It has been way too long since the last community interview with @panickedthumb so apologies to all about that. The lull till the next community interview won't be as long. For all of you that didn't know, Tungsten did the current incarnation of the Cheerful Ghost logo for the site from its very early form as well as being a site moderator. I really enjoyed tossing around game related questions with him quite a bit.
jdodson: What is the last game you picked up? What do you think about it?
Tungsten: Money has been tight, so it's been a while since I picked up a AAA title. Instead, I've been delving into F2P. I just started on Planetside2, and I'm really enjoying it. Other than that, I'm still active in Diablo III. I don't have tons of time to play games on a normal night, so a couple Act3 farming runs usually fits in nicely. I know others have been disappointed with it, but it is almost everything that I wanted, and my over 200 hours of playtime will attest to that.
jdodson: I am planning on downloading Planetside 2 soon, any tips for starting out? How does it compare to other recently released MMO F2P shooters like Tribes Ascend?
Tungsten: Planetside is big and fairly well designed. It is a persistent world FPS, which is kind of interesting: there is no match or round, it just keeps going. They've introduced a bunch of mechanics that naturally break up the fighting into battles, but these battles can last minutes, hours, or even days. The fighting is more traditional than Tribes Ascent: it feels almost like a Call of Duty, but perhaps a bit slower.
I like it. It feels... epic. A lot of things that have to be scripted into other games occur naturally: air-strikes, reinforcements, new enemies joining a battle... it feels good.
It is very intimidating to start, though. I highly recommend watching the tutorial videos and then finding a small, well-run squad to fight with (the squads are temporary and can be automatically joined with the [insert] key.) A couple hours in and you'll be complaining about noobs like a pro.
jdodson: Occasionally I get a game that is a total let down. Did you get one recently that comes to mind?
Tungsten: Total let down... none since Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (I mean the title would make you think it was awesome, right? It wasn't).
Well, I'll probably get flack for it, but I was a little let down by Skyrim. I am in no way saying that it was a bad game or that I didn't enjoy it (shoot, I'm at least 200 hours into that one as well); it just didn't live up to my expectations. It became a bit more of a sandbox for me when I started to plugin mods, which redeemed it in a lot of ways.
jdodson: I am gonna come out and support you here. I like Skyrim, but I didn't love it. I am still not more than maybe 15 hours into the game. Not sure why. I imagine I will come back and play it more at some point, I think having so many games attributed to this.
What mods do you recommend people checkout to give Skyrim a bit of a boost?
Tungsten: Ultimate followers Overhaul (UFO) - lead as many people as you like. While it does have more than a few bugs, it changes the game in a nice way.
Invested Magic - Changes how a few spells work in a logical way. If you do lots of magic, try this one out.
Unlimited Conjuration - Want a zombie army? Well, here's your chance.
Cloaks - Um... cloaks...
Whistle - Summons your horse.
Oh, and if your computer can handle it, throw in an ENB. It makes the game look **very nice**.
jdodson: If you have Netflix, I wonder what movie you recommend watching from Instant Streaming?
Tungsten: It's not a movie, but recently my wife and I have been going through the show "Better Off Ted." There are only about 20 episodes, but they're hilarious. Highly recommended. Apart from that, I love the new Sherlock (not the movies, but the BBC series), the Walking Dead, Dr. Who. Movie wise, I just watched Raising Arizona again the other day. It was all down hill from there for Nicholas Cage.
jdodson: Steam is coming to Linux. Big Picture Mode has been released. Portal 2 on PC allows split screen mode. What does this mean to you? What do you think this means for gaming over the next few years?
Tungsten: Convergence? Maybe? I don't know. The problem is that the mobile market is pushing the console market to be faster and more reactive. This has lead to some great things like the marketplace and DLC. Unfortunately, as is starting to happen in the mobile market, games are going to stop running on everything out there. Here is what I see: in a few years time, everything will just be the same thing. With the advent of iOS and tablets, computers are starting to look more console like. Consoles on the other hand are adding browsers, media streaming, DLC, indie games... it's all starting to get indistinguishable. Money always wins, so my guess is that they won't ever truly unify because it justifies more sales if they don't. I'll tell you though, I don't see myself buying a new console any time soon. I think I'd rather invest that money in something I have a bit more control over.
jdodson: I agree with you on wanting more control. With the push to app stores do you think the gaming landscape is getting more open?
