Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Lumberyard - Amazon's Free Game Engine

"Amazon Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform, 3D game engine for you to create the highest-quality games, connect your games to the vast compute and storage of the AWS Cloud, and engage fans on Twitch.

You can use Amazon Lumberyard to build rich and engaging games with the highest ceiling of quality through its comprehensive and proven toolset, and runtime performance that has been highly optimized over many years. With Lumberyard, you get a full-featured editor, native code performance, stunning visuals, and hundreds of other features like performant networking, character and animation editors, particle editor, cloth physics, UI editor, audio tools, weather effects,... Read All

Tale of The Dragon Is A Fun New Expansion For Age of Mythology!

One of the benefits of PC gaming is that you can keep playing your games long after you’ve upgraded your system. Often times gamer communities keep amazing old games running well beyond their original shelf life as seen with the Red Alert CnCNet project and Forgotten Empires. For certain game classics such as Wind Waker, Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology we even get an HD makeover that ports the game to modern systems along with a visual refresh. We usually don’t expect these old games to get a full blown expansion 14 years later but recently SkyBox Labs in partnership with Microsoft and Forgotten Empires recently did this and released a full expansion to Age of... Read All One of the benefits of PC gaming is that you can keep playing your games long after you’ve upgraded your system. Often times gamer communities keep amazing old games running well beyond their original shelf life as seen with the Red Alert CnCNet project and Forgotten Empires. For certain game classics such as Wind Waker, Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology we even get an HD makeover that ports the game to modern systems along with a visual refresh. We usually don’t expect these old games to get a full blown expansion 14 years later but recently SkyBox Labs in partnership with Microsoft and Forgotten Empires recently did this and released a full expansion to Age of Mythology called Tale of the Dragon.

The Tale of the Dragon expansion adds a new playable civilization to Age of Mythology in the Chinese, new multiplayer maps as well as a new full single player mission. Age of Mythology is a great game that used to be a staple at my LAN parties with friends. I’ve always felt the game needed more civilizations and this expansion aims to fix that problem.

The single player missions in the original Age of Mythology were really fun and it was great to tear into the new Chinese single player campaign. With that, the single player missions are quite hard and I found myself playing through some a few times to be able to progress. For longtime fans upping the difficulty is a really nice addition as the first single player missions really do start simply and even by the end don’t offer a huge amount of difficulty. If someone were starting the campaigns from scratch Tale of the Dragon's increase in difficulty would be appreciated.

One problem people often have with older multiplayer games is that if one friend has the original game and the other has the expansion they often can’t play together. If both people are running Age of Mythology EX on Steam you don’t need to worry if your friend has the expansion as both people can play together regardless of whom has what.

If you are a real time strategy fan or loved any part of the Age series you need to check out Age of Mythology - Tale of the Dragon. It adds a much needed new civilization and single player mission that really harkens back to the good old days of RTS single player campaigns.

I also want to thank Skybox Labs and Microsoft for giving me a press review key to play through the new Tale of the Dragon expansion.

EA Giving Away Need For Speed Most Wanted On Orgin

EA is giving away Need For Speed Most Wanted right now on Origin. You can grab the game by hitting the link below and claiming your copy. As with all the Origin on the house games, this is available for a limited time so if you want it, get it soon.

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house?sf44212184=1

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/06/2016 at 04:24am

1) I've never played a Need For Speed game. I don't really know anything about it other than it's a car game. It looks like you're racing against the cops. It does look pretty cool and seems like it might have a good soundtrack. If anyone who's played one of these games wants to input their personal experience, I'd welcome that.
2) I'm so very glad at least one of us is being updated on these "On The House" deals with Origin. I only find out about them here. So, thanks!! =)

Travis Admin wrote on 02/06/2016 at 04:11pm

Greg-- all you have to lose is a bit of bandwidth to download it. It's free. Try it out! :D

I played it ages ago. The Need For Speed games are a good balance of arcade racing and realism.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/06/2016 at 04:46pm

I was downloading it as I wrote the comment. =)

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/07/2016 at 07:58pm

Most Wanted was one of the NFS games developed by Criterion, the studio that made the Burnout games. One of the things I loved about the Burnout games was that intense sense of speed, with precision control. Hot Pursuit felt that way. I'm sure Most Wanted does, too. Definitely worth a download, since it's free.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/08/2016 at 03:56am

I played a Burnout game a few years ago, so I decided to get Burnout Paradise on Steam. I haven't played it much though. Thanks for the input, Scrypt, that makes this game sound cool. I'll give a try some time.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/08/2016 at 09:57pm

I have Burnout Paradise on Steam, and I swear it used to work, but now it crashes after every event and none of the fixes I've read online seem to address it.

