Chopsticks instrumental

Play LOTRO for freeIt’s release day for Lord of the Rings Online. Update 22.2 is the big ol’ class balance patch that everyone’s been fussing about for the last few weeks. “We have taken steps to improve the power, gameplay, and overall enjoyment of numerous classes throughout the game, as part of a longer-term effort to optimize class balance,” Standing Stone says. It’s buffed the potency of multiple traits and reset trait allocation for all affected classes too. Notably, Champions got a hefty damage and healing buff, Guardians will find Keen Blade got a do-over, Hunter lines and skills got major overhauls, Warden DPS is up up up, and some of the Lore-master’s traits have been outright deleted (I’ll let MOP’s Justin be the arbiter of whether that class is improved or not!). Tactical Relics also got a revamp, plus there’s a new series of weekly episodes in the Lay of Rust of Rime series, tweaks for the LFG tool, bug fixes … [Read more...] about Lord of the Rings Online 22.2 update is live with sweeping class balance changes, wearable instruments, and new story quests

Still having a rough time in Worlds Adrift? Bossa Studios has a new humorous guide out to help players “git gud.” Among the tips recommended by players: Use the builder to drop construction objects on your enemies’ head, point your cannon backwards to make yourself look less threatening, always ask before entering other players’ space, and cover your awesome ship with crappy parts to hide its awesomeness. Basically, be the Millennium Falcon. Most recently, Bossa updated the game with the 0.2.1.1 patch, which added crouching, rolling, and sneaking, as well as improved the cameras, implemented an emote system, tweaked climbing, and fixed a ton of bugs. “YES – instruments are planned in the game,” says the studio. This weekend, the devs are plotting multiple fun summer events across all the servers – make sure you check out the rolling schedule because there are indeed some sweet prizes, including engine schematic, cosmetics, lootbags, … [Read more...] about Worlds Adrift teaches you to git gud, promises instruments someday

The latest production update from Chronicles of Elyria is going to make those of you who are super into detailed and meaningful character creation perk right on up. Elyria is a bit unusual in that characters can be linked to other characters through biological families, and those families influence where you’re “born” as well as what characteristics, appearances, and even religions you “grow up” with. “Even if [you’re] wearing a disguise, the Child Contract records who you really are because your true genetics are used (your physical body is involved in baby-making). While the child created with the contract would only be aware of the identities their parents were using when they made the contract, their genetics will be based off of the True Identity. If you want to create secret children, you totally can, but they’ll still resemble you and not your disguise.” There’s more to the dev blog, including a chunk on interaction … [Read more...] about Chronicles of Elyria on character family influences and playable instruments

Digital Extremes can sure pack a bunch of good stuff in its Warframe Twitch shows, and July 26th’s devstream #129 was no exception. But one particular little clip caught my attention, and then my breath: Live Operations and Community Producer Rebecca Ford started playing an instrument in game! Say what?! If there is one thing that I champion at every turn, it’s player music systems in games. And here is Ford, plunking away at various strings and frets on a guitar-like shawzin. I can’t even express how giddy this small snippet of stream has made me. Honestly, I did a double take — but neither my eyes nor my ears were deceiving me. While it was a tease, it was a tease of things to come; it wasn’t some dev sorcery of impossible dreams but rather actual content currently in development that will become available in game soon. Soon my friends. (But not soon enough!) Soon we’ll be there will be a playable instrument in Warframe, and impromptu jam sessions … [Read more...] about Warframe of Mind: Get ready to rock with playable instruments

There’s something to be said for a 9-5 in terms of time management. Now, before you start emptying water jugs and throwing toner cartridges at me, hear me out. In an office full of cubicles, memos, and staff meetings, someone else is ultimately in charge of your time. There’s a schedule for breaks and time off, and the amount of time you spend on social media is surely being policed in one way or another. None of this is ideal; I understand that. But it does take a good load of the responsibility off of your shoulders. As a freelancer, you get to set the alarm clock for whatever time you want in the morning. You’re in charge of your vacations, and you are the one who decides when it’s lunch time. But on top of that, you are also the person who has to set and meet deadlines instead of watching half a day’s worth of cat videos.   Okay, so you want to watch 75 minutes of cats nonchalantly batting cups of coffee off of countertops? No problem, I do too, … [Read more...] about 11 Awesome Productivity Hacks and Time Management Tips