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|Ian O'Rourke
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Level 28. And The Raiding StopsKeywords: Video Games; Destiny.
So, we've stopped raiding. I suspect it's for good. I suspect there are two reasons for this, the usual ones: commitment, reward and the new shiny.
In terms of commitment, the assorted team just doesn't have it. A number do, but then they can also scratch their itch elsewhere. A number of people are ambivalent. It falls into want to do it but never get around to it territory. Should it happen, this ten translated into a lack of discipline during the raid.
I think there is also a reward problem. It's just not that exciting. There is something about the way Destiny distributes loot that just doesn't make it as exciting as taking down a World of Warcraft boss and seeing the Pants of Mudrakah drop…or whatever. A lot of the time the raid is a method for getting legendary materials which are needed to upgrade legendary and exotic items you may already have. That just lacks…pizazz.
It doesn't feel exciting. It lacks a certain group 'feel good factor' when a team member gets something. Loot in Destiny is fine when you have it, but getting it lacks the X-Factor at the group level. While individual loot streams is officially a good thing, it possibly does have some disadvantages.
The new shiny is inevitable. New games come up and that takes up more of peoples' free time (Advanced Warfare, Diablo III). That's fair enough, it's going to happen to me when Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out. I'm also thinking about GTA IV and am sort of speculating with getting back into PC gaming for Elite: Dangerous.
This means I am playing Destiny less. There is no new content I've got to do other than the raid. I could try and get 13 strange coins and buy the Titan exotic chest piece and upgrade that, which would get me to level 29 (probably after momentarily dropping to level 27). I may do that, but I suspect there isn't that much interest in the weekly heroic strike (for the coins). I also missed the chest piece last weekend. I could seek out more exotics weapons, but you can only use one at a time, and I certainly can't be arsed to do the mad, achievement-based exotic bounties.
Destiny has become an activity you do with little purpose when you just want to relax for 60-minutes or less, progress measured in levelling up Shadow Price (legendary auto rifle) and Suros Regime (exotic auto rifle).
Still, there is new content coming out on 9th December.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 10/11/2014
Level 28. Gloriously ExploitoramousKeywords: Video Games; Destiny.
We took another shot at Vault of Glass last Friday. It was a strange trip this time, it went from looking like it was going to be disaster to us getting to the doorstep of the final boss (there is only two apparently).
The bad start came when we started to defend the platforms to open the door into the raid. The enemies seemed tougher, spawned in greater numbers and then started to teleport in directly on the platforms. This made the whole thing almost impossible as the tougher enemies immediately control the platform if they step on it. It got really frustrating and, since it was patch day, we thought we'd been shafted with some mad difficulty tweak. No idea what happened, but we left and came back and while it still felt like it had been tweaked at least the enemies ridiculous teleport went away.
Have to say, once we got inside, it was gloriously exploitoramous. We defeated the first boss by using the Warlock grenade exploit, which involves pounding him with one of the Warlock subclass's grenade types, which causes him to continually back up. He continually backs up until he falls of his own floating platform that the fight takes place on. Not very clever. The amazing thing about this is you can ignore virtually all the enemies, you don't have to worry about the Oracles that curse you and it's all very simple.
The second interesting wrinkle is the Gorgon maze, a series of caverns and corridors with annoying floating robots that, if they spot you, cause an instant wipe. I suspect, for the early raid entrants, this was as annoying as hell. It was a bit annoying for us. It's fiddly to get everyone through the maze as you're either reliant on everyone being independently good at it or you're trying to moving groups through. Well, that is until you learn only one person has to make it through the maze and then everyone else can quit out, go to orbit, re-join the party and they re-form around the person who finished the maze.
Obviously, two entries for a set of patch notes coming to you in the near future.
As for the jumping platforms. I knew this would be my personal nemesis. It's a vast cavern that looks almost infinite and you're on one side and another structure floats some distance away and a series of teleporting platforms appear and disappear in the gap. It's all very epic in size. You have to jump from platform to platform to get to the other end. It must have taken me about twenty minutes and lots of re-spawns. I understand the Warlocks can make it across in one prodigious 'flight', that certain hunters can teleport across in a series of blinks due to the blade dance power, but alas, the hulking great big Titan has to do it the old school way.
I'm hoping it gets easier, though that section does look lovingly epic and ancient.
In fact, the Vault of Glass itself is glorious. It manages to deliver something different in its look and feel. It's a grand mixture of more realistic underground environments with ruined high-tech embedded in it all floating in vast chambers. It's booth realistic, surreal and eerie all at the same time. When you go down 'corridors' they wind and turn and feel natural. You spend time making your way down, but not by stairs or sloped corridors but dropping down cracks in the wracked structure. It can, on occasion, be a bit disorientating but it is beautiful. As an RPG dungeon it is great and certainly imparts some idea of what a high fantasy, fantasy-tech dungeon could look and feel like.
It's all very fitting for a relentless bunch of artificially intelligent robots that seem to have mastered time and space to some degree.
I managed to get some loot this time. After completing the two stages that release the first boss you are assigned loot. It just appears across your screen and magically becomes part of your inventory. I got a legendary sniper rifle. This isn't bad as that was probably my final 'want' from the reputation vendor. The rest of the guns I'm not particularly bothered about.
I was going to get a few legendary guns just to round out the collection and experiment, but based on the experience of how fast my auto rifle levels up I ain't going to be doing that any time soon. The levelling of legendary gear is a grind in and of itself. Don't get me wrong, it happily chugs along while you're playing put it chugs along slowly. I could really do with my auto rifle maxed out for the raid, it's not got the best damage output, but those unlock trees move so slowly. I've certainly not got the appetite for grinding out the trees on weapons I'll hardly use. If I was to analyse my style of play even the sniper rifle falls into that category, so the rest can stay on the vendor's shelf.
I'm also pretty sure, from anecdotal evidence and feel that the legendary weapons upgrade slow than the legendary armour.
I've also got my first exotic as Xur set up his weekly shop and had Suros Regime for sale. Since I missed this first time and I like the look of the gun a lot, it's great I could purchase it. I've been spending some time trying to level it up as the weapon can achieve 100% stability along with exotic-level damage. I'm finding I can hit things repeatedly in the head a lot better with the rifle and that's great. It also looks like something off of Mass Effect, which you can't knock.
The mad thing is, I also got an exotic bounty over the weekend, which gives me an exotic hand cannon, shotgun or pulse rifle depending on which one I choose. I've not made up my mind yet.
