death-match
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Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track
This past weekend, a friend of mine came up from Texas. Not only did we talk about our families and such, but we also spent some time talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic PvP. We have both been following the game about the same amount of time, and we are now in the same guild. I argued that PvP in SWTOR is broken. A couple of Advanced Classes excel while the others are just filler or fodder. Even if there were balance in the classes, BioWare does little to encourage the competitive player. In July, I gave a mid-term report card for SWTOR based on Dr. Richard Bartle's assessment of the different types of MMO gamers. As you might guess, SWTOR failed miserably in the "killer" category. As I talked to my friend, we came to the conclusion that SWTOR is a PvE game with a side of PvP. However, given some of the additions coming later this year, I think our Star Wars MMO might raise itself above the F grade I gave it a few months ago. Today, marks the start of Season One PvP, and in less than a month Galactic Starfighter launches. Both of these additions mark significant changes to the perception of game through the eyes of a "killer."
The spec and class death match
World of Warcraft started out with 27 class and spec combinations, and with the addition of death knights, monks, and a fourth spec for druids, we're up to 34 in Mists of Pandaria. One of the things that the upcoming brawler's guild had me wondering about in an idle moment was which among the 34 would emerge the victor if the developers decided to throw a no-holds-barred, all-out battle royale. I think we can eliminate just about every healing spec; while they'd be annoying to kill, they don't really do enough DPS on their own to be a serious threat. Tanks certainly aren't doing as much damage since the halcyon days of vengeance working in PvP, but would they do just enough to outlast an opponent? And what about DPS? The arms warrior and frost mage are storied opponents, but who really has the winning combination of damage and survivability right now? So which spec and/or class emerges victorious if they're all tossed into a ring somewhere and left to fight it out among themselves? Or -- given the high possibility of rogues and druids simply stealthing through the majority of the fight in such a situation -- would a tournament bracket work better? Would someone who outlasts the death match not survive a series of duels, and vice versa?
James Cameron to create sparks with Robogeddon on Discovery Channel
Fresh off his return from the briny deep, James Cameron is set to create a television show for the Discovery Channel called Robogeddon. Similar to BattleBots and Robot Wars, the program will feature a competitive death match of sorts, where robots tear each other to shreds in pursuit of being the last machine standing. In addition to Cameron's participation, the show will also feature the stamp of Mark Burnett -- famous for such reality television titles as Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice. It's also said that Donald Hutson, the two-time Super Heavyweight Champion of BattleBots, will be among the show's competitors. No date is set for when we'll see the sparks fly, but if you want to get in on the ground floor, might we suggest hitting your local scrapyard?
