Editorial: Lenovo? Game State?

This is an opinion piece based on what I found here: Lenovo Game State

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I've only just heard about Lenovo Game State. As I explore their website the first thing that strikes me is that behind the red and black veneer there are a curious many ways to find yourself looking at a store page (and not a store page for the "game" in question) or a commercial. Purportedly, a development team called Dark Rift will be designing a game based on "upvoted" art and content. This is insipid. Have these people never been to the Internet--the whole Internet? When did "we can't do this on our own" become an acceptable answer from the company making the game? It won't be the "influencers" who see the profit from the game, so why should they be necessary for development? They invite the influence of whom, exactly? Anyone that can sign up? That doesn't make for any sort of "community" whether it be of artists or otherwise.

Oh, and, hang on. When did Lenovo stop making printers and junk like that? I'm meant to believe they're a company that gives a crap about gaming because they think customers will buy their newest line of basic, garrish accessories? Sure. Of course. When do the "Lenovo Gaming" t-shirts come out, too? They'll be trying to sell velvet basketballs next. Gaming gear isn't a community pool, you can't just hop in because you sell an entry-level gaming rig. There are companies entirely devoted to gaming products like Razer, who, for all of their faults, make an effort to support and nurture gaming communities as well as the industry at large. It's rude to stick a hand in just for a cash-grab from the gaming demographic, but it's downright despicable to also task them with designing a game that you to sell back to them (especially without sharing any of the profit).

All that aside, I am interested in the idea as a social experiment. There are basic game mechanics in place; the game will be a MOBA-style game similar to what is already popular in that style. The users first submissions come as part of completing the three "missions" comprising a walkthrough of their website and thus there are plenty of submissions to fill the endless stream of tiles that comprises the bulk of Lenovo Game State's website.

But a single, flashy website doesn't leave me believing in Lenovo's gaming spirit. No hype man, and certainly no mini-team of creatives, is going to convince me that the company wants to be doing any of this at all, but rather deigns to it for the sake of an easy dollar. Moreover, there is no guarantee that this experiment won't completely fail. Currently, user "LukeGarvey" holds the top spot for submissions, and it is not undeserved. His illustrations look like they belong in a game developer's art book.  However, the rest of the users on the so-called "leaderboard" are hardly inspiring. 

As of now, their focus should be on marketing because the project is doomed without more attention.

Smite's Official Release!

Today, Smite is officially out of its beta testing phase! This game is one which I have posted about multiple times in the past, and a game which I play almost every day. Most of the changes the game has seen over the last few months have brought it closer to a League of Legends clone, and yet, while that's not typically a compliment, I believe it has helped guide this game. Even their new cinematic teaser (below) is reminiscent of LoL's trailers in style and mood.

Recent changes to the item store in particular have made this game feel even more like League of Legends. LoL's popularity has been growing and the realm of e-sports has been growing around it, so hitching their wagon to LoL's train isn't a bad strategy. Still, it is becoming more difficult to describe Smite in its own terms. If the abilities become known by their LoL counterpart, and gods which should feel unique become amalgamations of LoL's champions (who are themselves amalgamations of DotA characters), then it becomes difficult to bring new players into the game--something I dearly hope for.

They're newest addition to their roster of gods, Ullr, doesn't add much to the game creatively. While I'm interested to explore his strengths and weaknesses, I would hope that future god releases include characters with a little more imagination in their abilities. It does compensate, somewhat, that his skin, "Strider", makes reference to  J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", but I would prefer that the skin itself was more than just a change of color. The other skin they added recently, Dark Lord Sun Wukong, is clearly "inspired" by Star Wars, and if they're willing to run the risk of copyright infringement, why not an Assassin's Creed "inspired" skin for Ullr?

Now, before Hi-Rez has a chance to make major changes to their game again, I would like to share a quick gameplay video I recorded a few days ago. This match was over after only about 10 minutes, but most matches are between 15 and 25. The gametype is Assault (ARAM) and I play as Ra, a relatively basic god and one of the several available to new players for free. More than anything, though, my goal here was to give you some idea of what this game is like and, at the very least, this video can accomplish that.

If you haven't heard of Smite before or would like to give the game a try, check out it's page here

Smite is (still) the best game you aren't playing

Back in August, I wrote my first post about Smite. Lately, I've been playing the game again quite a bit. A few friends of mine are playing it with me regularly and I find myself wanting to post about it again.

Since August, the game has received updates and new gods. The interfaces have undergone numerous face-lifts and the game modes have been expanded and refined. The new mode, Assault, is a copy of League of Legend's ARAM (All Random All Middle) and works very well in Smite. Randomly assigned gods push players to learn new characters and play-styles while making teamwork essential to victory. Not only does this make the mode exciting, it also encourages players to branch out in other gametypes. Several older gods have gotten new looks along with brand new gods from Central American and Chinese mythologies. Unlike new characters in LoL, they don't come out overpowered to garner interest and instead require the player to learn a new combination of abilities.

The game does a great job of just being fun to play. Since I've been learning to play with more gods, I've grown more enamored with the variety of play and importance of teamwork. Over the course of just a single game, as a team learns to play with one another, you can witness huge swings of momentum that turn a blowout into an exciting comeback. Too few games offer that kind of emotion.Smite is a game where even when things seem lost you can come back and win with a little luck and the right items.

And speaking of items, it's one of the things I still don't love about the game. There are a few that are essential, and a number that simply aren't. It would be nice if there was a greater variety in what items were good for each character, but as it is there are a few that are simply too good. It's not a huge problem; there are some items obviously geared toward certain styles of play while others offer better all-around stats. That said, it makes the game a little easier to learn, and that's good for helping out new players a bit.