In closing, it does seem that Destiny has a problem with respect to Vault of Glass. Not the raid itself, I think that works (exploits aside). It's complex but not too complex. It looks great. It's varied. The problem is the loot, I'm just not sure it's that exciting.
You see, at the moment, I am level 28. I quite like level 28, it allows me to do all the content but for the raid on hard mode. In order to get to level 29+ I'd need to obtain exotic and raid set gear from Vault of Glass. That's great isn't it? Well, yes, if it worked like World of Warcraft. Alas it doesn't, the chances are my level would drop when I assigned the new gear as I'm not very far into level 28 and the new gear would arrive virgin: not upgraded in the slightest. Upgrading that gear takes time and rare resources. Is it worth securing the two highest levels when the chances are new content will almost certainly NOT be calibrated for level 29 and 30? It's certainly not worth doing the hard mode of the raid as by and large, any loot you might want is also in the normal mode.
The only point I can see is you double roll when you do it on hard mode, increasing your chance of loot, but you've ground through two difficult levels to get to that point. I remain unconvinced as by this point you'll probably have the gear you want anyway unless you're really wanting something as you're level 28 and 30!
As for the tactics for the final boss I've read them twice and my head is stuck in temporal limbo.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 27/10/2014
Level 28. Crashing Against The TemplarKeywords: Video Games; Destiny.
Last night we finally started raiding in Destiny. We were in the Vault of Glass for 3.5 hours and we didn't even down a single boss but it didn't matter. It was great fun and this is the beauty of the raid, it makes you want to continue. It's difficult but not too difficult, you're always feeling like it's solvable if you just try things a slightly different way.
One of the surprising things about its construction is it has numerous phases. Rather than having a complex you work your way through killing trash until you get to a boss it layers the boss. Sort off. As an example, you have to defend three circles so something constructs and allows you to open the raid. This took us 45-minutes on our first attempt and is a 'defend the flag' sort of game in itself but with PvE enemies.
Once inside you travel straight to the first boss unobstructed, but there are two phases you have to get through at the bosses location before the boss even appears. Once he does there is the boss fight itself. Have to admit, I remember the high level strategies to these phases, I'm also sure there is a narrative behind it, but I have no idea what it is. What I do know is it involves coordination across the six team members to controls enemies and target specific things. It works quite well. The first boss is similar, numerous things to target, a player carrying a relic that performs key functions (including bringing down the basses shields).
We got him down to circa 20%, which I don't think was bad considering we had some 26th level people and a 25th level person (a level below the requirement) in the raid. We also made the mistake of giving the 29th level person with the void assault rifle the relic. It may have been better to give the relic to the person with the lowers damage output.
The important thing is it feels possible. I also felt like I was in control and doing well, rather than feeling overwhelmed and ever so slightly useless. This is very good design.
No great loot, obviously, but we did get a batch of critical, legendary materials that are key to upgrading the legendary and exotic gear. I suspect this is one of the major benefits of running the raid regularly. If you can do it quickly it's probably a great way to farm the materials.
Does the raid have a cost? Yes it does, at least it does until you're all 28, with maxed legendary weapons or exotics. The cost comes in ammo packs. Ammo packs work like potions for your weapons, they are all one-shot, provide ammo and have a cool down. I went through 10 ammo packs for my heavy weapon which was the best one to blast the boss with and that's 10k of glimmer, you can only carry a max of 25k glimmer. That's the early raiding cost. That's not the worst thing in the world. It beats farming for materials for potions, paying for damaged gear and whatever else.
I was wondering were glimmer was meant to go as I've been sat at the cap, now I know.
The fact the raid only needs six people is pure genius. People are complaining endlessly that Destiny is broken because there is no LFG system, and I can see that, but is there really so many people who can't, just through the natural activity of playing the game, can't find six sane people? We've done it that way. Four of the people are in the clan, two of them were people friended through actual play by people in the clan. It worked. We got on great. This works because you only need six. It's much harder to do it if you need 20+. It also keeps the strategies tight, providing enough people to create interesting strategies and tasks but not burdening the player-based with recruiting massive groups.
It also makes the raid much easier to LFG, should a system come into existence, once more people are farming the raid.
Great design. Interesting raid. Looking forward to doing it more.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 22/10/2014
Level 28. Tomorrow We Raid!Keywords: Video Games; Destiny.
I reached 'peak raid' point in Destiny a few weeks back.
This has meant playing has had ever diminishing returns. I've been hitting the strike play list to earn my 100 marks a week, which is also churning up the reputation level (and it's now at level four). This process has allowed me to round out my raid ready weaponry: a half-levelled primary auto rifle, two fusion rifles as secondary weapons (one has the much needed void damage) and my heavy machine gun.
It looks like we're going to hit Vault of Glass on Monday evening with the four people in The Geek Collective guild and two extra members (which other people know, but I don't).
I'm looking forward to it.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 19/10/2014
Level 28. Guns, Currencies and ExoticsKeywords: Video Games; Destiny.
I have crept into level 28. The highest level you can get to without raiding is level 29 which takes fully upgraded legendary armour as well as the one exotic armour piece you can wear being fully upgraded. That's a lot of work as it demands legendary drops. There is a valid argument being made that unless you are really into the raid don't bother gunning for 29 and save your legendary materials for equipment that might drop in the expansion in December. This argument also rings true for not pursuing the raid on hard to get to 30. This is assuming they don't invent new materials for the equipment. It's also highly unlikely any new content will need level 29 – 30 to do it, otherwise accessing it will demand getting over a solid grind and the raid. Unlikely (or getting to the upper two levels will be made easier).
There comes a time when your MMO experience is less about playing content but instead doing scheduled activities. In this case a weekly heroic strike for the strange coins then the level 26 strike playlist for my hundred marks a week. There is other things, but the odds are against me. So, unless other people need help, accruing these things will by my Destiny experience.
It also means my improvement focus is the offensive side of things: weapons. I have only one legendary weapon and that's a heavy machine gun (I have both Vanguard ones, and have dismantled a third, it seems it drops a lot). This also raises dilemmas about legendries, what exotic weapon to use and handling.
I'm really attracted to Suros Regime exotic weapon, partly because it reminds me of Mass Effect and partly because it has a very high stability. To get it I need 23 strange coins, which involves doing weekly heroic strike three times at its highest difficulty or four times at its middle difficulty. I'll have the coins this week. It also needs the enigmatic vendor who appears every weekend to be selling it at the end of the week. Regrettably, it was available a week ago but there was no way for me to get the coins in time and, yes, this was infuriating. Very infuriating as it may not appear again for ages. I'm not even getting into the opportunity cost of upgrading it once I have it.