It's a great game though, I played the hell out of it on PS3.

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Are Our Brains Hardwired To Love Fallout 4 And It's Dystopian Wasteland?

"Why are we naturally drawn to horrible, ugly game worlds? Well, it turns out there are plenty of philosophical theories that help to explain the phenomenon. In this week’s episode, Jamin breaks down our love affair with despair."

As someone that really enjoys post apocalyptia I can say safely that yes, my heart does indeed love partaking in horrible, blown out wasteland worlds... that is until I actually spend time in a desert then I don't because it's hot as hell there.

New Doom Will Crawl From The Pits Of Hell On May 13th

The Demons of the new Doom title will infest Mars base on PC, PS4 and XBone on May 13th. In a trailer that is both disturbing and a bit crazy I can say that I am both excited and bit perplexed. I don't mind gore at all, I own Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott movies. That said, this trailer is so over the top as to run up against a bit of puzzlement in my mind. I mean at one point in the trailer you smash a human eye socket into a terminal with a sort of discarded detachment that makes me wonder if the player is actually... human? Regardless of all of that, I will be picking up the new Doom and giving it a go as the single player does look good and the Snap Map... Read All

Song of the Deep by Insomniac

Insomniac Games recently announced a new title they're releasing this summer "Song of the Deep". I really enjoy almost every Insomniac release (especially Ratchet and Clank) so I follow them closely and now I'm eagerly awaiting this "Metroidvania-style underwater adventure"

Announcement: http://www.insomniacgames.com/announcing-song-deep/

Hearthstone Shake Up - Normal Mode & New Deck Slots Coming!

One of the biggest problems in Hearthstone has been new players starting the game. There are a ton of cards to get and because of that, it's very daunting for new players. Changes are coming that should address this and create an entirely new game mode that should shake up the base game for the better.

There is so much here, I am going to clip out most of it to discuss.

"You’ll play Standard using a deck built solely from a pool of cards that were released in the current and previous calendar year, along with a core foundation of the Basic and Classic card sets (which will always be valid for Standard). You’ll be matched against other players who are also using Standard... Read All One of the biggest problems in Hearthstone has been new players starting the game. There are a ton of cards to get and because of that, it's very daunting for new players. Changes are coming that should address this and create an entirely new game mode that should shake up the base game for the better.

There is so much here, I am going to clip out most of it to discuss.

"You’ll play Standard using a deck built solely from a pool of cards that were released in the current and previous calendar year, along with a core foundation of the Basic and Classic card sets (which will always be valid for Standard). You’ll be matched against other players who are also using Standard decks.

Standard will help make for a more dynamic and balanced metagame:

* A select set of cards makes each new card have more impact!
* The developers will have more freedom to design exciting new cards.
* It lets newer players jump in faster without having to collect as many cards.
* Standard is only available as a format in Friendly Challenges, Ranked, and Casual play, so it won’t affect Arena, Solo play, or Adventures.

Wild is our new name for the Hearthstone you already know, because it’ll be the format where anything can happen. While Standard puts a bright spotlight on recently released cards and brings a more balanced experience, when you queue up for Wild, you’ll be cozying up with the crazy fun of Hearthstone you’re already familiar with. Of course, as more and more cards are added over time, the wilder and more unpredictable Wild will be!

In terms of gameplay, nothing is changing for Wild: you’ll be able to finish quests, earn gold, rank up on the ladder, get card backs, earn Legend rank, and use all the cards you’ve already collected to build a Wild deck, just like you always have. When you queue up for Ranked or Casual play with a Wild deck, you’ll always be matched with other players who are also using Wild decks.

The arrival of Standard format will also be an excellent time for us to take stock of Hearthstone. While normally we’re quite conservative about making balance changes to Hearthstone cards (and we’ll continue to be in the future), we’re planning to take the new Hearthstone year as a golden opportunity to re-evaluate a number of cards in the Basic and Classic card sets, including class cards, and make some long-considered adjustments."

Blizzard will also be phasing out the ability to buy old expansions and adventures that are not part of standard. You will be able to craft these cards if you want, but the Naxxramas adventure and Goblins VS Gnomes packs won't be available for purchase. Additionally you will be able to dust all the old Adventure cards for full value, so if you want you can dust Maexxna, Wailing Soul or Sludge Belcher if the only mode you play is Standard.

