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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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.
Why do we game?
It’s 2:30 in the morning as I write this, I’m wide awake because I can’t stop my brain from thinking about life long enough to fall asleep, and I find myself thinking “What am I passionate about?” Well, that’s easy. I love my family, my faith, my friends, and all the many things we love about life together, including video games, and I am passionate about all of it. And that’s something I share with the folks who run Doghouse Systems and the amazing people who contribute to this site. Everyone is here, contributing what they can to this blog, to the company, because they are passionate about gaming and the hardware which allows us to do it.
So why do we game?
Personally, I game because I have always had an overactive imagination that was never, ever satisfied with the world around me. I never cared for reality, I wanted the fantastic. I didn’t want to be the normal kid who went to school and came home and did homework, I wanted to be the guy out saving the world, stop the villains, rescue the princess, solve the mystery, you name it. I wanted to be more than what the world offered me to be. And with gaming, I could jump into someone else’s world, and just for a little while, I could be something more.
I’m 29 years old, turning 30 in a few months, and I still want that.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate my life at all. I have been blessed in my life so much. I have an amazing wife that I do not deserve, I have more friends than I’ve ever dreamed of, and a roof over my head. But no one’s life is perfect. Lately, most of my workdays could best be described as a “slog”, and I don’t have a whole lot of passion for my job. I’m antsy about a lot of things. I worry too much. We all have cares in our life that worry us, I’m sure.
But when I finally get to punch that clock and go home for the day, the possibilities of the day open wide. And I play games because it opens up a huge realm of possibility. I can leave all the crappy days at work, all the worries, all the bad feelings behind and do something…fantastic.
Why do you game?
Character customization and Player Choice
For me, one of the huge attractions of an MMO is creating and or customizing characters, to put my own story into a world. Our characters are the sum of the choices we make; choices in appearance, in story, and in actual development of their abilities as their story progresses. Today, I want to discuss the last of those three options and examine the many methods of advancement and choice available to us out there, and what, in my opinion, constitutes the perfect set of characteristics for a game to offer us as players in creating a unique character all our own.
For most RPGs, the first choice of customization after defining your character’s name and look is a choice of class, a series of predefined roles and abilities determined by the story of the world you play in, and in nearly every case, permanent. One you pick a class for your character, in 9 cases out of 10, the only way you’re going to change it is to go make a new one. There are a number of single player RPGs which prove the exception to this, Skyrim for example has no predefined class system, allowing you to build up your character abilities by using them, mixing and matching multiple different skills to create whatever character you like. Most of the modern Final Fantasy games lack class systems as well, relying on various creative systems to assign abilities to characters with various degrees of success in the customization department. Final Fantasy X, for example, essentially pushed characters down a progression path common to well known classes in the Final Fantasy series, while it’s sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, quite literally allowed the protagonists to change classes as easy as changing clothes. Most MMOs, however, force you to stick with the class you create, and for most players, that is regarded as a good thing.
Beyond actual class choice, many games offer you a number of various ways to further customize your characters abilities and skills, to make choices which will make your character unique all your own. Let’s take a look at a few of the methods we’ve seen lately, and analyze how well they succeed at the goal of creating a unique character of the player’s choice
The Talent Trees
The concept behind Talent trees is fairly simple. At even intervals of advancement, a player gains some sort of point. They have access to multiple trees, generally three, but occasionally more or less, each of which focus on a different area of specialty the class was designed around. They pick one of these trees and spend their point to unlock some sort of bonus applicable to the specialty they wish to focus on. The more points they invest in their chosen tree, the stronger bonuses or abilities they gain access to. Seems like a good method right? You pick the talents you want to invest in, the specific areas you wish to become stronger in.
The problem with every version of the talent tree in modern MMOs is the same in every game. WoW had it until it removed talent trees, SWTOR has it, Rift has it. The choices you make are an illusion. Give it a few months after a release or a major patch, and 15 sites will pop up explaining which talents are useful and which are donkey poop, and then everyone and their dog will be running around with the same builds.
Blizzard realized this, which is why they moved to our next system..
Sidenote: MAN am I glad we don’t have those polymorph talents….
The Ladder System
In this system, currently implemented in World of Warcraft, at a certain interval of levels, you are given a choice of three options, built around a theme (such as DPS, survival, crowd control, etc.) with each choice ostensibly seperate but equal. You pick whichever one suits you best.
Perfect right? It’s your choice, and there’s no bad ones! Your combination of talent choices makes you unique and all your own! It’s not impossible to find another character just like yours, but it is less and less likely. So Blizzard got it right, didn’t they?
Well, no, not quite. There’s a number of problems with Blizzard’s implementation. For one, there’s too few choices. You only pick a talent six times, every 15 levels. Under the talent tree system, you were getting improvements every level, and now you have to wait for fifteen. Not much of a motivation or reward for leveling up.
The worst aspect of this system, however, is the ease of which you can undo your changes. Drop 1 gold on a vendor item and you can swap talents at will! The end result is players are expected to keep a stack of these items at all times and swap talents around as fights dictate. There’s no permanence to the system at all. You don’t really get to choose a talent, you’re expected to master and use them all. So now what differentiates you from every other one of your class out there?
So what’s perfect?
A system for customizing your characters abilities is a tricky thing to build, but here are the elements that, in my opinion, it should contain.
