Hurr & Durr play Magic the Gathering

Hurr and Durr play Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013

We go head to head in a best 2/3 match - who will win? Hurr with her sharp mind and ability to rapidly learn new games? Or Durr, a seasoned magic player? Watch and find out! The other 2 games will be uploaded this evening for your viewing pleasure.

Check our 'Other Videos' section to find out!

Read More

Hurr’s top 3 videogame crimes

 

Quick Time Events (QTEs)

I don’t think there is anything more annoying and cheap than “press X to not die”. I think QTEs are a lazy way of being able to say that you have 'interactive' cutscenes. And QTEs don’t just happen in cutscenes, some games even design their gameplay around them. I’m not going to be cheap and include Heavy Rain in this, because let’s face it, that's more of an interactive movie.
 

Dante’s Inferno and God of War for example, rely heavily on QTEs (especially boss fights) - they are spread throughout the game like a nasty STD.  And not all of them are the kind you can memorize, sometimes they are completely random, making the entire experience completely unbearable.

 

 

 

 

 

Resident Evil 4 is another QTE culprit, some bosses require fast QTE input otherwise you will just have to do it again and again. I’ve never before met anyone who said, “You know what games need more of? Quick time events!” – and yet they are constantly being rammed down our throats.

Unskippable Cutscenes

This is something which really really annoys me, especially when the unskippable cutscene is between a save point and a boss – meaning that if you die a lot you have to watch it over and over again. I don’t see the purpose of unskippable cutscenes, how is forcing someone to watch a cutscene a benefit at all?

Surely it should be up to the player (you know the person who paid for the game) to decide if they want to watch the cutscene or not. And isn’t it simply lazy to make someone watch a bad cutscene, than to make a good cutscene that they will want to watch anyway.

 

 

 

This also totally doesn’t take into account people who complete games more than once – for example to play through as another character. Mass Effect 2 is one of those games, if you make a new character you will be made to watch the opening sequence yet again (and Miranda's ass does not make up for this).

Bad Voice Acting

If you have ever played Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, then you will know what the epitome of bad voice acting is. Ok that was quite a bold statement, but you would understand why I say that if you have ever heard the character Lymle say “’kay” (it makes your ears want to bleed).
 

 

I think some developers think that having voice actors automatically means that the game is somehow enhanced. But there are some games which have been almost unplayable due to bad voice actors. Games that spring to mind include Deus Ex: Human Revolution, every resident evil game ever made and that god-awful laughing scene in Final Fantasy X. My favourite voice actor is definitely David Hayter; how could you not love that husky voice?

Although I do feel that voice actors are not entirely to blame, but bad writing has a part to play in this too. Had Square Enix not felt the need to create the typical happy-go-lucky bimbo in every game, then I probably wouldn’t find them so annoying.

Read More

Grandia: a hidden gem

I first came across this amazing game in a video preview contained on one of the official Playstation magazine demo disks. That's right back in the good old days where you bought a magazine for £5 and got a good 5-10 game demos to play and a fair few videos. I was around 12 and having only Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon as my anime influences, I found I was infatuated with the art style of this game.

Upon finally purchasing this game I was shocked when in the first 10 minutes of play I discovered voice acting! Not only was this incredibly rare for a PS1 game, but the voice acting wasn't bad either! A real treat for me to hear the first sentence uttered in the game to contain the word 'bastards' as well (swearing in a game - my word).

The icing on the cake for me was this game actually had an incredible combat system! I wish Iwas joking but the combat system alone kept me coming back for more with this game. It was a lot more fun and involved than the final fantasy 7 combat system that i had tried out previously. You have the ability to interrupt what ever your enemy is doing through the use of a well timed 'critical' or you could do more damage but let them attack by doing a 'combo' You are even able to combine your attacks with other party members for powerful combo moves!

All in all this game was an immense amount of fun and although I haven't mentioned it yet the story is truly heart warming and has some decent character development. I highly advise if you haven't played this game yet you go back and give it  ago.

Read More

Hotline Miami: 'Do you like hurting people?'

Hotline Miami

This is one of the few games that has really made me sit down and think about my actions, and my personal involvements in the acts I commit. The 'acts' in Hotline Miami, are gratuitous, blood drenched, high octane feats of psychotic violence. Within the first 3 minutes of playing the first level, you will have smashed some guys brains out on the floor, then caved the next guy's head in with a bat while he is taking a piss.