This waiting game means I probably need to buy my legendary weapon and go with that until it turns up. It's a bit frustrating doubling up, but there is no guarantee as when the enigmatic vendor will have it available.
The whole gun selection business is fraught with a certain level of risk. It was easier in Warcraft as all you had to worry about was the numbers. If the maths was higher and your DPS, etc, went up. Win. It's different in Destiny as it's entirely possible to get a great weapon in terms of DPS but hate the way it handles. Does it have too much recoil? Is the sight a bit of a pain? The play model of Destiny is not maths, it's player skill and reaction. This will even lower your DPS depending on how accurately you hit the target: an auto rifle continually impacting the head will cause more damage than 50% missed body shots. The choice of weapon also involves accepting a mini-grind as the weapon isn't all it can be until it has been fully upgraded. In some cases those very upgrades may alter the handling turning it into a weapon you don't like (though there are only few like this it seems, ironically Suros Regime is one of them for some people).
For instance, Suros Regime, with an early upgrade fires slowly and the damage increase doesn't fully compensate suggesting the slow, steady and stable fire rate is meant to facilitate regular head shots. The two legendary weapons I can buy are a more stable, smaller magazine auto rifle and a larger magazine, ridiculous fire rate, but lower impact weapon with very low stability. I'm finding it hard to choose between either of these.They also don't excite me much as they look like a lot of other weapons, the Suros Regime feels a lot more desirable.
This should be one of Destiny's new features. Since they've made getting the gear very reliable, and predictable down to the day, they should also make available firing ranges were you can test the guns with various upgrades turned on.
Only way to be sure.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 07/10/2014
The Event ExperimentKeywords: Role-Playing Games.
So, I've started experimenting with constructing a Marvel Heroic Role Playing (MHRP) event. It's a bit different, in that I'm using the concept of the event but it's not a Marvel one. It will involve pre-generated characters as it falls into one of the three modes of delivery I'm going to use moving forward (time limited: one shot or mini-series; flexible: episodic) should I ever get around to it at all.
I've stared to pull together the easy bit, the skeleton of the event which comprises three acts. It's all a bit Marvel Cinematic / Ultimate Universe mixed with the Fantastic Four. While pre-gens are being used, which may limit it to a one shot, there is an element of the event that sets things up for 'the further adventures of…' should it go well (but that's a side issue and not a focus and it certainly wouldn't be 'regular'). I'm not revealing any great spoiler by revealing part of it is the potential set-up of a UK super team.
I've loaned the old Golden Heroes scenarios off a friend and I'm mining them for stuff. In all honesty, I'm not using them as much as I thought at this point, but there is the odd thing I'm picking out. Some sort of loose adaptation of Green Victoria and the Holy Grail would be cool I guess, but not for this.
This is the easy bit because the three acts obviously fall nicely into opening, middle and close and you don't necessarily have to have everything proscriptively written down. It's a skeleton in that I have the major action beats (which are scenes) established, then you fill that with some ideas on what can complicate those scenes and then, due to the nature of the system, you sort of rely on the dice to generate everything else as people generate opportunities and stuff.
The bit that's going to take a bit more effort is applying the system to the skeleton.
In the first instance, I have to decide how I'm going to use the system to implement the narrative of some of the scenes as there are often numerous choices. I suspect I'm going to err on the side of using the Fate fractal, which is present in MHRP, I believe, and have a lot of things effectively be characters. This means there will be quite a few datafiles to create and challenges as datafiles. We shall see, bit to think about on that front.
The bit that is going to take the most thought is the interaction between the pre-gens, the milestones and how that works as a pull / incenstive to drive things forward. I want to try and ensure the game becomes as much about the relationships between the characters as it does the action. Try and integrate them. A lot of this will come down to actual play but some of it will be driven by backstories, aims and milestones. Milestones are the thorny one, they still remain something that seems awesome, but never seems that awesome when you see a lot of them written down. I'm going to have to experiment with nailing them I think. I've thought of extending the system to include relationship traits, but I'm going to see how things hang together without them first to see if I can just happily use the system vanilla.
The final issue is the spending of experience, which sort of has to exist to drive the milestones (unless I find a way to make milestone pursuit a separate issue from earning experience). I'm not convinced I want the powers levelling up so it's going to come down to unlocks that have a shelf life of the event. This has the advantage of keeping powers stable and allowing for the XP spends to be event related.
We shall see. It is an on-going experiment and, knowing me, I'll probably fiddle with it for a while.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 04/10/2014
Level 27. The Legendary Weapon HuntKeywords: Video Games; Destiny.
I am about 60% of the way through level 27. I am fully armoured in legendary gear. This legendary gear is fully upgraded but for the final upgrades that need materials as rare as the legendary gear itself. I am now in pursuit of two things: legendary weapons (I only have two heavy machine guns which dropped randomly) and the rare materials to complete my armour upgrades.
Luckily, I recently got my Vanguard reputation at rank 3 so I can happily buy weapons as I like once I have the marks. Getting the marks consists of: public events, doing the level 24 strike playlist and the weekly heroic strike. Due to the new loot setup the best method is the level 24 strike playlist as I get marks and potentially legendary loot (most of which gets dismantled into the rare materials I need for upgrades). A strike needs a fire team, which gets assembled dynamically for you. Tried that, can be a bit random, moving from elite participants one moment (to the extent I might as well not be there) to random drop outs the next. The best method seems to be to get one other trusted person and go in as a fire team of two, then you only have one random.
Public events are largely for when you don't want to experience the random fire teams, they also have the advantage of being able to pick up the generally available materials needed for the upgrades while you wait for them to happen. If some of the public event timers available on the web work it may actually be a surprisingly quick way to do it! I'm hoping to do a lot of the level 24 strike playlist to get my 100 marks a week as they take 15 minutes a shot (courtesy of my online stats I know this to be true). Each weapon is 150 marks. Regrettably, I can only get to 140 this week. I need to max out my marks and buy in turn the legendary auto rifle, fusion gun, sniper rifle, shotgun and pulse rife to round out my arsenal.
I don't need all of those, but what the hell? I might as well be getting something. It's a bit annoying that I can only get a weapon every 1.5 weeks though, but that's assuming something I haven't got doesn't drop while on the strike.