Tungsten: It is very nice that I can, right now, open up Steam or Live, and buy games that some guy down the street made. Look at Minecraft or (insert other example, I can't think of one right now), but with the new level of accessibility we can get innovation and ideas to an industry that puts out a new roster for Madden every year and calls it a game.
jdodson: What is the current/last gen console you use or like the most? XBox 360? PS3?
Tungsten: I really enjoyed my XBOX 360. Live works like a charm. Even coming back to PC, where online multi-player really started, seemed slow and clunky in comparison. It amazes me when huge titles don't come with voice support, while any little XBOX game can pull it off with no trouble at all. Game wise, it all got muddled after a while. That's what drew me in to the PC again: I have more titles to choose from, usually for cheaper, and they look better. Look at something like SpaceChem, my favorite game of (last year? two years ago?): that sort of thing, at least at this time, is only happening on PC.
jdodson: From all the rumblings you have heard about the next gen consoles what is something you heard you don't like? Something you did like?
Tungsten: Well, the Wii-U holds no interest for me whatsoever. I wasn't too happy with what they did with Kinect on the 360, so I have doubts about that future. (Seriously, you have something that can track objects in 3D and the best you can do is simple gestures that would have been easier with a button? I really just wanted an FPS where I could lean and the screen would lean with me. Is that too much to ask?). Sony has a lot to prove after losing ground to Microsoft, so I would expect them to come out with something solid.
jdodson: I agree with you now, the Wii U doesn't interest me either. I like the HD graphics, but to be fair, I didn't mind the graphics of the Wii. They were a bit fuzzy, but I didn't come to the Wii for that kind of game. You seem to have skipped the PS3 I wonder why that was?
Tungsten: I never put more than 2 hours into one, so, in my own personal gaming landscape, it doesn't exist. I really would love to play few games on it some time: Uncharted, Dust 514, Metal Gear. I've just never had the chance.
jdodson: 3 new Hobbit Movies. Hot or not? I don't know why but I have to write "3 MORE HOBBIT MOVIES" in all caps.
Tungsten: 2 months ago I would have said 'not', but after a few trailers I think that I could use three such movies. Oddly enough, here's what I'm most excited about: singing dwarves. I know it's odd, but the singing was such a big part of the books and it all disappeared from the first set of movies. If I only get one song per movie, I think I'll be satisfied.
jdodson: If Peter Jackson can tap more into that element of the books I will be happy too. The Hobbit is my most beloved book of all time so when they said they would split it in three my already hesitant mind went to a worse place. I had some time to sort of take it all in and have come out on a positive note. I really enjoyed looking forward to a new Lord of the Rings movie in December and for the next three years we will have Hobbits again each year. I can get excited about that even if it isn't everything I want.
With Jackson's push into the realm of 48 frames per second... well do you think this will bring us to a new "HD" movie territory or make it look too foreign?
Tungsten: I think that I will personally pretend to like it for about a year before finally giving up and admitting that it makes me want to vomit.
jdodson: I recently got Minecraft and all I seem to do is farm wheat and breed Cows and Sheep. Well that and chop down trees. I just built a tree house. I am not sure this is a question.
Tungsten: Here is what I do: wander until I find something cool. Build a portal to the nether. Build a portal out of the nether. End up somewhere else and I have no clue where. Rinse, repeat.
jdodson: I should try this. I haven't built a nether portal yet, I should look up the recipe.
Tungsten: 10 blocks obsidian arranged in a doorway pattern. Then you light the bottom two block on fire with a flint.
jdodson: Cheerful Ghost has around for almost a year now. What would you want to see it do if you could have it do something different?