After I first heard the news I'll admit, I was a bit scared but after more consideration this really does seem to be a good move for Hearthstone. Standard will be the new primary format and Wild will be available for anyone that can swing it. I've always dreamt of crafting Dr. Boom but since Goblins VS Gnomes is heading out there is no longer a reason to do that. That said, we will all lament some cards being phased out like Sludge Belcher and Loatheb.

That said, having a more accessible format to new and existing players seems like a great thing. But what do you think? There is a lot here so I recommend reading the whole post and FAQ linked below.

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19995505/a-new-way-to-play-2-2-2016

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/03/2016 at 06:32pm

This is a HUGE change. One that will be worth following. I jumped on the Hearthstone bandwagon hard when it came to mobile and was pretty decent at it.

I've not played for a month or so now, and this update upsets me a little. I don't like losing adventures like Naxx. When I started, I was more interested in Black Rock, so I played through that, then saved my gold for the Grand Tournament expansion. I've played a couple tiers of the League of Explorers adventure, but got a little burnt out on the game. Now if I want to play Naxx, I have to get in a quickly grind up to 700 gold to unlock a level of Naxx before it goes away if I want cards from it. This frustrates me.

But at the same time, I realize that having a Standard game will greatly help out newer players. Wild could be really fun years from now when you see a card you've not seen for years played as well :)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 02/03/2016 at 08:01pm

I will probably play both Standard and Wild. Keep decks for each.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/03/2016 at 09:27pm

@AdamPFarnsworth, it sounds like you'll still be able to acquire the cards from Naxx or the Goblins/Gnomes adventures via crafting, rather than doing the adventures. The cards aren't going away, they're just changing how you get them, and limiting what will be available for use in the Standard vs Wild arenas.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/03/2016 at 10:21pm

Sure, I know that, but crafting a card like Kel'Thuzad seems impossible lol

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/03/2016 at 10:41pm

@Adam @scrypt "How will purchasing Adventures work?
You will be able to purchase Adventures that are part of the current Standard format normally. Adventures that are not part of Standard will no longer be available for purchase. If you already own at least one wing of such an Adventure, you’ll have the option to unlock the remaining wings using in-game gold."

So if you have at least one wing of an Adventure open you can keep unlocking the rest with gold to collect the cards. So if you haven't already and still want to unlock at least the first wing of Naxxaramas.

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19995505/a-new-way-to-play-2-2-2016#cards

Bina wrote on 02/03/2016 at 11:39pm

Did anyone else notice how forced the cheerfulness of that designer was? His smile was a little to big and his voice has an underlying tension. I think he's trying to be reassuring, but it comes off as just kinda weird to me.
I'm really excited about this change up. Though I have to say I hope they continue to balance some of the cards from classic so that we see a real change up. Cards like Tirion and Silvanas still seem OP and may go back to being an auto-include if Blizzard doesn't do something. Or I could be really wrong about that and we might see a flood of new builds wildly different from anything we've seen before.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2016 at 01:20am

"Did anyone else notice how forced the cheerfulness of that designer was? His smile was a little to big and his voice has an underlying tension. I think he's trying to be reassuring, but it comes off as just kinda weird to me."

I've been subscribed to the Hearthstone YouTube channel and seen a few of Bens videos where he talks. From my observation, I could be wrong, he seems to have a nervous energy about him and also seems like he wants to be select with wording. I think one reason why he is careful with wording and especially this news drop is how much of a big change this is and how vocal the Hearthstone community is. Some people are really upset and very vocal about it. I think the, general, consensus is somewhat mixed but coming out in support of this. That said, some people are pissed and I can see how they'd be a bit nervous people might riot. Change is hard and some gamers are really really hard to deal with sometimes.

"Though I have to say I hope they continue to balance some of the cards from classic so that we see a real change up. Cards like Tirion and Silvanas still seem OP and may go back to being an auto-include if Blizzard doesn't do something. Or I could be really wrong about that and we might see a flood of new builds wildly different from anything we've seen before."