That's it until I hit the raid, it's sort of a holding pattern. It's surprisingly quite casual play. It's hard core in the sense that true casual players haven't even done any strikes, but it's casual in that it's not hard. You play. You chat online. The marks and loot tot up. It's a social occasion.
Will we ever get to the point when we'll be regularly hitting the raid? Have to admit, I'm not sure I see the family and friends cohort getting around to it. We don't have six at the right level and it'll take perseverance and dedication and set timeslots (of some length) in order to pull it off. I suspect interest is waning due to the progression wall, rather than any sort of mental preparation for the raid. If it happens it'll probably be through loose groupings of players we know or have come to know who can't manage six. It might happen.
Obviously, there is exotic gear. I think you can only have a single armour exotic and a single weapon exotic active at any one time. That comes down to strange coins, which you get from the weekly heroic strike (3 coins for each one at the different difficulty levels). They are quite hard, though I enjoyed the one we did a few times last week utilising our two Titan Ward of Dawn powers to handle the periodic and difficult adds and our associated revivals from death. Should probably be doing that, but one thing at a time.
Does this all make the legendary loot acquisition in Destiny very predictable? Yes, it's ridiculously predictable. It can be timed to the day, there is no random element and, with a bit of thought, you'll know exactly what you are getting and when.
You wouldn't think that with all the complaints about random drops and loot caves.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 03/10/2014
Tyranny of Dragons S2Keywords: Actual Play; Role-Playing Games; Dungeons and Dragons; Tyranny of Dragons.
This one was a tale of two camps! We were sent to find out where the raiders who had attacked Greenest were holding up and, as it turned out, also seek out a Monk who had been investigating the cult.
The session ran short, which isn't a problem only in as much as what it may infer about the content in each 'adventure' within Tyranny of Dragons. The first one ran for a good length, but this may have been due to its many encounters. All the encounters were of a nice length but there was a lot of them. The 'content' of this second one was less clear, it seemed to be split into three elements: the beginning at the keep, an encounter with a straggling group on the way to the camp and the cultists 'army' camp.
I was playing the new character this week: a distant relative of the first one (several generations distant), a non-human (a half-fey) and a Warlock. Seems okay. I like what I've put into it, didn't really get much chance to play with it much encounter wise. I like the class though and I'm looking forward to playing around with it some more. The outstanding issue is having reached third level is whether I go for the route that gives me a familiar or some extra spells? While I'm sure the extra spells is the best one I need to ponder it a bit more.
We also had our first cut scene in this session, which was pretty cool as Waylan's ashes were taken away by some fiery creatures of some sort. I have no idea what's going. It is no doubt part of the mystery that will allow him to come back later.
The centre piece of the adventure was undoubtedly the cultist's camp. It had a map you see, so it was obviously important. It was a strange place. Strange because I got the impression, on the outer edge of my dramatic radar, that is was an evocative place of danger, skulduggery and competing factions? Sort of like a non-permanent Mos Eisley? Exciting. But if that's true you have to put the situation to the players. Challenge them with NPC's, situations in motion, etc. If that isn't offered one of two things happens: the players become white middle-class blokes trying to be adventurers rescuing someone or they take the shortest route to success and get out of the situation as fast as possible. I think we became aware of the former and took the latter. I'm convinced there was more interesting content in the camp that just didn't present itself. Which isn't a criticism, it's just a pity! I wanted to see and experiencing it by not having it handed on a plate but by being given a bit of a driving reason to engage with it (assuming I knew it existed).
Overall, I think the module had designed this part as shorter and there was an assumption role-playing would spontaneously fill the void. The spontaneous filling is probably the reason for it running short.
Role-playing doesn't just spontaneously happen every time a vacuum appears. That is to say it can do, but that depends on the group. I've found there is a particular 'traditional' and 'D&D' role-playing that exists, which sort of erupts to fill any part of the game between encounters. It used to happen in the NWN campaigns we used to run, all of which were played by old, traditionalist D&D players. They'd do the adventure and the encounters and in between they would role-play. This wasn't a function of the NWN computer game platform, it was embedded from how they played D&D back in the day. They viewed the two as quite distinct activities: one the professional adventurer 'doing the module' the other akin to talking by the fire. It would consist of regaling stories of past adventures or playing up their personality traits (and don't get me started on personality trait role-playing). It was not conflict driven, a bit self-centred and a bit, if I do say so myself, like an exercise in self-indulgence.
Is the module relying on this form of vacuum filling, old school D&D role-playing? No idea, just total speculation.
Either way, I suspect this won't fill the vacuum with role-playing in the group. We've had games that consist entirely of role-playing with little physical combat. We've had whole games based on non-physical combat, but conflict in the dramatic sense. This conflict provides the reason to role-play, without it why would it happen? You have to have conflict or at least some context. Anything else is just a bit self-indulgent and odd. Why would you tell your back story unless there was a driving reason and it felt organic, fit to context and having a purpose? Why would you engage with the leader of the Keep unless there was an intriguing mystery, dramatic conflict or a contextual situation to drive you together? Without this the only role-playing left is doing it for the sake of it totally devoid of context or conflict.
It's probably not going to happen much due to the nature of the group, hence the group looks for the connections to the next part of 'the module' and it runs short. We skip the vacuum, rather than fill it, as there is truly nothing there (as far as we can see).
Anyway, we managed to leave the camp with the prisoners and the half-elf monk we had set out to rescue. It seems we are going back to the camp next time to investigate more, no doubt related to the rumour they have dragon eggs! It may also involve tunnels and other dungeon-like constructs! Then no doubt a long debate about destroying or stealing the dragon eggs. Possibly.
|Permalink | Comments(2) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 01/10/2014
Level 25. The Queen's WrathKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
I'm making a lot of firsts with Destiny. I'm farming and I hated farming in Warcraft. I hated farming so much it actually cast a shadow over the raiding, which I did enjoy. I detested crafting in Warcraft and completely avoided it. Hell, I didn't even grasp what people got out of it, and found those 'in the game' for the crafting as a bunch of madmen. Events. Okay, I got events in Warcraft and understood how they could be neat but they either ended up being trivial or epic reputation grinds with a time limit. I never invested my time in them.
In Destiny, I've done all of the above. I am farming to upgrade equipment. Upgrading equipment is essentially crafting in reverse. I've now taken part in my first MMO event in a serious way and it's been great.