The game's story is where it really hit home for me. It reminded me a lot of David Lynch's style of story telling where in you're never quite sure what is going on and any theories you may make tend to be quickly dashed. The characters you encounter are even presented in a cryptic way in the form of 3 people wearing animal masks.

However a question asked very early on which made me take my hands away from the keyboard and mouse was simply 'Do you like hurting other people?' A simple sentence but very sobering after leaving a room filled with gore and blood drenched corpses and I had to admit I did just have fun...

The gore and violence is enough to turn even the hardest of stomachs at times, with acts such as knocking someone down with a punch then taking a drill to their skull, or dumping a pan of boiling water over someone. But if you can stomach the violence and have some patience with the Nintendo hard difficulty this game is a lot of fun.

Special mention has to be made to the brutal soundtrack which matches the tone and pitch of this frantic flurry of violence perfectly.

Read More

My experience of tilting in Scrolls

Imagine this. You are in a game of Scrolls, you have a decent set of cards in your hand and are about to make your move. You position your units and cast your spells, when a chat message pops up, “LOL WHY DID YOU DO THAT”. The scenario I have just described is commonly referred to as tilting, when your opponent tries to put you off in order to secure an easy victory.

The intended results of tilting are to frustrate and annoy you, causing you to play more aggressively or make moves without thinking. They can then use this to their advantage and capitalize on your mistakes. Meaning that the win is more a reflection of how much of a troll they are, rather than their actual skill at the game.

My first experience of tilting happened in one of my early games against an actual player, just after they used Quake to wipe the field. Now unfortunately for them, I had already learned to hold back for Quake and was able to recover much faster than they could and won the game (despite him taking 2 idols “LIKE A BOSS”). They then proceeded to demand a rematch, which I gladly accepted (yes there is something rather satisfying about beating someone who has been trash talking you) and I continued to beat them into the ground.

Players who attempt to use tilting will never succeed at Scrolls; the best advice you can get will come from the community – and no one wants to help someone who plays dirty. When I’m in a game with a player who is clearly inexperienced, I generally try to offer some advice on how they can improve and cards they may want to use in their deck.

I have also found that more often than not, tilting will have the reverse affect. In a recent game I made a major misplay, and my opponent responded by calling me a retard. At first I was a little shocked, as I generally haven’t experienced this in Scrolls. But it also made me think twice as hard on my next turns and is probably the reason why I won that game.

As with all online multiplayer games, trash talk is to be expected – and as Scrolls becomes more popular, it becomes more likely that you will encounter this first hand. In the future I would like to see an option to disable the chat function entirely. In the meantime however, my advice to anyone who experiences tilting is to not let it get to you. Most of the time they are doing it because they know they are losing. So your best bet is to ignore them, focus on the game and wallow in the sweet revenge of wiping the floor with their face (which will of course – only infuriate them more).

Read More

Do moral choice systems work?

A majority of moral choice systems have three fundamental choices;  the good option, the bad option and the “I don’t give a fuck” option. This usually ends up giving you either of two endings; the holy saint or the Satan worshipper. Moral choice systems are pretty useless if that’s the only purpose they serve, it doesn’t really add any depth to the game, and doesn’t provide a viable role playing experience.

When I first played Fallout 3 and arrived in Megaton, I accidentally got the sheriff of the town killed – in front of his own child. I have never felt like a more terrible person in my life, and that’s how a moral choice system should make you feel. Fallout New Vegas was a step up for the series in terms of moral choices; both good and bad actions were accounted for.

However, this system was entirely broken if you suddenly decide to change factions. If you decide you’ve had enough of Cesar’s bullshit and decapitate him, the whole story-line you have been working for is failed. Bioshock is another game which doesn’t handle moral choices well; either kill little girls, or don’t. This again, leads to either a good or bad ending.

So what games have implemented moral choice systems well? Bioware seems to be the first developer that comes to mind when you think about moral choices. In Dragon Age, you are often put in a situation where you have the choice between helping a friend do something wrong, or betraying and them and getting a reward from someone else.

Helping the friend can  lead to more problems for you, or cause someone to suddenly despise you. But betraying your friend will affect your relationship with them. Overall, I liked how moral choices were handled in Dragon Age, this is probably because the characters were likable and I actually cared if something bad were to happen to them.