In certain gametypes, the right items can be game-breaking. Hi-Rez removes some items from certain types, but it's still possible to make certain gods nearly unkillable and others so deadly that, all other things being equal, some games are decided before they start. In the real world, of course, "all other things" are never held equal, and sometimes you can have a lot of fun stealing victory from a match you shouldn't win. But, in any case, it's a problem when the players are being assigned gods (like in the ARAM-style Assault Mode) that can't do the job.

A good game lets you start it up and get playing fast. Smite could do this better. Queues tend to take about a minute and a half, whereas in games like LoL and Starcraft 2, queues can take only a few seconds. Their current queuing system is pretty dedicated to the countdown aspect, with a new round of each game type beginning every 4 minutes, but if I never had to sit in another 3-minute queue I'd like the game more.

All that aside, there is truly just one thing keeping me in this game: I'm playing it with friends. The simple fact is that without a few people who want to play with me I wouldn't still be playing this game. It takes too much teamwork and I haven't found many other amiable players online. I worry that the community in this game is toxic in the same ways as the LoL community. Old players should try to be more understanding of new players and, if they can't be encouraging, should at least offer substantial criticisms that describe what was being done wrong. It doesn't do the team any good to throw insults--if something isn't working, you should fix it, not yell at it.

If this game keeps finding ways to improve itself, and if my friends stay interested in playing it, then I expect this will not be my last post about this game. I really look forward to people finding the game and the community of players growing. It should be coming out of beta in the near future and so I'm hoping to see it make a splash with a little well-placed advertising (Steam sale, anyone?).

Smashmuck Champions

If you've played Monday Night Combat, Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends, then I can describe this game to you rather easily: Smashmuck Champions is to LoL as MNC is to TF2.

But that's oversimplified and, anyway, I don't think many folks have played MNC. So here are the basics of what Smashmuck Champions is: Isometric camera angle, Character "Champions", minion waves, and a few game modes across fewer arenas.

Nothing stands out in this game, and there isn't anything that brings you back to it day after day. I played it three times and, although I enjoyed it, I think I'll be uninstalling it soon. I just don't have any desire to go back.

I think about SolForge, which had a rocky start to say the least, but has a daily reward system that keeps me interested. Daily rewards are common in games these days, (particularly with F2P games) but they need to offer something you want in order to be effective. In SolForge, the prospect of getting lucky with a big pack of cards in my daily reward is enough to keep me earning them day after day.

Smashmuck Champions is altogether too forgettable. To be fair, I haven't tried all the champs, but I don't really care to, either, and in all fairness that's a bigger problem. It's not that the game doesn't have it's quirks, it's idiosyncrasies, and it's not that those aren't a nice change from the games I play every day, but there isn't enough there that's pulling my attention back.

All in all the game has two major problems: the gameplay, which doesn't stray far from the usual and fails to excite, and the relative obscurity of the title. The latter is a disadvantage not to be critical of the game itself for, but in the realm of free-to-play multiplayer games it's a hurdle that has to either be jumped or worked around. Smashmuck Champions does neither, and as a result the game is all too forgettable.

Smite's Arena Mode Has Me Hooked!

I've been playing Smite for a few months. I wasn't a big fan when it was a MOBA like League of Legends or DOTA2, but since they've added Arena Mode there is a lot of fun to be had. It feels like PvPing in an MMO, and the characters are all based on gods and goddesses from various mythologies which speaks to the geek inside my heart.

I found out about the game in an e-mail from Hi-Rez Studios inviting me to play the beta. I made an account with them to play Tribes: Ascend but that game has recently gone out of development. I hope this means more time spent on developing Smite.

Playing the game, I can't help but feel that it's not as popular as it should be. I don't know why that is, exactly, because it's not like I'm seeing the same names over and over. Something about it just feels small and indy, which I like, but at the same time it's hard to get my friends to pick up a game like this when they're already accustomed to playing League of Legends.

There's a trend in gaming, I think, to only play the games your friends are playing. Maybe it's a wider trend in sociology, but I spend my social time gaming so that's where I can see it. Games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, League of Legends, or Starcraft 2 get to be these titans of their genre, and the little guy is stuck trying to collect the scraps. At the same time there's all this attention being given to games and ambitious projects getting made, but the general desire from the gaming public is to flow into these really limited avenues. Starcraft 2 is not the be-all and end-all of RTS gaming, yet I don't have anyone asking me to play something else. From what I can tell, this is the same phenomenon that drove Xbox 360 sales through the RRoD fiasco--I bought one because my friends all bought one.

So I'm recommending Smite, not because I love all the game modes but because I had fun playing it, it's free to play, and I like at least a little variety in my MOBAs.


P.S.
I really like that Smite offers a variety of gametypes:
-Conquest: Your classic DOTA-style game with three-lanes and a jungle.
-Assault: The same as Conquest but without that pesky jungle.
-Joust: Again, largely the same as Conquest, but played 1v1 or 3v3 for a change of pace.
-Domination: A King-of-the-Hill gametype with three turrets as bases that score points for your team.
-Arena: Smite's Arena Mode is the real gem. It is a gaming experience I've missed since the good old days in World of Warcraft's Ring of Trials with jungle buffs on the side. 5v5, this mode is about learning to communicate and team fight. I've found that some of the new Gods added by Hi-Rez seem to be geared towards this gametype while others are definitely not. I recommend downloading Smite for this experience alone.
-Match of the Day: These matches vary from Conquest, to Assault, to Arena etc. and include special rules. Sometimes all players start at max levels, or with a mountain of gold, or with randomly selected gods. New types are added and sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. The point is they're trying out new things, and this provides a fresh way to play every day.