The Queen's Wrath is a quintessential MMO event. Someone new visits and sets up their stall and you can earn reputation and do bounties to open up variations on existing missions with new rewards. Basically, there isn't any new content, which was always my problem with events, they invariably just pulled you into doing stuff you've done before. This is no different. Yet, for some reason, this time it works. I've done six bounties which has allowed me six completes of the Queen's Kill Order, which is essentially a random story mission in a substantially harder mode.
I've ran five of the six Kill Orders (they table about 20 - 45 minutes) and it seems to guarantee a legendary as I got the Titan chest piece four times and the helmet once. I understand, from the stats Bungie have, that players are not progressing and only a miniscule amount of people have done the raid. It's early days, but this sounds very similar to Warcraft and Destiny has the issue of not attracting a typical MMO audience. This is obviously a way to get a legendary into the hands of players. You can do one bounty, one of the easy ones, get a Kill Order, run it once and have a legendary drop. Win. That minimum, efficient and quick commitment bags you an awesome piece of gear.
I needed the helmet. The chest piece is a bit of a pain, as I purchased the Vanguard chest piece with some Vanguard marks when I should have purchased the boots as I'd have got an equivalent chest from Queen's Wrath. It's not the end of the world, but it would have been more efficient. It would have meant all my armour pieces would have been legendary, which would have been nice.
So, why are the usual MMO tricks working this time?
I think part of it is the immediate, FPS nature of the game. As a shooter it's pretty much perfect. It's exciting, well paced and has a visceral, rewarding feeling of weight and sound. The guns feel great and it plays as smooth as silk. Destiny may have fallen short on some other things, such as story and characters, the lack of variety in the strikes, but its shooter mechanics can't be faulted as far as I'm concerned.
It's great fun playing with friends and family. It doesn't really matter that the strike, mission or landscapes you are playing in aren't 'new', as it's as much a social meet-up as it is a game. You know, some people go to the pub, others meet up in an MMO. Plus, depending on what you are doing, the game is still challenging. For example, the Queen's Wrath Kill Orders we did this evening were not easy. We had to make sure we have people using a spread of weapons, allocated focus fire on fast moving, heavily shielded mobs and so on. Even dying was challenging, some sections becoming an exercise in 'revival tag' to keep the machine going. It made it a 'good game'.
You don't spend ages flying or travelling somewhere. You zip around in your spaceship and overland on your hover bike. There is no death penalty. You just respawn and continue (though key mission and strike points place limits on this). It's not all a numbers game, it's reaction and coordination based. The very console nature of the game takes you straight to the actual game.
It's also low commitment in terms of people: three for a strike, six for a raid. There is no general chat or way to form ad-hoc groups (though strikes will auto-group you, raids don't provide any grouping service). This means it's easy to have people you physically know doing the harder content. Join up with a view real life friend's guilds and you don't have a problem.
It feels like it has less barriers to play.
I'm really hoping the expansion of the game goes in interesting directions and starts to address some of the weaknesses while holding onto the strengths. If they up the story content and vary the play a bit (outside of the raids) as they expand the game it will go from good to great.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 25/09/2014
Level 25. Reputation, Materials and Gear RatingKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
I am now 50% of the way through level 25. Sounds great, but my nephew has his second character at level 25! Still, it'd be interesting to see his actual play log, I suspect he's put a lot of hours in (albeit he does play more efficiently and with more dedication than I).
It's clear now that, as hypothesised, the 'levels' above 20 are actually a gear rating. I'm still not fully sure how +light factors into things (I suspect it's just a broad marker similar to tiers in Warcraft) but I've managed to figure out how some of my levelling has happened despite not adding more +light.
Basically, as you're gear gets better your level goes up. This isn't just about +light, the other variable that seems to influence it is when you upgrade your gear, specifically upgrades that add more armour. This is a basic gear rating mechanic, with level probably being linked to specific armour ratings which in turn links into what's required for specific strikes and raids. This could be quite clever if all people have to assess is an individual's level? Rather than level and then a handful of other stats and criteria.
At the moment, I've got myself two legendary armour pieces: gauntlets (which includes arms) and a chest piece. These have upgrade trees. As you work your way down the upgrade tree it invariably asks for rarer materials. Initially, my gear upgraded on 'money' alone, which always seems to be plentiful as there is not much you can do with it (there is not player market in the game). Now I've had to farm spinmetal to upgrade the legendary gauntlets. I'll need to farm something on the moon for the chest piece (I can do that while killing stuff and doing missions for reputation). The ends of the upgrade trees involve even rarer materials that can't just be 'picked' up. You have to dismantle legendary gear, do public events really well or the strikes on the upper difficulty settings. It's sort of like crafting in reverse, instead of haunting the game for materials to build something awesome, you get something pretty awesome and then farm for materials to make it more so.
Have to admit, I prefer it the way Destiny does it. I'd never craft stuff in an MMO, but I find upgrading stuff more amenable to my way of thinking. I realise the actual activities are the same, but that's human nature, I guess.
A final note, on the second character thing. Destiny has zero replay value. There is no reason to level up an alternate character. Okay, they do play differently, but you'd still spend a lot of your time shooting at stuff. The content is exactly the same. It's not like Warcraft were you could level up in different zones, on a different content or within a different faction or combinations of all three. It's not like Mass Effect were you can make different decisions that result in different fates for your protagonist, colleagues and whole races. You can even dynamically switch between the two subclasses so that varies it up a bit (handy since I have a DPS and defence / support subclasses).
I am sure people have done it. But they must be mad.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 24/09/2014
Level 23. Welcome to the Loot CaveKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
I have now been playing the game for 32 hours, with 13 hours on the story missions (some may be post-completion), six hours on strikes and 14 hours patrolling. I've not dedicated any time on PvP, which still sits at 13 minutes. I really don't like the PvP. Due to farming reputation I am close to having spent half my time on patrols.
So, I am three levels into the level grind. It's not been as painful as I thought, while not being as exciting as the story missions. The odd thing is I seem to be levelling without fully understanding why. I believe I level based on the amount of +light gear I have, but there is some oddities in how it is happening. First, I am pretty sure I went from 21 - 22 without gaining anymore +light, I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure I didn't add any gear at the point I levelled. The other strange thing is when I do have new gear with more +light I am not fully sure how I'v got it.
It just gets mailed to me? Which is nice.
I've also been introduced to the 'Loot Cave'. Basically, you can do all the story missions at multiple levels from a certain point in the game. It's harder. It drops more loot. I either didn't know you could do this or I did and I forgot, it was probably the latter. I've not used this feature in my post-20 gameplay yet. So, you take this feature and then find a spot with a rapid respawn rate. There is a place in Old Russia, funnily enough a cave, which spawns three enemies every fifteen seconds. You shoot them before they even get out of the cave and they drop stuff: green, blue and purple (the infamous legendaries) engrams. You farm them, have them produced to up your engram reputation and either use the gear or trash it for materials.