In Mass Effect 2 we all know the major choice you have to make at the end of the game, but this has very little impact on Mass Effect 3 at all. Overall, I found the choices in Mass Effect were pretty black and white.

Throughout the game you can decide to be good “Paragon” or bad “Renegade”, and in some conversations an icon will pop up indicating that you can do a sudden good or bad action. For example, I was having a chat with a journalist, pressed R2 for the Renegade option, and punched her in the face. This didn’t affect the storyline, but was overall a lot of fun.

The moral choice system in Dishonored is rather different, in the sense that you don’t choose an option in a conversation. If you decide to reap chaos throughout the city, you will see the effects of it. Your actions directly impact your environment and force you to see the consequences of your killing spree.

However, there are still a choice of endings, which are impacted by how many people you kill. This directly affects your style of play, and isn’t an effective moral choice system – but rather a cheap way of making you complete the game twice.

So what can be done to improve moral choice systems? Well firstly, developers need to stop the good, bad, or neutral conversation options - they simply don’t add enough depth. Choices should be more unclear if they are good or bad, not just “hello” and “fuck off”. Secondly, your choices should have consequences which you actually experience.

I’m not saying that you should have to go to the funerals of every poor soul you have killed, but if a game forces you to make a moral choice they should be more committed to it. For it to work the game needs to have unique choices, with unique consequences. There should also be no “karma points” or saint meter constantly tracking your actions. And no visual effects on your character either (yes Fable I’m looking at you).

Finally, the most important aspect of it all is the script. No game can have a successful moral choice system without decent writing. However this is where most games are lacking, as they are just not broad enough to comprehend that not everyone is either good or evil.

Overall, I have enjoyed playing games where I have to make moral choices, even if they haven’t had a great impact on the story. But in future I hope that they can be improved and provide us with a more realistic role playing experience.

Read More

Action priority for new players

Action priority, by this I mean the most productive order in which to do things in your turn. We have all done it while playing Scrolls, drawn into a card we can really use but have already moved our units, or cast a spell and spent our resources, then draw into something which would have been far better for the situation. What I plan to try and outline with this post is what is the most optimal sequence to do things in your turn.

1. Decide what to sacrifice, you should be sacrificing every turn, unless you have what you believe to be a perfect hand for the situation drawing an extra 2 cards at the cost of another is generally better and can keep you in the game. It's never good to go into "Top Deck" mode where you must rely on the next card you draw.

2. If you are even thinking of using any cards which let you draw more cards, do it before you do anything else. Don't move your creatures!

3.After you are done drawing look at the available options to you; think through the best use of the cards in hand and the state of the field. Work out if you need to move your creatures, and where, to get the most out of them. Just sit and observe the field.

4. Move your creatures into position.

5. Cast your spells and end your turn.

So to break it down into some more straight forward steps:

1. Sacrifice.

2. Draw cards.

3. Observe & think.

4. Move creatures.

5. Cast Spells

Whilst by no means this is THE way to make the most out of your turn, for new players following this hopefully you will be able to reduce the amount of mistakes you make. As any of the higher ranked players will tell you, all it takes is 1! That's right! JUST 1 misplay or creature out of position, and you can lose the game.

Hopefully this will provide you new guys with the ground works to get the most out of your turn and reduce the mistakes you make to a minimum.

You have 1 minute 30 seconds for your turn, make the most out of it and don't rush into your decisions.

Read More

The problem with modern co-op games

Looking back on co-op games from the Sega megadrive generation, I feel that co-op was much more in depth and actually felt like a part of the game. Nowadays it seems that co-op is almost an add on, in an era where multiplayer is the norm. Co-op gameplay should invovle players working together towards a common goal, whereas multiplayer is more competitive. I just find it hard to accept that multiplayer can be more fun to play with a friend when compared to a decent 2 player game.

Most modern co-op games do not revolve around a 2 player campaign, but rather go for the easier option of online multiplayer. Meaning that if you want to play through the campaign with your friends, you can forget about it. Now I am well aware that there are games out there attempting to address this, but they don’t seem to be able to quite get there.

For example, FEAR3 has great co-op gameplay (although the game itself is rather mediocre) , both players have different abilities and they have to work together to succeed in missions. The “scary” parts of the game are especially fun, particularly when something scary would pop up for one player and not the other (causing you both to shit your pants). However, the campaign was extremely short and the FPS parts of the game felt very repetitive.

