DogHouse Podcast episode 64.5
I….just couldn’t take it and had to tell Brandon what’s up.
Yes, a little late-night ninja podcasting! Enjoy.
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Black Ops Love
I have been really enjoying Black Ops II. With my previous Modern Warfare experience I was all about the single player and hardly tinkered in multiplayer. This time, I’m thoroughly enjoying both the campaign and multiplayer (though not a huge fan of Tranzit admittedly). Say what you will about Call of Duty but it’s hard to deny that they are not epic experiences.
The Nerdtacular Knowledge
Nerdtacular 2012 was fantastic. Good times with good people — a nerd could hardly ask for more. Interestingly, there was something being often discussed among the attendees. No, it wasn’t “Project Titan” or Mists related. Not the Presidential Election or anything so pedestrian as that. It was much more important:
Minecraft
Minecraft has taken over my life lately because I love the completely relaxed nature of it. Aside from occasionally dying via Creeper or lava there is very little stress. No one is being rude as they win or cursing you because they lost, it’s just my friends and I surprising each other with our latest creations. As I play I’m either chilling on Skype with my friends, listening to a podcast or watching Netflix, all as I build great structures or explore a mysterious cavern.
I spent countless hours mesmerized by my legos as a kid so it is only fitting that a game consisting of what are little more than digital legos has captured my imagination so thoroughly. I still have a lot to learn, build and explore in my new favorite world (sorry Azeroth!). I don’t know if I’ll be playing Minecraft years from now but I can certainly say I’m forever thankful that Minecraft found it’s way onto my computer. The following is a capture I made showing some of the areas in the world my friend and I have made. We’ve since added so much more but that’s to be expected!
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Loot Addicts Anonymous
I love action RPG’s. I know they aren’t for everyone, the constant clicking, the hundreds of pieces of loot you acquire, comparing stats, sometimes it can feel like quite the chore. However, there is nothing more satisfying then getting that new sword, or replacing those really bad boots you were wearing. As you may know, I loved Diablo 3, but I know it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Even I had some issues with it, and I found myself missing a lot of the things that made Diablo 2 such a successful game. Grinding Gear Games, a very small studio from New Zealand also agree, and so they have created an action RPG, for players of Diablo 2. Path of Exile is a loot based action RPG with an emphasis on trading and character customization.
It is clear that one of the first things that they did was look at Diablo 2, and look at the things the worked and the things that didn’t. Gold is a common currency in most fantasy games, and works just as a regular currency would. However, in the Diablo 2 items that you found adventuring were always going to be better then anything you could buy. So you ended up with millions and millions of gold, and there was nothing to spend it on. Blizzard fixed this issue with the auction house in Diablo 3, however because there is no soul bound items in Diablo, you could acquire best in slot items with a bit of gold. While not necessarily a bad thing, it certainly did have some negative impact on the community. In Path of Exile they have ditched gold completely and have come up with a bartering currency. Everything you sell will have some value. When you sell items to merchants, instead of receiving gold, you will get things like identity scrolls, or stackable items that will let you alter stats on existing gear or let you upgrade the quality of your armor and weapons. The system really makes the focus of the games all about itemization and character identity. The only downside to this is having to worry about all these stackable currencies in your bag, as they are still items that you use there isn’t a currency page like World of Warcraft so you still need to be constantly micromanaging your inventory.
Diablo 3 ditched the old skill system for a more flexible system that had no permanent consequences. While this was a great system, you lost the unique feel of your character. It wasn’t really your character, as you could pick new skills every 30 seconds if you wanted. Path of Exile has sort of combined this style of skill system with the more traditional Diablo 2 skill tree. Actual abilities are gained from skill gems. Skill gems are items much like the gems out of Diablo, but instead of just the same passive bonuses, they will be your casted spells and attacks. You socket gems in gear according to color (red gem goes in a red socket) and you can now cast that skill. As you gain experience, all of the gems you have equipped will too. As your gems level, the skills will become more powerful. There are also support gems that will augment your skills (similar to the way runes do in Diablo 3) if you socket them along side skill gems in the same item. You might be able to turn a simple fireball into three, or add a freezing path behind your charge. When you level a gem, it will always be at that level, and socketing isn’t permanent. So you can move around your skill gems and trade them with other players.