I farmed the 'Loot Cave' for 30-minutes and got 2 legendary items. Regrettably, one of them was a Warlock helmet I could not use, but the other was an awesome Heavy Machine Gun. Great stuff. I may not always be that lucky, but the fact Destiny has individual loot streams makes this even more useful as you're not in competition for loot. If you're in a fire team it's even better as I believe one player can shoot into the cave and loot drops for everyone….I think. The downside of the 'Loot Cave' is it's as boring as hell. I also suspect I will not normally be that lucky.
The strange thing is about the 'Loot Cave' is it's on Earth. There is a theory the loot drops don't vary based on difficulty, I assume they do above, in which case you can blast away at level 6 enemies and get the same loot. I tried doing a harder story mission on Venus and did on a harder level. I got halfway through the mission and it dropped no engrams. A bit odd. Apparently, there are numerous high spawn locations dotted around the planets that people camp out on. I understand people have burned through levels this way.
It's not all great though, you look at the vendors selling the legendary equipment and the number of marks you need is pretty shocking. As an example, I need to be reputation level 2 before I can buy anything (and 3 for the weapons, I believe). I then need 120 marks for one piece of equipment and so on through the rest. You cap out at 100 marks a week, not that I come remotely close to that. In short, it's a lot of strikes being done one after the other. A lot of strikes. I seem to have got to 23 without hitting this wall but I'm not sure to what degree this is going to continue.
The reports coming back from those hitting Vault of Glass the first, recently opened, raid is that it's pretty good. Varied. Challenging. It breaks the tired structure of the strikes and offers something different. This is a good thing and I want to at least try it. A small part of me wants to beat it and see it through. I am certainly interested to know if it adds any narrative elements to frame the action. I am intrigued by how long I'll be playing Destiny as the story is planned to expand out for a decade (though it hasn't got off to a great start). It's a sort of will I play it as long as World of Warcraft thing.
The intriguing question moving forward is where will the DLC be pitched at? They've already got two planned. Due to the level grind between 20 - 26 it is inevitable that it will create a barrier that some people do not surmount for one reason or another. If the DLC is for level 26 only it leaves those people behind? If it's for level 20 then it will not challenge those hitting the raid? I guess they'll provide a mix of content. They could also provide easier ways for people to get to 26 ahead of the DLC, but games that do that normally have a lot longer between expansions, like years. I am guessing this DLC is going to come a lot quicker.
And, yes, despite the nature of these games, amassing the legendary items with their interesting names and awesome statistics still offers a sort of excitement.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 22/09/2014
Tyranny of Dragons S1Keywords: Actual Play; Role-Playing Games; Dungeons and Dragons; Tyranny of Dragons.
We started Tyranny of Dragons last Sunday playing through what I assume is the first 'adventure', though I don't know if this is true. It was great fun, but also quite combat encounter intense with our characters rolling into one after the other. One of the characters died, but it wasn't under the vagaries of the dice. We'll have more on that later.
I'm conscious many people are playing through Tyranny of Dragons at the same time so anything else involves serious spoilers.
Warning: Serious spoilers beyond this point.
The characters arrive at Greenest to find it under attack by unknown forces with the backup of a Blue Dragon! This raises the adventure's first potential stumbling point: why would any sane set of first level characters rush into a town being sieged by a Blue Dragon? Unless the characters have very strong reasons to rescue or obtain something from the town there is going to be a lot of 'for the sake of the adventure decisions going on'. Which is fine by me, as that sort of player-driven authorial and meta-decision isn't a problem, but you'd prefer it to be for other reasons and many a GM would hate it. Our group had a character looking to eventually kill a red dragon due to his people being brought low by it and a second in the full, naive heroism of youth so that got us moving forward.
There is a risk some groups fall at this hurdle or have a major disconnect.
The adventure after this point is a series of encounters one after the other without a chance for a short rest due to the new compromise rule that has per encounter powers shunted into being 'short rest' powers that involves having to rest for an hour. This makes the six or seven (I've forgotten how many) encounters a drain on resources. We did really well though. The combats were quick. We had characters go down but I don't believe anyone was in danger of dying due to quick stabilisation. We seemed to cut the enemies down quite fast even to the point some support abilities, such as the Bards inspiration dice, got assigned and then not used (since you add the D6 after knowing what you rolled). We probably could have avoided some of the encounters through stealth or showing less moral character.
It had the potential to be ridiculously hard and dangerous as many a group had hinted, but we must have rolled very well, the GM's strategy wasn't as aggressive as it could be or something about our group composition (five players: fighter, rogue, bard and cleric x2), which covers many of the bases and doubles up on the healing, helped us out.
I'll say at this point the new rules on how 'per encounter' powers work could get quite frustrating. I see it as a compromise to retain them while pandering to those with a simulative bent. We didn't have a character reliant on short rests, like a Warlock or Monk, but we will once the Fighter chooses Battlemaster, which was probably good. It strikes me characters who regain powers after a short rest refresh their powers on that basis for a reason (they have less of them and / or they aren't as powerful as those demanding a full rest) so having the refresh taken away would be annoying. It also feels false to me, as the argument is you're under time pressure so you can't have a short rest? But this is false logic, the powers are balanced to a short rest so why take them away? The feeling of tension due to time pressure should be enabled in other ways, primarily the attrition of daily / long rest powers, not by limiting encounter / short rest powers. After all, the more powerful daily / long rest powers aren't impacted by this 'time pressure'. It's not a major thing, but it is one of the principles of the game I find a bit incongruous and mildly annoying.
Two great rules though are: advantage and bounded accuracy.
The advantage and disadvantage rule is just pure genius and you almost imagine the grins on the designer's faces when they fully realised what they had and the scope of the rule. It's a simple concept that gets rid of almost every contextual modifier to a dice roll. You just have advantage or disadvantage which seems to result in a +5 to +1 (or the negative in reverse) depending on what you need to roll. It is very clever. Love it.