I wasn't scared at all....

But it’s not just shooters which have problems with decent co-op gameplay. Let’s now take a look at White Knight Chronicles – an RPG. The co-op in WKC is not a co-op campaign, but a separate online mode where you can complete quests with a friend. However, there is an extremely large catch; you can only unlock new quests by playing the game in single player mode. Meaning that if one of you has gone ahead and unlocked a new quest, your co-op partner will have to do the same. You also have to be a certain level to unlock some quests. This basically means that you might as well play through the whole game single player before you even bother – which to me kind of defeats the purpose of it all.

However, there are a few games which still do co-op gameplay well, Portal 2 is probably one of the best examples. They have a whole separate co-op campaign and actively encourage the 2 players to work together. Left 4 dead 2 is another - you can choose to play online multiplayer, or create a game for friends only and have the other players as AI. Even indie games such as Terraria are managing to incorporate a decent co-op experience. These games have proven that it can be done, so why isn’t it? 

 

Looking back over some of the old school games, a majority of them had a 2 player option. Nowadays, it’s much more difficult to find a game to play co-op – especially if you are playing on a console rather than a PC. For the Sega megadrive there are endless co-op games to choose from, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Street Fighter, Toejam & Earl, Sunset Riders, Contra – Bad Cops, and well the list goes on.

 

I just feel that there seems to be too much focus on milking cash cows rather than actually making a decent co-op experience (and this doesn’t just apply to call of duty). Although it’s not feasible to say that all games should have co-op, I believe that those which do should at least spend time making them as enjoyable as the single player campaign. Perhaps the developers think that all gamers are socially inept and wouldn’t have friends to play with anyway? I remain doubtful about the future of co-op games, so in the meantime I think I’ll stick to Portal 2.

Read More

Scrolls advice for players new to TCGs

 

Having virtually no experience of TCGs myself, diving straight into a game of scrolls really didn’t end well. There is a lot to take in and get to grips with before you can expect to match up to the more experienced players. Below is a step-by-step guide of how I personally improved as a player.

 

Step 1: Choose your deck

 

The pre-constructed decks are there for you to play around with and learn the basics before you have the confidence to build your own deck. Play against the AI using the pre-constructed decks and decide which one suits your style of play more. I personally started with order as I felt it was the easiest to learn as a new player – but you are welcome to choose whatever you like. You are free to create more than one deck, and you can create decks of mixed factions, so don’t feel that you have to stick to the first deck that you make.

Step 2: Practice makes perfect

You will lose a lot of games, but take every loss on the chin and remember that even the top ranked players lose games. The most important thing is to learn something from each game. Ask yourself how you could have defended better, did you ignore the middle lane? Did you forget about an enemy’s countdown? Did you make the best use of the cards in your hand? I would advise practising with the AI until you are comfortable with your deck and experiment with the various difficulties. It also doesn’t hurt to talk to the people you play with, ask them how they think you did and if they have any advice they can offer. I’ve found that the Scrolls community is generally very helpful and friendly. You may also want to have a look on the Scrollsguide forum, where some players have posted their decks. This will give you an idea of decks which are working for other people, and will also tell you what you need to watch out for.

 

Step 3: Strategy

Something I need to remind myself of sometimes, is to take your time (yes I know there is a timer) but make the most of every second, don’t make any rash moves. Controlling the middle lane is an extremely useful strategy, which many players utilize. By controlling the middle lane you are forcing your opponent to go top or bottom and making it more difficult for them to position their units in a way which would allow them to take down 3 idols before you do. This is the lane where you want to put a structure, or something with a lot of health. You may also want to race them and take out the middle idol using a combination of low cost cards. For example, a Crossbowman + Focus (maybe blessing of haste). Durr has also provided ways to get in on idols early on in the game – look out for his mono energy post for more details.

You need to constantly be looking out for countdowns – what units are attacking next turn? You also need to take haste and countdown reset cards into account. With energy you want to be careful of Fury – this will reduce all units countdown by 1, and Iron Whip (which can be combined with magma pack) can be deadly. For growth you need to be ready for God Hand and Rally (which could possibly be combined with Crimson bull). Growth also has cards with haste – Ragged Wolves and Kinfolk Veteran. And for order you need to watch out for Honorable Generals, Blessing of Haste and Speed (although Speed is much rarer). Generally when playing against growth you should always be prepared for a sudden rush in, my tactic is to make sure there are as few units on the field as possible – making God Hand/ Rally redundant.

