it as a chaotic train wreck. I expect that I will be able to get a PlayStation 5 next March once the supply loosens up a bit. Maybe by then there will be some exclusive titles to play on it. March seems to be when I get new consoles, I remember getting my PlayStation 4 right after Infamous Second Son released in 2014. If you were hunting a pre-order I hope you got one, but I have a feeling that most of us will not have. As we try and snipe any restocks… may the odds be ever in your favor.
The post Goodbye PS5 Preorders appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
I am not sure exactly what it is about World of Warcraft that causes me to constantly return to it. It could be the fact that I know the expansion is impending, or the fact that my friend Grace is back and leveling again, or it could just be that I find the rhythm of this game comforting in this time of uncertainty. Whatever the case I am largely focused on trying to get this elemental boy to 120 before the impending pre-patch. It is starting to look more and more like said patch is landing next Tuesday the 22nd, and with that disappears the Winds of Wisdom buff that I have been abusing to level all the things. I will truly miss you nonsense leveling speed because it was super fun to run up an army of alts horde side.
I still am not sure what bit flipped in my brain that suddenly allows for playing a caster to be enjoyable. I have long chided the “finger wigglers” of the world, claiming that it was not a thing that Bel’s do. However I am finding the pace and flow of leveling a caster to be terribly enjoyable of late. I don’t think it is enough that I will probably swap to one as a main, but it is still an interesting diversion. Right now I can legitimately say that I enjoy both the Elemental Shaman and various specs of the Warlock. I think Mage may still be a bit too squishy for my tastes, but the fact that I can heal myself up mid fight I think is what adds to the love of this Shaman.
With the pre-patch comes a slew of activities and a return of the scourge trying to invade Azeroth. Unfortunately gone are the really cool Judgement reskin armor sets from the Wrath of the Lich King event, and in its place are a bunch of reskins of the existing Warfront gear. The Alliance are getting brand new colors, and it appears that the horde are getting the same damned set we have had previously which sucks a little bit. Mostly for me I am looking at this as a way of gearing out characters prior to the patch since I have a feeling even with the squish this is ultimately going to be better gear than my alts are currently wearing.
WowHead has a guide to everything that has changed with the pre-patch and more importantly a guide to all of the Scourge Invasion events that I have been snipping images from. I have to admit the part that interests me the most is hanging around in Icecrown and farming the various World Bosses that are available. The base armor available for the event is item level 100 which is supposedly the “squished” version of 430 gear that comes from Normal mode Ny’alotha. I’ve heard that some items can be obtained at a 110 level, but I am not seeing this in the Wowhead Guide. The item that is probably going to be of the most interest is that Bronjahm is dropping an updated version of his bag that is 34 slots.
I am a sucker for pre-patches. I ground the hell out of the one that came with Legion and loved doing those Burning Crusade invasions. In that cause they also served as a really damned fast way to level a bunch of alts, and I remember doing this to catch up all of my Alliance characters at the time to level 100. It does not sound like the Undead Invasions are going to have this fringe benefit, but I do want to spend a little bit of time on my Alliance characters if for no reason other than to try and collect some of the unique armor appearances. As it stands my goals this week are to finish the shaman and prepare myself for a bunch of event nonsense starting next week. The launch of an expansion always brings out a sudden mania, but I will do my best to keep my cool.
The post My Shaman and the Pre-Patch appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
A game I have not talked about in a really long time is The Division, or at least in the case of today The Division 2. For the longest time I have not known why I actually bounced off of this game so hard. It came out, I was enjoying myself and then in my faulty memory I just suddenly was not playing it anymore. Turns out what ACTUALLY happened is this game launched fifteen days ahead of Anthem. Anthem was a game that I had been clamoring to get my hands on and I ultimately threw myself into it entirely… for as long as that lasted. Quietly however in the background Division 2 was just being a good game, patiently waiting for me to notice it.
Ultimately I can thank Scarybooster for mentioning the game. The other night I was talking about being disillusioned with Avengers and not certain what I should be playing instead and he threw out Division 2. It turned out that I still even had the game installed, and at some point picked up the Warlords of New York expansion on sale thinking I would make a return. I found it odd just how easy it was to slide back into the game. I had some significant issues with the first game that I have never really been able to put my finger on. The moment to moment gameplay did not feel near as fun as it does in Division 2, and I am guessing maybe it is just because I feel like I have a significantly stronger solo kit in the form of a turret and a healing drone.
Additionally I feel significantly more sturdy than I did in Division, and that is combined with the fact that the individual encounters feel less bullet spongey. Whatever the case and whatever balance patches that have been applied, the state of the game at this very moment feels exceptionally good to be playing. I am not sure if I am just in a different place mentally, and maybe in a better mindset to approach combat tactically. It could be any number of factors adding up to the game clicking at this very moment in time. Whatever the case I am enjoying myself and mainly enjoying the moment to moment play of roaming the streets and helping people.
I think part of it as well is the tonal shift between the first and second game. There were a lot of moments in the first game where you were left wondering.. Are we the baddies? So much suffering was caused by Division agents and it did not help that most of your interactions on the streets were either shooting someone or watching civilians run away screaming at the sight of you. Now the game has shifted and after the fall of society a number of communities have sprung up, and you spend a pretty good amount of time helping these groups out. Little things like taking back an outpost from some hostile faction, then clears the way for the folks to return there safely. This then triggers caravans to move between settlements and these outposts and slowly converts a neighborhood to being mostly friendly folks trying to live their lives in the apocalypse, giving you even more opportunities for casual assistance.