1. True choice of a seperate but equal nature of abilities/bonuses, ruthlessly iterated on for balancing.
2. A large enough number of choices that you feel more rewarded for leveling up
3. Some means or method of permanence. It should not be impossible to redo your specializations (looking at you, Torchlight), but it should be costly enough that you consider it thoroughly before you do it.
These combination of factors allow players, in my opinion, the best possible means of truly customizing their character abilities to suit their own playstyle or character theme they’re going for.
I don’t know if anyone has nailed this perfectly, and I’m sure there are other methods I haven’t considered.
Agree? Disagree? Know a game you think has nailed this? Comment below!!
#62 DogHouse Podcast – “Just the Two of Us”
What’s Up At DogHouse Systems?
Bill Doran of Punished Props released another video of his work on the Kerrigan rifle for our big giveaway. Check it out:
We have a redesign coming to DoghouseSystems.com coming very soon!
Technical Corner
Our tech corner question is from Andrew G via e-mail:
On the last show I heard briefly about one of you guys running RAID 0 on your PC (Because you’re crazy like that). I was wondering why you are running that? What advantages does it give you? I have thought about doing this on my PC but it seems more trouble than its worth.
Keith breaks down the advantages and disadvantages of RAID0. Listen to the show to hear our technical wizard speak!
PC Gaming
Clark followed Brandon’s lead with the Four in February challenge challenge. He got through Braid and Deadlight but Skyrim is a posing a challenge.
Keith is playing WoW.
Computer Tip Of The Week!
No tips this week ya’ll! Submit questions to win some epic prizes!
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Video Game Exploits – Should You, or Shouldn’t You?
Dead Space 3 has been making waves lately, bringing to light the legality of using bugs found in video games to a gamers’ own advantage. As reported by Forbes and other sources, a recent exploit in the game allowed players to use bugs to gain items that would otherwise be provided in bulk through micro-transactions. EA has issued a statement about the exploit, saying that the resource earning mechanic is not a glitch, and so will not be patched. So although the Dead Space 3 exploit seems to have been sorted, it still poses an interesting question. If you come across a game exploit, should you use it?
All is won really, if you have the time and patience to farm!
As everyone who reads my columns knows, I’m a Simmer. Always have been. So of course, I have taken advantage of the fantastic dev mode (Or cheat mode, your call.) that allows for the “Motherload” code to be entered, giving the gamer an infinite supply of money. To me, this always meant I could create other characters and experience parts of the game that would otherwise be inaccessible to my hard working yet underpaid main character. Probably not ethical, but in the end, I wasn’t even messing with my main character, so who was I hurting?
In The Sims 3, sometimes money really does grow on trees.
Enter Skyrim, and my good friend Lou. He mentioned in passing that I could exploit a glitch involving the Oghma Infinium Daedric object that had the power to essentially max out ALL. MY. SKILLS. All of them. Oh the power! I had already sunk literally 120 hours into the game, and was so disorganized that I still had 7 out of the first 50 achievements left to unlock. Quick fix achieved! Of course it was patched into Oblivion shortly after it was discovered.
Only worth 2500 gold? Should be priceless.
Skyrim was the first time I used an exploit to benefit my main character in a game instead of putting in the work and playing a game as intended. I vowed to never do it again. It is very tempting though, especially with the connectivity we now enjoy with one another. Game exploits that used to be whispers on the playground are now in your face within moments of discovery through Twitter, gaming news outlets and other online venues, usually much faster than companies are able to remove them.
If you were to find an exploit like the one in Dead Space 3 that allowed you to gain resources in game that you would otherwise have to pay for, do you think that constitutes stealing? If you put your time in to grinding an exploit, does it balance out? When it comes to exploits in single player games, are you cheating anyone other than yourself? Sound off in the comments, I want to see what you think!
Doghouse Network Contributor
A Doghouse Systems Property
Sony swings first
As we closed out 2012, we saw a big push from developers to release their games across multiple platforms. Most of the time, in this gamer’s opinion, the PC ports were always the best. Consoles can’t let you tweak graphical settings, or let other mod enthusiasts dig in and start coming up with crazy, cool, and sexy game modifications (sounds like a Justin Timberlake song). So I think that February 20 is going to be an important date for all Gamers; PC, Console, Mobile – Board Gamers? (how the hell did you guys get in here?) alike. I for one will be tuning in – Gaming news doesn’t get much bigger than this. I can’t help but wonder what Microsoft will counter with. Nintendo has played it’s card early with the WiiU, which most say is sluggishly coming along.
Let’s have a small history lesson on Sony and their consoles. And by history – I mean straight up dollah’s yo!
PlayStation: Released in the U.S. on September 9, 1995 / Sold 104.25 million units worldwide.
PlayStation 2: Released in the U.S. on October 26, 2000 / Sold 153.68 million units worldwide.
PlayStation 3: Released in the U.S. on November 17, 2006 / Sold 72.7 million units worldwide.
Hop on the rumor mill boys and girls, and lets talk about Sony behind their back!
So if I was to guess a U.S. release date, because I don’t speak Japanese, I would say:
PlayStation 4: Released in the U.S. on November 19, 2013 / Price$ 399.00
What about you guys? Pick a date and let us know what other rumors you have heard. What would you like to see Sony implement their 4th generation console?
Sony will stream the announcement for the world to see on February 20, 2013 at 6PM EST.
Doghouse Network Contributor
A Doghouse Systems Property