The passive skill tree is the system that accompanies the skill gems. This is how you really build a character that is unique to you. Every time your character levels, you will get one point to spend in the passive skill tree. There are some passives which are just small prerequisites that will be things like plus 10 to dexterity, then there are keystone passives which are passives that will really change the way your character is played. The keystone passives you chose will determine how your character is played. The choices are permanent, although throughout the game, you will get 8 respect points total. So you can’t completely change your character, but you can fix a few mistakes you might have made. The skill tree itself is massive, but it makes sense. All six classes share the same skill tree, they just start at different locations. This way, you truly can build any way you want. Currently at max level, you will have 120 passive points total. This still isn’t enough to get the majority of the passives in the game. Once you can get past the daunting nature of the skill tree, you are left with a system that allows you to customize your character just the way you want, while still not overwhelming you on a level to level basis.
The vast array of passives
But what about end game? Diablo 3 added inferno and paragon levels as an end game. However, it was clear that the end game of Diablo 3 became very stale very quickly. Path of Exile is trying to solve the problem using Maps. Maps are an item that drops during end game, and will create an area for you to explore with different modifiers. Maybe you take constant damage over time while in the area, or maybe the whole place is a big maze you need to navigate. Maps can also change how many item will be dropping or the enemies within. All of these modifiers can be chained together to form challenging yet rewarding areas for you to do with your friends. The level cap is 100, and Grinding Gear Games promises a long haul to cap, similar to the grind to 99 in Diablo 2.
Let’s not forget about multiplayer. The game has a fully featured multiplayer system in which you can party up with 5 other people to complete quests, kill stuff or just sit around town and trade. You can create games by name without leaving, and people can join you seamlessly. You can also search for other parties in any town and jump in just as easily. When in a game, you don’t need to worry about missing out on gear if you’re a slow clicker. Gear that drops will be assigned to a player, and only that player can pick it up for a few seconds. However after that, it’s too late and its fair game for anyone. Maybe PvE isn’t really your thing and the dueling in Diablo 3 just isn’t doing it for you. PoE has a fully featured PvP, for characters of all levels. It still has the classic dueling mechanic that so many love, but also features 3v3 arena matchmaking.
Grinding Gear Games knows that despite their best efforts, players still might get bored of the content after a while. They have added leagues to the game to make things a bit more interesting. Leagues work similar to ladders, but instead of single ladder, controlled by the developers that resets completely at a set date, they have given players control. The leagues are similar to ladders, each one will have a different set of rules and will last a set amount of time. It might last months, but it could only last a few hours. One that really caught my eye was Cut Throat League, a league in which players can enter someone else’s instance and kill them. It brings me back to the early days of Diablo with hostility and player killing.
Path of Exile is doing a lot of things right. The other night, while I was playing, a developer came into general chat and answered questions, talked about the future and really interacted with the community so they have an idea what the players want. It is clear the team is very passionate and want to make the best game they can for their fans. Whether you love action RPG’s or you have never played one, there is no reason not to check out Path of Exile. It is free to play, and the developers have promised that the game will never be pay to win. It is currently in open beta and you can join in on the action here.
#64 DogHouse Podcast – “We Found Brandon in the Supply Closet”
What’s Up At DogHouse Systems?
We had an Intel visit! Sadly, were still under an NDA regarding all the cool future tech we got to see, but keep listening! More stuff is coming!
Oh yeah, and Brandon’s back and has some awesome news to share!
Technical Corner
Our Tech Corner question is from Brigham L via Twitter:
When Considering adding an SSD to your rig, what are the most important specs on the drive? Is SATA II too slow?
Here are the links Keith mentioned during the show!
