Been away for a while

It's been a while since I posted.  I chalk this up to a number of factors.    

1.  Work has been kicking my ass.  Who would have thought running a small business, working full time on a demanding account and starting 20 new people and getting them trained up would be such a time sink?

2.  SWTOR - Yep, still going strong on this.  I've had a better go of PVP lately.  Strange, but working with a team, instead of going in ad-hoc seems to work well.  I went from getting my ass handed to me to being one of the top performers simply by having a healer buddy and being on vent with teammates.   I must admit, after being targeted and bullied for so long, and being on the winning side 2 out of 10 times, it certainly is refreshing to be the bully and win 8 out of 10 times.  Raiding has also been providing me with some upgraded gear, but I still haven't completed a full raid.  My alt bounty hunter is up to level 30.  It's been a slow go, since it gets boring doing the same side quests over and over again.  The storyline is good, I just get frustrated running around Tatooine (again) and doing the same thing I just did a couple months ago.

3.  Diablo 3 - Sure, I went through the same launch maladies as everyone else, but eventually, it all got worked out.  The game is fun, but I've only just made it to Act 2, where things seem to get a bit hairier.  Playing co-op is a good time and the game itself is nicely implemented.  This brings me to the subject of the always on DRM.  Sometimes, I just get very fed up with the contingent of gamers who whine and bitch and moan about anything and everything.  With the always on requirement from Blizzard, there certainly are some drawbacks.  Internet goes out for 2 hours, I can't play Diablo.  Well, I can't play SWTOR, WOW, or many of the games I have from Steam, so what's the huge deal?  Gamers bitch too much - a misplaced sense of entitlement perhaps?  This, the mass effect 3 debacle, the possibility that next gen may not allow used games, day 0 dlc being on disc, EA being rated the most evil company on the planet - I mean, c'mon, it gets old after a while.  Do gamers have to bitch about everything? One of my biggest pet peeves in the world is a sense of entitlement - and these common gripes about anything and everything just ring that bell.

4. On the Xbox front, I haven't been playing much.  Since finishing Mass Effect 3, I've dabbled with some games, which I'll list below with some thoughts.

I Am Alive - killer idea, but it's just not doing it for me.  The combat takes me out of the game though.  

Jurrasic Park - Got this on clearance.  Nothing special, probably should have been an XBLA game with installments.  Just a bunch of QTE's.  Not far enough in the story so far to say it's good, but early signs show an okay experience.

Asura's Wrath - Picked this up on a lark.  I normally don't like Japanese games, but this one has some potential.  I've played about 2 hours on it, and the combat is satisfying, but there are a lot of cut scenes.  A typical chapter has a cutscene, you fighting, and an end cutscene.  Some chapters have 2 fighting sequences.  

Game of Thrones - Another hasty decision.  Finally tried it out last night.  Some interesting concepts, but I think the game will fall flat.  What most impressed me was in character creation - you pick your strengths.  Well, the twist here is that if you pick 6 points worth of strengths, you also need to pick 6 points worth of weaknesses.  I think this concept could push western RPG's into a whole new paradigm.  Think about choosing a perk in fallout 3, but each perk you chose also had a negative impact of some sort.  If done properly, it could open up a new level of strategy and tactics.  I got through the first chapter, and then it was time to create another character (part of the game, not starting over).  It may have some potential, but the combat isn't very satisfying.  It relies on a queued attack system.  You can spam your default attack, or use more powerful abilities which drain energy.  I'm sure there's some strategy to be found there, but I would have preferred a more traditional hack & slash system.  The narrative and presentation look like they could have some redeeming qualities.  Let's see how the gameplay takes off.

Today, I should be getting Ghost Recon.  I still pine for the days of the original Ghost Recon, but alas, those days are gone with the closest xbox experience being Operation Flashpoint.  I've enjoyed the advanced warfighter games, and expect this one to deliver a good experience.  Now, will I actually get to play it tonight?