Quake is another card you will need to play around – for some advice on dealing with this, please read my post “Why Quake is Hurr’s favourite Scroll”.  This may all sound a bit daunting, but being prepared for the above will come with time.

 

Step 4: Refine your deck

By now you should have a basic knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. You should be aiming to get the more powerful cards for your deck (for example if you are running a growth deck you are looking for God Hand, Quake, etc) and trading with other players if necessary. Take your time to read each card description carefully and think about how this card could be used against your opponent. Play your new deck against different players, it will take a few games to adjust to a new deck and you may need to change your tactics. For example, I am now using a growth/order deck – this deck is designed in a way that my aim is to out race my opponent.

 

Step 5: Play play play!

The simplest way to learn is to play with more experienced players. You don’t have to take on the ranked top 10 (or you can if you are feeling brave), but playing against someone who is more experienced than you will enable you to see where your deck needs improving. Also playing with someone who runs the same deck as you, will give you ideas on how you could possibly use the same cards/combos in the future.

This is just some basic advice for new players and is not intended to be a complete guide on how to win games (you may want to ask Durr about that). I hope you at least found some of this information useful and if you ever see GrumpCat online - feel free to challenge me !!

Read More

Scrolls Deck Building

Hi all just a quick update so that you can now hear how Durr sounds! In the video section we have now linked p0w3rtriggers video of me discussing deck building with Gareth. I go through making the most out of his cards with the all powerful growth faction.

The link to our video section is found under the 'Scrolls Corner' panel on the top left.

Read More

Scrolls Videos!

We finally have our first Scrolls video linked in the 'Scrolls Corner' video section.
Courtesy of: http://www.youtube.com/user/p0w3rtrigger!

Hopefully we will have more to follow soon, there has been another video made featuring myself and Gareth from p0w3rtrigger, where I go through his deck and try to help him make the most of his available card pool. This video should be fully uploaded and edited towards the early part of next week, and contains useful tips for all those currently deck building growth with a limited pool.

If you would like any deck building advice for scrolls, drop us an email! You can find our address in the about us section.

Read More

Durr's favourite scroll: Iron Whip

Currently my favourite card in scrolls has to be Iron Whip, it's versatile and low cost. Whilst a very new card, being one of the recently released energy cards, it can really pull it's weight.

The general usage I find for it early game is the 1 poke damage, useful for removing memorials and Sister Of The Fox. By removing these 2 early on you can slow a growth deck down significantly by removing targets for an early Fertile Soil.

The reason I take Iron Whip over Shock in my deck is late game Shock becomes a bit useless 2 damage can often be entirely negligible  However decreasing a friendly units countdown by 1 and increasing their attack by 1 is amazing. Using this on a unit such as an Iron Ogre when the enemy isn't expecting it can lead to victories.

Lastly, this card when combined with a Copper Automaton means you can get 5 hasted damage on the field, which in itself is nasty and can deal with those pesky Great Wolfs and Kinfolk Veterans  But if you manage to get a Magma Pack on this speedy bugger, you're looking at 10 damage - AKA smash an idol in 1 turn.

Cost: 2 Energy

Type: Spell

Ability: Target unit takes 1 damage.

It's attack is increased by 1 until end of turn

and Countdown decreased by 1.

Rarity: Uncommon (supposedly)

Read More

Hurr's top 5 Sega Megadrive games

 

 

5. The Lion King

 

 

Possibly one of the most infuriating games I have ever played, although this was probably easy compared to the likes of Ecco the Dolphin. The Lion King is a solid example of when games based on movies were actually good. The game itself is a platform game, with Simba as the main character (with Timon and Pumba available in bonus levels). The most difficult, and the most fun part of the game for me was the Stampede level where you have to jump carefully and avoid getting trampled to death.

 

The Stampede

 

 

 

4. Jungle Strike

 

You get to control a helicopter and blow stuff up – what more incentive do you need to play this game ? There was also an element of strategy involved, as you had to complete various missions. For example if you choose a heavy weapon, you will be able to carry less and so you must decide on the most  suitable option for that particular mission. You can also pick up power ups, fuel and ammo – which I found to be one of the most fiddly parts of the games. If fuel runs out then you will crash and maybe fling your controller somewhere..