- http://www.sandforce.com/userfiles/file/downloads/FMS2009_F2A_Smith.pdf
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS
- http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/getting-hang-iops#a08
- http://www.todo-backup.com/
PC Gaming
Brandon gives some quick reviews on a couple of Games he played during his time away: Borderlands 2 and Heart of the Swarm! Plus a love letter to the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect…
Computer Tip Of The Week!
We have a tip from the forums this week! Click here to see the topic!
Hi guys,
I just started listening to the podcast after hearing about it from the Starcast podcast. I wanted to suggest you guys mention ninite.com to listeners. Ever since I found this app/site it has made installing and updating my apps so much faster. I run the programs weekly just to update all my apps.
Great work on the podcast, keep up the good work.
Contact Information
Follow the hosts individually on Twitter: John, Keith, and Brandon!
We welcome your feedback, comments, and suggestions! If you would like to submit a question for a future podcast you can leave a message for us at our number, (214) 810-4347 . We are no longer under the 1 minute voicemail cap! Feel free to leave your message and we look forward to using it on the next show We can also be reached by email: podcast@doghousenetwork.com. And don’t forget, we’re giving away free PC games every Friday, and your only way to win is to follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook!
And be sure you check out Eric van Skyhawk’s album, “Function”. Skyhawk is the composer of our theme song, as well as the themes for several other shows like Ladies of Leet. You can get it via iTunes or the Amazon MP3 Store.
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#63 DogHouse Podcast – “It’s all Bigger in Texas”
What’s Up At DogHouse Systems?
Clark is in Dallas and he, Keith and John rock it together.
The Kerrigan rifle giveaway happened! Congrats to Daniel H.
The website redesign is AWESOME and almost complete. Stay tuned!
Technical Corner
Our tech corner question is from Oozy Gorilla via our forums:
I don’t remember there ever really being a discussion on the podcast about what exactly a motherboard does for you in a system, other than provide the backbone of the computer for what you plug every other component into. I thought it might be a good topic to discuss. Or maybe not. Just an idea for a topic.
Keith breaks it down to the capacitor level. NERDGASM.
PC Gaming
Clark is PUMPED for Heart of the Swarm. He breaks down ladder climbing and how he doesn’t need water. The conversation also degenerates into hitting old ladies…
Computer Tip Of The Week!
Quillion says: “I’ve been using duckduckgo.com instead of google for search engine needs, initially due to their lack of profiling but also their !Bang commands…”
Great tip and we’re stoked for the submission and the competition to Google.
Contact Information
Follow the hosts individually on Twitter: Clark, Keith, and Brandon!
We welcome your feedback, comments, and suggestions! If you would like to submit a question for a future podcast you can leave a message for us at our number, (214) 810-4347 . We are no longer under the 1 minute voicemail cap! Feel free to leave your message and we look forward to using it on the next show We can also be reached by email: podcast@doghousenetwork.com. And don’t forget, we’re giving away free PC games every Friday, and your only way to win is to follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook!
And be sure you check out Eric van Skyhawk’s album, “Function”. Skyhawk is the composer of our theme song, as well as the themes for several other shows like Ladies of Leet. You can get it via iTunes or the Amazon MP3 Store.
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The night before HotS
I love making parodies of stuff and started on this last night in my HotS excitement. Enjoy!
Twas the night before HotS, when all through the sector
Not a creature was stirring, not even an infestor.
The creep was hanging from the spire with care
In hopes that Kerrigan soon would be there.
The banelings were nestled all snug in their creep,
While visions of slow marines danced in their sleep.
And an overlord floating, another just spawned,
With WoL ending, they simply just yawned.
When out on the ramp there arose such a clatter,
The banelings sprang from their creep to see what was the matter.
Away to the front, they rolled like a flash,
Stopped short of the ramp, clearly agast.
The light from the space station made it easy to see,
A hellion before them, was different as could be.
When what to their buggy eyes should stand,
But a Hellbat who quickly scorched the land.
With transformation servos, lively and quick,
This flame spraying jerk was clearly a dick.
More rapidly than a phoenix, the flames did spread,
And before you knew it, the banelings were dead.