The other thing that I dig is that I am finding it significantly easier to stay with a loadout that I actually enjoy. When I came back the other day I think I was level 16 and have since progressed to 23 with 30 being the initial level cap, and then New York taking it the rest of the way to 40. My gear of choice is a semi automatic rifle and a shotgun. I tend to spec the rifle to high stability, which allows me to use it long range to do some sniping, but the high rate of fire allows me to chew things down as they are getting closer. If someone absolutely runs up on me I can swap to the shotgun and drop them pretty quickly. I rarely if ever use the pistol, and it is mostly there as a last ditch “I ran out of ammo” option which seems to occur significantly less in this game.
My engagements tend to follow a pattern, where I will survey the room and look for a perch to set my turret up on an elevated position that can hit most of the targets. Then it provides suppression fire while I pick off the individual targets. If anyone clusters within range I throw a grenade, but slowly but surely I can chew down the initial wave until the boss and mini boss start to arrive. At which point I will pop my healing drone and hope for the best. I like that I can proactively destroy my drone and turret and I tend to wait out the timer while I search an area for anything worth looting, before ultimately triggering the next event. Division 2 is pretty good about giving you pauses in the action where you can wait things out if you so choose, and I appreciate this greatly.
You would think that it would not be enjoyable to play a game about the fall of society due to a biological agent… when we are effectively living through the fall of society due to a pandemic, but it weirdly works for me. Like I said above, so much of I think why it works so nicely is the change in tone. Division 1 was bleak and so much of my actions felt like the dying gasps of an old regime. Sure there is some of that in Division 2, but there is significantly more of the content that feels like I am actually helping folks out. I think that is why I enjoy roaming the streets so much because you are constantly coming across a caravan that needs assistance or saving some hostages from one of the armed groups. Those little moments make me feel far more like a wild west sheriff than a clandestine paramilitary operative.
The post Revisiting Division 2 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
A game I have not talked about in a really long time is The Division, or at least in the case of today The Division 2. For the longest time I have not known why I actually bounced off of this game so hard. It came out, I was enjoying myself and then in my faulty memory I just suddenly was not playing it anymore. Turns out what ACTUALLY happened is this game launched fifteen days ahead of Anthem. Anthem was a game that I had been clamoring to get my hands on and I ultimately threw myself into it entirely… for as long as that lasted. Quietly however in the background Division 2 was just being a good game, patiently waiting for me to notice it.
Ultimately I can thank Scarybooster for mentioning the game. The other night I was talking about being disillusioned with Avengers and not certain what I should be playing instead and he threw out Division 2. It turned out that I still even had the game installed, and at some point picked up the Warlords of New York expansion on sale thinking I would make a return. I found it odd just how easy it was to slide back into the game. I had some significant issues with the first game that I have never really been able to put my finger on. The moment to moment gameplay did not feel near as fun as it does in Division 2, and I am guessing maybe it is just because I feel like I have a significantly stronger solo kit in the form of a turret and a healing drone.
Additionally I feel significantly more sturdy than I did in Division, and that is combined with the fact that the individual encounters feel less bullet spongey. Whatever the case and whatever balance patches that have been applied, the state of the game at this very moment feels exceptionally good to be playing. I am not sure if I am just in a different place mentally, and maybe in a better mindset to approach combat tactically. It could be any number of factors adding up to the game clicking at this very moment in time. Whatever the case I am enjoying myself and mainly enjoying the moment to moment play of roaming the streets and helping people.
I think part of it as well is the tonal shift between the first and second game. There were a lot of moments in the first game where you were left wondering.. Are we the baddies? So much suffering was caused by Division agents and it did not help that most of your interactions on the streets were either shooting someone or watching civilians run away screaming at the sight of you. Now the game has shifted and after the fall of society a number of communities have sprung up, and you spend a pretty good amount of time helping these groups out. Little things like taking back an outpost from some hostile faction, then clears the way for the folks to return there safely. This then triggers caravans to move between settlements and these outposts and slowly converts a neighborhood to being mostly friendly folks trying to live their lives in the apocalypse, giving you even more opportunities for casual assistance.
The other thing that I dig is that I am finding it significantly easier to stay with a loadout that I actually enjoy. When I came back the other day I think I was level 16 and have since progressed to 23 with 30 being the initial level cap, and then New York taking it the rest of the way to 40. My gear of choice is a semi automatic rifle and a shotgun. I tend to spec the rifle to high stability, which allows me to use it long range to do some sniping, but the high rate of fire allows me to chew things down as they are getting closer. If someone absolutely runs up on me I can swap to the shotgun and drop them pretty quickly. I rarely if ever use the pistol, and it is mostly there as a last ditch “I ran out of ammo” option which seems to occur significantly less in this game.
My engagements tend to follow a pattern, where I will survey the room and look for a perch to set my turret up on an elevated position that can hit most of the targets. Then it provides suppression fire while I pick off the individual targets. If anyone clusters within range I throw a grenade, but slowly but surely I can chew down the initial wave until the boss and mini boss start to arrive. At which point I will pop my healing drone and hope for the best. I like that I can proactively destroy my drone and turret and I tend to wait out the timer while I search an area for anything worth looting, before ultimately triggering the next event. Division 2 is pretty good about giving you pauses in the action where you can wait things out if you so choose, and I appreciate this greatly.
You would think that it would not be enjoyable to play a game about the fall of society due to a biological agent… when we are effectively living through the fall of society due to a pandemic, but it weirdly works for me. Like I said above, so much of I think why it works so nicely is the change in tone. Division 1 was bleak and so much of my actions felt like the dying gasps of an old regime. Sure there is some of that in Division 2, but there is significantly more of the content that feels like I am actually helping folks out. I think that is why I enjoy roaming the streets so much because you are constantly coming across a caravan that needs assistance or saving some hostages from one of the armed groups. Those little moments make me feel far more like a wild west sheriff than a clandestine paramilitary operative.
The post Revisiting Division 2 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
