Minnesota Steve

It’s half baked so far. But it’s still early beta. The campaign is fun but has problems. There is one or two good ways to build each character class early. If you don’t find the magic recipe then you will have issues. The game starves you for currency and skill gems early. So there is no way to recover and try a different build variation. For the end game I can only say “what were they thinking?” It’s absolutely horrible. A true hamster wheel. But they are revising it based on feedback. Its almost like every decision the developers make is to take something cool and then make sure it’s a miserable experience. Either through mobs swarming you, a lack of currency. You are basically forced to play trade leagues. Solo is near impossible to have fun with.

The game is still in early access and feels a long way from being fully baked despite launching in just 2 months. I was an early access purchaser in mid-2000 and have logged an astounding 1400 hours. So while I do like it, it has been more interesting as a journey to understand game development. This is for the casual gamer. Someone who likes Grim Dawn or Diablo 3, but finds Path of Exile too demanding. It lacks the graphic quality of Diablo 3, a game developed 15 years before it, or the end game systems of Path of Exile that are also many years old. GGG, the developer, is promising more end game content. And I believe it will come. The other main issue is network stability. There are lag spikes and other issues in single player mode. Recent beta tests of multiplayer were a disaster. This will define LE at launch. Will it be stable and get glowing reviews in mass or be an unmitigated disaster never to recover? That said, even 6 months after launch the game could fail if promised new end game systems do not arrive. There really isn’t that much to do after reaching level 70 except grind perfect gear to achieve an another dungeon tier. Shades of Diablo 3 but more of a grind.

There is nothing else on in liberal news during her time slot. So I watch it some times,

A very very very poor interpretation of the books. So disappointed. I guess like Dune we will have to wait 25+ years for the next attempt. The Foundation Series is celebrated in Sci-Fi to the same level as Lord of the Rings is in the fantasy genre. The film should have stuck to the same characters and plot and brought them to life and introduced a new generation of fans to Asimov while thrilling existing fans. Instead, they use the books merely as a backdrop to create their own loosely based story and characters. The main characters and underlying intrigue is what made the books great and they are largely missing here. I mean, they are spending an entire 1 hour episode on the journey to Trantor and providing new material and creating context to something Asimov - remember him - chose not to dwell on. We have a multi book series and they deviate from the story immediately? Why? As part of the changes, Apple rightly adds diversity to the main cast of characters. Changing some roles from male to female. But then to emphasize these roles they amplify an insignificant role and minimize a major role thereby removing all the intrigue from the plot.