Bounded reality is also a core rule of the game and makes it an absolute joy across a number of areas. Basically, the game is constructed to keep attack and defence bonuses within a certain 'bounded accuracy', this removes the ridiculous to hit bonuses and high defence bonuses of previous editions and things like 'auto hit' or leaving enemies behind who could 'never hit'. This rarely, if ever happens. It's quite possible for a character in plate with a shield to have the defences of a very dangerous monster. In reverse those low level monsters may die quickly, but if they swarm you they can still hit you! As an example, we could hit the Blue Dragon in this adventure despite being first level because it's defences fall within bounded accuracy. The other interesting wrinkle is it makes the pursuit of ridiculously high stats less…necessary. This is great because it's just very relaxing. Having a 14 that gives you a +2 and be happy with it is great. It also makes shields, with their +2 defence, awesome and that's a personal awesome.
So, the important thing is I died!
It was a bit of a strange one as it didn't come about due to the randomness of the dice. The second to last scene of the session featured the forces of Greenest and the players facing the Blue Dragon on the top of the Keep. I chose to cast a spell that gives me a God-like voice and challenged and insulted the creature. After all, a dragon almost destroyed his people and here is one doing it again to a town.
I must admit, I probably miss-read the scene. I may have also not done enough to articulate intent and my understanding of the framing and the stakes. The dragon seemed to be pitched as a special effect, after all, if it really wanted to it could kill anyone on top of that Keep as soon as it wanted to (but it obviously wasn't going to work that way so a different set of rules were in play? Wasn't it?). So, while there was no explicit framing the implicit framing fooled me into thinking I could get away with a bit of cool challenging. I also didn't realise we'd entered combat rounds. I thought we were in cool, role-playing mode and in the worst case I'd narratively be taking out of the fight after heroically trying to dive out of the way. Apparently not, it attacked me directly on its first round and blasted me directly with its lightning breath which, I believe, was death as soon as the decision was made (as even I succeeded on the saving throw half damage was very large).
So, alas Waylan Stormlord, future hope of the clans and tribes of the Sunset Mountains and seeker of the Red Dragon 'Red Eye' was electrocuted to a husk. This isn't a problem, it does mean I now have to decide on whether I create a new character or have Waylan return in some way by 'The Gods' due to some divine purpose (which is sort of hinted at and due to the way he died isn't entirely stupid). Difficult choice. I'm not against bringing the character back but him coming back straight away I can't get my head around. I can't see how it will be anything but cheesy and 'oh you are back, let us move on' with everyone feeling uncomfortable. Also, it's early days so it doesn't' feel like that sort of divine intervention would feel narratively right at this point.
The GM would like the character to return as would I, so I decided to pitch a delayed return and we are going with that. Waylan is going to stay 'dead' so we can (1) build up to the character returning and (2) have it be an adventure to return him. This avoids the 'cheese' and integrates it into the campaign. I'm going to play a different character in the interim who will be part of larger surrounding fabric that is part of Waylan's set-up. This character can then act as a bridging mechanism between the dead Waylan and the forces he was meant to become embroiled with. I'm thinking at this point he died but his journey has been waylaid by nefarious forces affording the opportunity of a rescue.
We shall see, whichever way it goes there is interesting options. I am enjoying the game, though I have to admit it is the sort of game that I find difficult to shine in (minimal scene framing, aggressive editing to the combat map, little use of NPC's to drive the drama) as it demands a sort of disembodied 'act out your character now' sort of role-playing rather than a 'add some contextual, conflict driven writing to this scene' sort of role-playing. That's a preference not a qualitative thing. This is fine, different approaches for different folks, and it is very early days, but the risk is I'll be slightly more subdued moving forward as the 'act out your character now' thing just never feels right. I also maybe need to just take a bit more into my own hands once I get the cadence of the game (it's very early days!).
Onward…no idea what happens next which, I must admit, I wasn't entirely convinced was the case in this session (I knew a Blue Dragon featured, thanks to Twitter, I have a sneaky feeling spoilers had alerted the odd player to so some other things as well).
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 15/09/2014
19 Hours. Level 20. The Grindiose Endgame BeginsKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
I have reached level 20, the sort of level cap in the game. It's best not described as a level cap though, it's more the point at which levelling changes. It's a transitioning level, signifying the end of the 'game' and the beginning of the 'endgame'. It's not the end of all the content though. I still have to do the last mission on Mars and a few strikes.
Looking into it a bit, the endgame is a typical gear and reputation grind. The levels your character has post-20 seem to some sort of reflection of how much +light you have on your gear, so unless I'm missing something the post-20 levels are essentially a gear rating? Anyway, you seem to get this gear from strikes set to their higher difficulty level (as I've had some from the two I've done) and through buying gear which can only be accessed with the right reputation level.
As previously guessed at this is going to mean patrols and the daily strike list which fills fire teams and assigns them to strikes. All the time. Repeat endlessly until I have enough +light gear to denote me as 26 level and then I can raid. The one raid, when it becomes available. If I continue with this I'd like to find time to unlock the powers in the Defender subclass, which I'd have to do through patrols as I am weaker while I do it. At least you can swap subclasses on a whim. Have to admit, not really sure how that's going to fit in.
I can see Destiny being one of those games were people really get into the lore. I hate that word when applied to role-playing games be it computer games or traditional role-playing games. Why? Because it always seems to come with a load of baggage involving lots of things you don't know and that someone, and there is always someone, seems glad to bore you with or gleefully tell you things you don't know as if it is the most awesome thing in the universe. Destiny, and games like it, have a special 'lore sin', they obfuscate things in the game but then build a log of some sort telling you about all this glorious lore they've written.
What is the point unless they show it as part of a dynamic, exciting and epic narrative?
Destiny doesn't, it keeps it all in the log. What is the point of that? Okay, Mass Effect did the whole log thing as well, but at least it did it in a way that was like an extra appendices you could read for more detail (and I never did and was enthralled by the evocative nature of the drama and backdrop). Everything was in the story, this just fed the lore geeks who like to absorb these things. The Destiny approach results in a hollow, unintelligible 'plot', though really it's just exclamations and links between missions, and then a log full of lore. Ridiculous. Poor old Dinklage must have really felt like a right idiot saying most of the lines. Still, it may have been easy money.
So, I'll be taking a break away from the game (by which point 'everyone' will probably be raiding) for a bit as other things will be impacting on my time. But I am there at the gloriously, grindiose endgame.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 13/09/2014
17 Hours. 18 Levels. Areas to ImproveKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
I am now less than 2 levels away from the (not so) max level. I am on the final planet: mars. I will have done all the story missions soon and then it's a matter of going back and hitting the strikes I've missed. At that point I'll have consumed all the content.