Tungsten: Merge a few things. Don't have a separate "games" section. Instead, just have the "write about" list become the "games list" and have write about become the top option. What I love about the site, is that you really start to get to know the people who post, even if it is just through a few words at a time. I would love another way to connect with them, perhaps through personal pages (like games pages, but for each member instead. Shoot that's starting to sound like face-book. Don't do that, they'll sue). I do think that the site needs to be more... broad... not in its content but in its structure. If that ever happens, I would love the ability to follow people's comments, connect in games, and even chat with them.
jdodson: Max Payne 3 is on sale during Steams Autumn Sale for $15. Is this a must buy or is it fine I wait for it to be in a larger sale pack during a future sale?
Tungsten: I don't know... It's really good, but I don't think that waiting 2 months is going to hurt it much. I guess it depends when you're going to have the free time, because it really is a game that should have at least a couple hours to a play session so that you can keep the story intact.
No matter what though, get it. Other than Red-Dead Revolver, it is the best Rockstar game.
jdodson: Read-Dead Revolver? I just checked that game only has a PS2 and XBox port, without a PC port these kinds of games get a pretty limited life. What made Read-Dead Revolver so awesome to you?
Tungsten: Typo: Red Dead Redemption.
jdodson: What video game character from your childhood do you think is the coolest?
Tungsten: Bowie from Shining Force 2 was a badass, and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Luigi from Super Mario Brothers 2. Oh, and I can't leave out Cecil and Kain from FFII (or FFIV if you're a hipster). I even suggested Cecil as a name for our first child if it was a boy. (It wasn't.)
jdodson: Recently I had to switch my brain to call Final Fantasy 2 IV and 3 VI. I bow to the hipsters I am tired of getting corrected :D
Tungsten: All I know is that when I want to my friends house and he was playing THE BEST GAME EVER it said Final Fantasy 3 on the box. If you grew up playing an import copy, then call it 6, more power to you.
jdodson: Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis?
Tungsten: Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy > Phantasy Star. Mario > Sonic. Metroid > everything else. (Honorable mention: Herzog Zwei on the Genesis was one of the great games of my child-hood.)
jdodson: You have played a lot of Diablo 3. From your perspective now, what keeps you interested in the game? What could they add or change to make the game better in your opinion?
Tungsten: I love the grind. I don't know why. It almost feels like a job some times, and I think I shouldn't like that... but I do. It's also been fun to watch it change as the patches come out, almost like Minecraft was in its beta days. I think it's the promise of that Legendary Drop worth 500,000,000 gold that brings me back, almost like gambling where I get to crush demons along the way.
jdodson: What's the most epic drop you got?
Tungsten: Ya, about that... I never got anything all that good. I don't know why, but the Diablo god's never deigned to deliver unto me anything worth more than 1-mil or so gold, and in today's market, that isn't anything.
jdodson: Indiana Jones 4. He rode a fridge. Shia Labeouf played Tarzan with monkeys. Aliens. Again, I am not sure this is a question.
Tungsten: You know what... never saw it. I blame this whole thing on George Lucas (and you Mr. Spielberg for listening to him). Keep that man away from everything I love please. I'm calling it here: the Disney Star Wars movies will be at least 10 times better than the previous three. I think that he gets confused as to why people like movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones: it's because, while watching them, for just that moment, we feel like we're Harrison Ford, shooting Nazis and Aliens. Stop trying to fulfill your vision Mr. Lucas! Fulfill ours!
jdodson: What is the last game you picked up? What do you think about it?
Tungsten: Money has been tight, so it's been a while since I picked up a AAA title. Instead, I've been delving into F2P. I just started on Planetside2, and I'm really enjoying it. Other than that, I'm still active in Diablo III. I don't have tons of time to play games on a normal night, so a couple Act3 farming runs usually fits in nicely. I know others have been disappointed with it, but it is almost everything that I wanted, and my over 200 hours of playtime will attest to that.
jdodson: I am planning on downloading Planetside 2 soon, any tips for starting out? How does it compare to other recently released MMO F2P shooters like Tribes Ascend?