 

3. Streets of Rage 2

 

If you didn’t have streets of rage in your Sega collection, then you were missing out big time! One of the most fun co-op games I have ever played. In the game you have the basic punch, kick and throw - then there are multiple weapons you can pick up including knifes, pipes and bottles. The special power up for each player allows you to call in a police car which fires a huge rocket, damaging all enemies. Although it was annoying trying to avoid punching your teammate in the face rather than the enemies, playing with someone else definitely made the game a more enjoyable experience.

 

2. Golden Axe

 

 

 

 

This game remains one of my favourite co-op games ever made. The game is a hack and slash style, with a simple aim to kill Death Adder and all his minions. Your primary weapon is melee, but you can also use spells dropped by little drawfs looking things (don’t know what they’re actually supposed to be) which you can also kick to get a health chicken from. There are also several minions which you can knock off a mount and take it for yourself which gives you a wider attack range.

 

My favourite element of the game was the map itself and the various levels. The village you work your way through is on the back of a giant turtle, which takes you across the sea and then to a giant eagle which you fly to the castle. The game also had some impressive boss fights which were also hard as nails. The story isn’t much to write home about, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

 

 

1. Sunset Riders

 

 

The most shocking moment of my life was when Durr told me he had never heard of Sunset Riders (seriously- what the fuck?). I could not believe that someone could have not heard of this AMAZING game. Ok so I’ve gone into fanboy mode a bit, but let me tell you why this game has earned its rightful place in my number one spot. Sunset Riders is a wild west shooter, where the player can control one of four cowboy bounty hunters. Your aim is take down the notorious criminals in the west and claim the rewards.

 

Your gun has unlimited ammo and you can jump between levels and shoot in all directions, and if you get a silver badge power up – you can dual wield ! The second power up Gold Badge allows your gun to fire continuously –and both power ups can be used together for ultimate decimation. It’s also quite competitive as if you are playing co-op, it’s the player who deals the most damage to the boss who will claim the bounty for themselves. Overall, it’s a great fast-paced co-op game and in my opinion one of the best shooters available on the Sega mega drive.

 

 

Read More

Rocket Knight Adventures, an amazing platformer few had heard of

One of my favorite games from my childhood was a title called Rocket Knight Adventures and still sticks fondly in my memory. Funnily enough though I never owned a copy of the game! It used to be my go to rental game in the golden age of rentals where as a child you could spend up to an hour just deciding what game to rent!.

The reason I loved this game at the tender age of 10 was it was such a breath of fresh air compared to the standard platformers i had been fed in the form of Sonic and Mario. I love these 2 as much as the next person but when your game collection is so small you tend to run them into the ground.

In Rocket Knight you play as Knight mouse armed with a Jet Pack and a sword that shoots what can only be described as flaming hoops. Now this in itself sounds fun! to use the jet pack you merely had to hold down your attack button to let it charge then hold the d-pad in the direction you wanted to charge at/fly.  You could also perform this move in the air to fling yourself across impassable terrain, or power slide across the ground with your sword out in front.

The boss's in this game were a lot bigger compared to what we had seen in similar transformer. From a robotic caterpillar busting through walls to the giant armored gun train.... with  FRIGGIN ARMS. Yes I have soft sport for Outlaw Star if you have seen the anime you will understand.

All in all this game was a lot of fun at £3 for a weeks rental back then! a complete bargain in my opinion my only regret is that I never owned this amazing game.

For those of you who loved this game as much as I did please check out this remake campaign these guys are working for! Hurr an Durr wish them luck in their cause and we hope you readers do as well.

I want a Rocket Knight Remake!

If the link doesn't work please copy and paste the following URL:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Remake-Rocket-Knight-Adventures/196471850395146?fref=ts

Read More

Hurr’s experience of the online community as a female gamer

Although I believe that gamers in general are over the whole “there are no girls on the internet” drivel, there still seems to be a depressing amount of animosity towards female gamers.  I’d never before seen a reason to purposefully hide my gender, and I never understood why some people think it would affect my ability to play games. My first experience with online gaming was with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (yes I know this probably wasn’t the best place to start); and as I used to play with friends a mic was needed.