I think some balancing to Classic is essential for this to work, otherwise the best cards to get are the OP ones from classic.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2016 at 02:50am

Interview with Ben Brode after this news. It's really interesting and well worth a read.

http://www.pcgamer.com/ben-brode-on-why-standard-hearthstone-has-to-ditch-the-old-card-expansions/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2016 at 02:57am

PC Gamer also listed the most important cards that will leave Standard when that starts and #1 is Sludge Belcher. I agree, that card is important and nearly always a win to any deck you add it to.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-20-most-important-cards-that-will-be-removed-from-hearthstone-standard/

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 02/11/2016 at 05:26pm

Good pcgamer interview. Thanks for posting @jdodson!

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Another Month Of Cheerful Ghost Website Stats

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ywjU6RBiKXM/maxresdefault.jpg

File this under "completely nerdy stuff no one may care about" but I've thought it would be interesting to post some of our website statistics for a month. This isn't to wreck privacy or anything, mostly to get a snapshot of the average Cheerful Ghost patron. For instance, did you know what the most popular web browsers Cheerful Ghost users use?

Well, now you do.

These statistics were from December 2015.

Users

Each user hit 1.64 pages per session*

The average user session duration is about 1 minute and 49 seconds

The percentage of totally new users/sessions is 64.17% which means we have more new people looking around than site regulars

The top browser languages in order... Read All

File this under "completely nerdy stuff no one may care about" but I've thought it would be interesting to post some of our website statistics for a month. This isn't to wreck privacy or anything, mostly to get a snapshot of the average Cheerful Ghost patron. For instance, did you know what the most popular web browsers Cheerful Ghost users use?

Well, now you do.

These statistics were from December 2015.

Users

Each user hit 1.64 pages per session*

The average user session duration is about 1 minute and 49 seconds

The percentage of totally new users/sessions is 64.17% which means we have more new people looking around than site regulars

The top browser languages in order are English, UK, Spain, German and no language set

Traffic country breakdown is as follows: United States 59.69%, Canada 3.75%, United Kingdom 3.72%, Russia 3.09%, Germany 2.07%, Australia 1.88%, Brazil 1.58%, Spain 1.32% & Netherlands 1.32%

Browsers

The top browsers in order are Chrome 63.51%, Safari 14.74%, Firefox 12.73%, Internet Explorer 2.20%, Mozilla Compatable Agent 1.25%, Android Browser 1.22%, Edge 1.15%, Opera 1.09%, Safari (in-app) 0.69% & Opera Mini 0.33%

The top operating systems in order are Windows 54.82%, Mac 13.79%, Android 13.69%, iOS 13.49%, Linux 2.53%, (no set) 0.72%, Chrome OS 0.43%, Windows Phone 0.26%, Nintendo Wii 0.10%, Playstation Vita 0.10%

The top mobile operating systems in order are Android 49.41%, iOS 48.69%, Windows Phone 0.95%, Windows 0.59% & Playstation Vita 0.36%

I was surprised to see Android topping out iOS but it makes sense considering how well Android has been doing recently. Fun to see people come to the site using the Wii and Vita. I have no idea how the site looks on either anymore so i'll have to boot up my Wii to see if it's not a complete mess and since I don't have a Vita I am not sure how well that works. Oh and apparently few actual Cheerful Ghost users use Internet Explorer. I still test with it, so for the remaining hold outs, you're welcome.

* A session is basically a time someone came to the site to look around, login or comment.

Final Fantasy VII Steam Review

Azurephile gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Azurephile gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Review

Recommended

The most popular Final Fantasy game now on Steam

Updated HD graphics, achievements, optimizations, and a Character Booster

Final Fantasy VII is undoubtedly the most popular game in the Final Fantasy series. While it is a greatly epic game, it's actually not my ultimate favorite of the series. That honor goes to FFVIII, which was the first in the series I played and fell in love with.

After being introduced to FFVIII, and therefore the FF series, I decided to play FFVII once I finished with VIII. I played both games many years ago on the original Playstation. Unlike, VIII, I've only played through VII a few times. I believe I finished it at least... Read All

Final Fantasy VIII Steam Review

Azurephile gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Azurephile gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Review

Recommended

Updated graphics

Achievements, cheat tool, and Chocobo World

*Note this post was written before the Remastered version, so it's about the first Steam game, not the second*

It was about 15-17 years ago that I was introduced to Final Fantasy VIII, which was my introduction to the Final Fantasy series. It's kind of hard to believe it was that long ago, but since then I've come to love Final Fantasy games. FFVIII is definitely my favorite among them, I immediately fell in love with nearly everything about it including the characters, stories, side quests, music, and more.

The Junction system is one of the main things that sets this game apart from the... Read All