Tungsten: Planetside is big and fairly well designed. It is a persistent world FPS, which is kind of interesting: there is no match or round, it just keeps going. They've introduced a bunch of mechanics that naturally break up the fighting into battles, but these battles can last minutes, hours, or even days. The fighting is more traditional than Tribes Ascent: it feels almost like a Call of Duty, but perhaps a bit slower.
I like it. It feels... epic. A lot of things that have to be scripted into other games occur naturally: air-strikes, reinforcements, new enemies joining a battle... it feels good.
It is very intimidating to start, though. I highly recommend watching the tutorial videos and then finding a small, well-run squad to fight with (the squads are temporary and can be automatically joined with the [insert] key.) A couple hours in and you'll be complaining about noobs like a pro.
jdodson: Occasionally I get a game that is a total let down. Did you get one recently that comes to mind?
Tungsten: Total let down... none since Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (I mean the title would make you think it was awesome, right? It wasn't).
Well, I'll probably get flack for it, but I was a little let down by Skyrim. I am in no way saying that it was a bad game or that I didn't enjoy it (shoot, I'm at least 200 hours into that one as well); it just didn't live up to my expectations. It became a bit more of a sandbox for me when I started to plugin mods, which redeemed it in a lot of ways.
jdodson: I am gonna come out and support you here. I like Skyrim, but I didn't love it. I am still not more than maybe 15 hours into the game. Not sure why. I imagine I will come back and play it more at some point, I think having so many games attributed to this.
What mods do you recommend people checkout to give Skyrim a bit of a boost?
Tungsten: Ultimate followers Overhaul (UFO) - lead as many people as you like. While it does have more than a few bugs, it changes the game in a nice way.
Invested Magic - Changes how a few spells work in a logical way. If you do lots of magic, try this one out.
Unlimited Conjuration - Want a zombie army? Well, here's your chance.
Cloaks - Um... cloaks...
Whistle - Summons your horse.
Oh, and if your computer can handle it, throw in an ENB. It makes the game look **very nice**.
jdodson: If you have Netflix, I wonder what movie you recommend watching from Instant Streaming?
Tungsten: It's not a movie, but recently my wife and I have been going through the show "Better Off Ted." There are only about 20 episodes, but they're hilarious. Highly recommended. Apart from that, I love the new Sherlock (not the movies, but the BBC series), the Walking Dead, Dr. Who. Movie wise, I just watched Raising Arizona again the other day. It was all down hill from there for Nicholas Cage.
jdodson: Steam is coming to Linux. Big Picture Mode has been released. Portal 2 on PC allows split screen mode. What does this mean to you? What do you think this means for gaming over the next few years?
Tungsten: Convergence? Maybe? I don't know. The problem is that the mobile market is pushing the console market to be faster and more reactive. This has lead to some great things like the marketplace and DLC. Unfortunately, as is starting to happen in the mobile market, games are going to stop running on everything out there. Here is what I see: in a few years time, everything will just be the same thing. With the advent of iOS and tablets, computers are starting to look more console like. Consoles on the other hand are adding browsers, media streaming, DLC, indie games... it's all starting to get indistinguishable. Money always wins, so my guess is that they won't ever truly unify because it justifies more sales if they don't. I'll tell you though, I don't see myself buying a new console any time soon. I think I'd rather invest that money in something I have a bit more control over.
jdodson: I agree with you on wanting more control. With the push to app stores do you think the gaming landscape is getting more open?
Tungsten: It is very nice that I can, right now, open up Steam or Live, and buy games that some guy down the street made. Look at Minecraft or (insert other example, I can't think of one right now), but with the new level of accessibility we can get innovation and ideas to an industry that puts out a new roster for Madden every year and calls it a game.
jdodson: What is the current/last gen console you use or like the most? XBox 360? PS3?