A majority of games were uneventful, although I’m not sure if that’s down to the community, or the fact that not many people who play on PS3 use a mic at all. However, when the harassment did start – it was pretty agonising. It ranged from friend requests, to messages asking if I wanted to see a picture of various uh body parts, to the usual unoriginal sexist insults.

“Is your boyfriend playing for you?” “Can you make me a sandwich?” “Are you hot?” “Show me your tits”, the list really goes on. It started off pretty funny, but eventually it just became a nuisance.  I ended up automatically putting everyone except my friends on mute before the game starts, regardless of whether they spoke or not. If anyone sent me a message, I’d reply back saying that my name is Steve and I have a massive package.

Now that I have moved to the “PC Master Race” I was more hopeful that we could all just get over the fact that I have a vagina. My steam username was the same that I use on forums “Girl With One Eye” – which is taken from my favourite Florence and the Machine song. While playing Left 4 Dead 2 it didn’t take long for the insults to start rolling in. One incident stuck with me in particular – “So I guess it’s true that girls can’t play games” (sigh). I was also being kicked from games before they even started just because of my username; I ended up changing it just so I could play in peace.

So what has my experience taught me? Well there are assholes everywhere, and they will insult you for any reason they can possibly think of. If you are not a girl you are a “noob” or a “homo” or whatever else they come up with. I want to make clear though, that I still have a lot of faith in the gaming community as a whole. On forums such as The Escapist, female gamers are a large part of the community and while there are still some assholes with a superior attitude, this is just something that all gamers have to live with.

Read More

Why Quake is Hurr's favourite scroll

Quake - the ultimate double edged sword. When I first encountered this card, I absolutely despised it. Admittedly that was only because it was a complete ball-ache once I had placed my units all perfectly on the field, only to have them wiped out in one move and my opponent taunting me with “LOLQUAKE”.

I soon discovered however that Quake can be dealt with if you plan carefully. Keeping an eye on your enemies ramp is key, as soon as they reach 7 I know it’s going to be quake time. There are several ways to avoid being wiped out – the first is to hold out. Don’t put all your units down as soon as you can, place a few units carefully and keep the rest in your hand. Maintain a steady ramp so you can make a quick recovery.

The second option is to make your units fat, Crowne of Strength, Bear Paw or anything that reduces damage/increases health. You can also reduce their units health below 5 to decrease the chance of them wanting to use Quake – cards such as Thunder Surge and Frost Wind work well.

Once I built my own growth deck (after sticking to order for a while) I was so used to avoiding Quake that I had learned the perfect time to use it in order to screw the other guy over. I baited my enemies with kinfolk and wolves, forcing them to place more units. Once my small units had done some damage and were picked off, my enemy had a field full of units which are easily wiped out with Quake.

I guess it’s the cat and mouse game between players that make Quake such an interesting card; you have to take your own units as well as your enemies into consideration. And if the other player is also running Quake, you have to decide if you want to use it before or after they do.

Overall, I think Quake can be a powerful card if used correctly. I’ve seen a few players use quake, causing their own untimely demise (e.g waking stones only take 1 damage) and I admit to have forgotten about Potion of Resistance (a costly mistake - thanks Durr!). It is certainly a must have for all growth decks and I will be interested to see if order or energy will have any similar mass removal cards introduced in the future.

  Cost: 7 Growth

Type: Spell

Ability: Deal 4 damage to all units.

Lore: Even the bravest get scared when even the ground beneath them attacks.

Rarity: Rare

Read More

How Durr successfully created a monster

Before playing scrolls, my only experience with card games was from playing Pokémon as a kid. And even then I was tricked into trading my beloved shiny Chansey card for two standard cards (under the false pretence that it was a better deal). So when Durr told me about scrolls I was a bit sceptical about how I would fair against a seasoned MTG player, but I was up for the challenge all the same.

The first few games were rather intimidating and it took time to get to grips with the field and various strategies (and Durr felt no shame in punishing me for my mistakes). Once I had learned to remember and plan for things like cooldown resets and had created a deck I was comfortable with, I soon began giving my enemies a hard time and eventually winning games.

After only a few weeks I was editing the deck myself and thinking up new and interesting ways to crush my opponents. The best piece of advice I would give to a new player is to learn something from every game you lose. I am by no means an expert now, my ranking is currently 1001 and I have generally stayed clear of ranked from fear of being humiliated. But my confidence is growing with each game and with my new deck (and a bit of training) I feel that I stand a good chance.