Tungsten: I really enjoyed my XBOX 360. Live works like a charm. Even coming back to PC, where online multi-player really started, seemed slow and clunky in comparison. It amazes me when huge titles don't come with voice support, while any little XBOX game can pull it off with no trouble at all. Game wise, it all got muddled after a while. That's what drew me in to the PC again: I have more titles to choose from, usually for cheaper, and they look better. Look at something like SpaceChem, my favorite game of (last year? two years ago?): that sort of thing, at least at this time, is only happening on PC.
jdodson: From all the rumblings you have heard about the next gen consoles what is something you heard you don't like? Something you did like?
Tungsten: Well, the Wii-U holds no interest for me whatsoever. I wasn't too happy with what they did with Kinect on the 360, so I have doubts about that future. (Seriously, you have something that can track objects in 3D and the best you can do is simple gestures that would have been easier with a button? I really just wanted an FPS where I could lean and the screen would lean with me. Is that too much to ask?). Sony has a lot to prove after losing ground to Microsoft, so I would expect them to come out with something solid.
jdodson: I agree with you now, the Wii U doesn't interest me either. I like the HD graphics, but to be fair, I didn't mind the graphics of the Wii. They were a bit fuzzy, but I didn't come to the Wii for that kind of game. You seem to have skipped the PS3 I wonder why that was?
Tungsten: I never put more than 2 hours into one, so, in my own personal gaming landscape, it doesn't exist. I really would love to play few games on it some time: Uncharted, Dust 514, Metal Gear. I've just never had the chance.
jdodson: 3 new Hobbit Movies. Hot or not? I don't know why but I have to write "3 MORE HOBBIT MOVIES" in all caps.
Tungsten: 2 months ago I would have said 'not', but after a few trailers I think that I could use three such movies. Oddly enough, here's what I'm most excited about: singing dwarves. I know it's odd, but the singing was such a big part of the books and it all disappeared from the first set of movies. If I only get one song per movie, I think I'll be satisfied.
jdodson: If Peter Jackson can tap more into that element of the books I will be happy too. The Hobbit is my most beloved book of all time so when they said they would split it in three my already hesitant mind went to a worse place. I had some time to sort of take it all in and have come out on a positive note. I really enjoyed looking forward to a new Lord of the Rings movie in December and for the next three years we will have Hobbits again each year. I can get excited about that even if it isn't everything I want.
With Jackson's push into the realm of 48 frames per second... well do you think this will bring us to a new "HD" movie territory or make it look too foreign?
Tungsten: I think that I will personally pretend to like it for about a year before finally giving up and admitting that it makes me want to vomit.
jdodson: I recently got Minecraft and all I seem to do is farm wheat and breed Cows and Sheep. Well that and chop down trees. I just built a tree house. I am not sure this is a question.
Tungsten: Here is what I do: wander until I find something cool. Build a portal to the nether. Build a portal out of the nether. End up somewhere else and I have no clue where. Rinse, repeat.
jdodson: I should try this. I haven't built a nether portal yet, I should look up the recipe.
Tungsten: 10 blocks obsidian arranged in a doorway pattern. Then you light the bottom two block on fire with a flint.
jdodson: Cheerful Ghost has around for almost a year now. What would you want to see it do if you could have it do something different?
Tungsten: Merge a few things. Don't have a separate "games" section. Instead, just have the "write about" list become the "games list" and have write about become the top option. What I love about the site, is that you really start to get to know the people who post, even if it is just through a few words at a time. I would love another way to connect with them, perhaps through personal pages (like games pages, but for each member instead. Shoot that's starting to sound like face-book. Don't do that, they'll sue). I do think that the site needs to be more... broad... not in its content but in its structure. If that ever happens, I would love the ability to follow people's comments, connect in games, and even chat with them.
jdodson: Max Payne 3 is on sale during Steams Autumn Sale for $15. Is this a must buy or is it fine I wait for it to be in a larger sale pack during a future sale?
Tungsten: I don't know... It's really good, but I don't think that waiting 2 months is going to hurt it much. I guess it depends when you're going to have the free time, because it really is a game that should have at least a couple hours to a play session so that you can keep the story intact.