Read More

Durr's opinion on the current balance of scrolls (Alpha 0.77)

My thoughts on the current version of scrolls (Alpha 0.77):

I feel that growth as it currently stands is a lot more powerful than order and energy by a long chalk.  You only need look at the top 20 players currently, although I’m not 100% I would say that nearly all of them are running growth, or a variation of growth mixing in with one of the other factions.

Growth has everything the other factions can offer. I will list the main strengths of each faction as I have come to understand, from what I have experienced. I think for growth to be properly balanced, some cards need to be removed or vastly altered to balance it with the other factions. Although providing them with equally powerful cards such as Quake, God Hand and Kinfolk Brave would be another step in the right direction, I am aware that balancing a game like scrolls is a very difficult process.  We are still in alpha and a lot of changes will happen over the course of time, but as I said these are just my thoughts on the current version of the game.

Order:

Strong structures.

Great unit synergy.

Utility low cost spells.

1 turn unit buffs.

Energy:

Reasonably strong removal spells.

Ability for very fast single idol destruction (1 turn)

Decent siege structures with high health.

Growth:

Great endgame (God Hand, Quake)

Great unit synergy Wolves

Powerful low cost units (kinfolk brave)

Good defensive structures

2 sources of global cool down reset (3 if you run mangy wolves and use wolves as your primary creatures)

Decent card draw (fertile soil, sister of the fox)

Fat Units (most units have minimum 2 hp if not more)

Global attack buffs (god hand, crimson bull)

As it stands, growth seems to have the best of what the other factions can offer.  It is common knowledge that growth is by far the strongest of the factions and although we are still in beta, I feel some things wouldn’t hurt to be put down on paper.

A key short coming of energy and order is that they seem to have very weak endgame in comparison to growth. Energy has Iron Ogre, which is a 7 drop fattie with relentless.  But it is quite slow with a cooldown of 3. It also has thunder surge, which is a great spell but dealing only 2 damage feels a little weak, especially with the cost being 6 and most units having +3 HP by the time you can drop it.

Order lacks a good 7 drop, but has the Honourable General, a solid 6 drop creature which is good -but pales in comparison to the growth drops of higher or equal value. It also has the Royal Vanguard, again a solid creature but not as strong when compared to the likes of growth. The Knight Scholar could be good, but a reduction in health and therefore cost would make him a more useful and viable unit. I believe that order needs a more solid 7-8 drop, as the end game order has is substantially weaker when compared to growth or even energy.

Other Suggestions:

I feel a maximum hand size would be a great step forward; mass draw is a bit too powerful at the moment.  Capping the hand size at 5, then at the end of your turn having to sacrifice cards to meet the maximum hand size would be very useful. By capping the hand size, you limit the amount you can drop and therefore decision making becomes more difficult and requires more skill.

Another suggestion would be for another game format, which would be best 2/3 games, in between games you can have  a separate card pool of 10 that you can swap cards in and out of your main deck. For example, when using energy you may not want a Tick Bomb in the main deck - but when you find your opponent is using a lot of structures it would be good to swap out your Shock cards for Tick Bomb. Again by doing this you add another layer to the strategies presented to you and effective use of countering your opponent’s deck and what you have seen so far.

Closing Thoughts:

Scrolls is an amazing game with a lot of potential, the actual user interface is quite tidy, although it could be improved in some areas. For example, displaying the card you have clicked on over the right hand side of the screen can at times make it very challenging to target enemy units. For example using Shock displays the shock card on the right side of the screen, covering the very units I wish to target. Also, when moving the curser, this can often show the other cards in my hand. At the moment I am countering this issue by clicking on the card I wish to use (such as burn), then clicking somewhere away from the field, then clicking on the unit I wish to target. Taking an idea from MTG duels of the planeswalkers, you could zoom in on cards using the middle mouse wheel rather than always displaying a large image of the card on the right of the screen.

I have big hopes for scrolls and with what has been shown to us so far. I believe that there is a lot of potential to have a very active and competitive scene, which I highly look forward to participating in.

Again what I have said here, you are more than welcome to disagree with or challenge me on this is just my thoughts on the current game.

Read More