No matter what though, get it. Other than Red-Dead Revolver, it is the best Rockstar game.
jdodson: Read-Dead Revolver? I just checked that game only has a PS2 and XBox port, without a PC port these kinds of games get a pretty limited life. What made Read-Dead Revolver so awesome to you?
Tungsten: Typo: Red Dead Redemption.
jdodson: What video game character from your childhood do you think is the coolest?
Tungsten: Bowie from Shining Force 2 was a badass, and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Luigi from Super Mario Brothers 2. Oh, and I can't leave out Cecil and Kain from FFII (or FFIV if you're a hipster). I even suggested Cecil as a name for our first child if it was a boy. (It wasn't.)
jdodson: Recently I had to switch my brain to call Final Fantasy 2 IV and 3 VI. I bow to the hipsters I am tired of getting corrected :D
Tungsten: All I know is that when I want to my friends house and he was playing THE BEST GAME EVER it said Final Fantasy 3 on the box. If you grew up playing an import copy, then call it 6, more power to you.
jdodson: Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis?
Tungsten: Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy > Phantasy Star. Mario > Sonic. Metroid > everything else. (Honorable mention: Herzog Zwei on the Genesis was one of the great games of my child-hood.)
jdodson: You have played a lot of Diablo 3. From your perspective now, what keeps you interested in the game? What could they add or change to make the game better in your opinion?
Tungsten: I love the grind. I don't know why. It almost feels like a job some times, and I think I shouldn't like that... but I do. It's also been fun to watch it change as the patches come out, almost like Minecraft was in its beta days. I think it's the promise of that Legendary Drop worth 500,000,000 gold that brings me back, almost like gambling where I get to crush demons along the way.
jdodson: What's the most epic drop you got?
Tungsten: Ya, about that... I never got anything all that good. I don't know why, but the Diablo god's never deigned to deliver unto me anything worth more than 1-mil or so gold, and in today's market, that isn't anything.
jdodson: Indiana Jones 4. He rode a fridge. Shia Labeouf played Tarzan with monkeys. Aliens. Again, I am not sure this is a question.
Tungsten: You know what... never saw it. I blame this whole thing on George Lucas (and you Mr. Spielberg for listening to him). Keep that man away from everything I love please. I'm calling it here: the Disney Star Wars movies will be at least 10 times better than the previous three. I think that he gets confused as to why people like movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones: it's because, while watching them, for just that moment, we feel like we're Harrison Ford, shooting Nazis and Aliens. Stop trying to fulfill your vision Mr. Lucas! Fulfill ours!
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In no particular order:
* You have amazing taste in TV. Far more people need to see Better Off Ted. One of my favorites. And you like Doctor Who-- did you see the dalek in Better Off Ted? Have you seen this year's Christmas episode? Are you squeeing as hard as I am?
* I loved Skyrim, absolutely loved it. 200 hours worth of loving it. What disappointed you about it (and Jon, you should answer too)?
* Is Series 3 of Sherlock *ever* going to come out OMG withdrawal Moffat pls
And I was skeptical at first, but I'm now pretty damned stoked for the new Star Wars movies.
Skyrim: I kind of wonder if this is due to all the games I own BUT Skyrim was pretty good. It didn't grab me after a bit of playing it though. The story was pretty interesting I guess but nothing spectacular. I difficulty ramped up pretty high at one point and the payoffs werent that great so I kind of walked away.
My friend said I needed to get into smithing and I am doing that but it doesn't seem to have increased my interest much. I plan on coming back to it though.
Here is what I want from the next Elder Scrolls game: something less <\begin really big text> EPIC <\end really bit text>.
I liked Morrowind. If you want to be a trader, go be a trader. If you want to be a ninja, go be a ninja. The story was great in Skyrim, but I kept feeling that they wanted me to this Dragon Born character that I didn't want to be. If you want a story driven game, take away a bit more freedom and emphasize the story. If you want a true sandbox like you had in Morrowind, then let me be really and truly free. Don't limit my enchantments, don't regulate my potions, let me fly. Let me break the game.