I've discovered patrols and completing bounties are an excellent way to level. This is made even stranger by the fact this seems to hold up even when doing a patrol area ten levels below your ability. The enemies are easier to kill, but you zoom up the levels. It seems way faster than actually doing the missions. Very strange. Still, it's got me 2-3 levels and it's a good way to play if you have smaller moments to fit some of the game in.
Is it just me or does the story make no sense? It's almost incomprehensible. Dinklage waffles on about some space fantasy bollocks that offers the most tenuous of links to go from one mission to another but it doesn't seem to be adding to an overall narrative or enhancing the drama. This is unfortunate. While I realise it would have been difficult to make it the new Mass Effect, the effort they have put in is risible. It's not even a tenth of the way as good. Even with your 'silent hero' they could have put some great NPC's in, better dialogue and some narrative to give it an epic feel. The story is so basic I'm almost not sure why they bothered? They may as well have just gave you a mission list.
I've completed three strikes now one on Earth, the Moon and Venus. I've come to the conclusion they really are going to have to do something with the strikes. They all involve very similar elements. Fight your way through trash. Hit a point that delays you but involves fighting off waves of enemies. Fight a boss that has some sort of restriction on hitting him (a sensitive spot or a rotating shield) while occasionally being hit with waves of adds. That is it. Possibly it gets different later on but I have a feeling it probably doesn't. It shows a distinct lack of imagination.
I'm also not entirely sure what your character level is doing? It obviously does something, as things definitely get easier, your various powers seem to unlock independently and the subclass you get at 15 arrives without any of its powers unlocked. Equipment also levels and unlocks better capability. I suspect the following will be true: I'll hit level 20 but I'll still not have all my Striker subclass powers unlocked so I can only assume they keep unlocking? I'll still have the entirety of the Defender subclass's powers to unlock, which I suspect will take a while. You can also level past 20 through gear and some wacky thing called motes of light. So basically, to say 20 is the level cap is true while being slightly odd and players face a complex post 20 levelling situation. This is not helped by the fact all content will have been experienced at this point. So there is a lot of post-20 work (filling out your second subclass could take almost as long as the first!) to do, but no new experiences to help you along.
Big mistake.
The raids are a complete mystery, but they are really going to have to shake things up. Technically, there are no raids at the moment as they're coming later this month. The rumour is you need to be 26th level to do them (so grinding through the complex post-20 levelling situation). If true, this means you have an equipment and mote grind to accrue 6 levels and a barren field of new content to do it in (it's an exercise in repeated strikes). If a raid turns out to be exactly the same structure just with three more people it will be a serious weakness in the game. The raids are the tent pole of the endgame. If they are challenging only in the sense of the amount of enemies and the number of hit points it shows a level of uninspiring game design on an epic scale.
All this sounds really negative? Which is true, but it's more that it's disappointing. It doesn't really tread much ground into the exciting realm of the possible, just the banal world of the traditional done in an average way and complex way. The weird thing is this doesn't seem to matter at this point, the mechanics and flow of play of the game as a shooter continues to drag you back in to play the game. The rhythm of it is almost hypnotic and therapeutic. As usual, the test is going to come when level 20 is reached and there is less than two to go (the ability to grind for the post-20 gear has already opened up for me).
For all of Bungie's wish to avoid the MMO tag, they've pretty much designed a very average one, albeit with killer FPS mechanics. I'm enjoying the game and even if the post-20 game grinds me down and I exit stage left the price I paid (nothing) for the game means it's worked really well as a boxed, non-MMO shooter.
Still, it's a game that is supposed to have a long life, audience allowing, so we'll see how it morphs and changes because some of it needs to.
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 12/09/2014
648 Minutes. Some Patrols and a Strike TwoKeywords: Video Games; PS4; Destiny.
648 minutes in (300 minutes on from last time) and I'm thirteenth level. I've experienced the concept of the 'Patrol' (138 minutes), progressed the story a bit (380 minutes in total) and I've done the second Strike (115 minutes in total), but not succeeded at it, and done the first strike again.
No more PvP.
The structure of each planet is similar. A number of missions which should be done in order as they are connected by a story, a patrol mission and a strike which I suspect may or may not cap the story on the planet. Patrols..they're basically farming. You get experience and reputation. There also seems to be some stuff to pick up, though I'm not sure there is a whole crafting thing going on. This isn't a bad thing. The patrol area is full of enemies that re-spawn as well as mission beacons. These missions are the sort of basic MMO quests you see across the board: kill this many, scan this, stand at a point and observe that, collect these drops, etc. You do these repeatedly. I did spend a bit of time in the Patrol area of Venus. Quite enjoyed it. It got me some way through level 10 and into 11 as well as 50% of the way through 13. It's handy for if you pop in for a short period knowing you're going to quit soon.
It's not something you'd want to constitute your entire Destiny experience. It's obviously the solution to the Destiny 'world' not being one you can wonder across from coast to coast killing things on beaches, across plains, in woods and high up the mountains.
The second strike? Oh boy. It's shorter than the first one, in that it doesn't seem to take as long to progress to the boss. It was very hard when we got there and that was with characters levelled to circa 11, 14 and 16. Two of them being well above the entry requirement. The boss fight is a bit alarming.
It's alarming because it's very fluid and there is only three characters present. Possibly too fluid for my inefficient fatal thumbs to deal with.
At the end of the strike you have to kill the eponymous, and very large, Phogoth the Summoner in the dread Summoning Pits on the moon. The fluidity seems to be a product of the small player count in the strike and the complete lack of ability variation that allows for numerous roles. So, an MMO would normally construct it's 'dungeons' and 'raids' around a party of 4-5 with a varied ability spread to facilitate tanking, DPS, healing, support, AOE, kiting and whatever else. In short, there is quite a lot of abilities to construct the challenge around. This is not the case in Destiny as far as I can tell. This means the first two strikes have been similar. This second strike is an exercise in being inundated with periodic waves of enemies during which, or in the brief breaks, you're supposed to wear down the bosses health with constant shooting.
Funnily enough, this was a similar procedure within the first strike. Except this one is much harder as the number, variety and power of the adds thrown at you is significant to the point it's very hard to battle them all down never mind the constant firing of Phogoth's epic eye blast. I'm sure it's beatable and there is some approach we are missing, though the 'guides' are very vague, suggesting the fluidity and the ability to deal with it is all that is present. It'll be a bit of a sad affair if this is the solution to all strikes, just with more and difficult adds and a boss with more hit points and a sensitive spot to hit him at. Will it just more of the same in the raids?
Even without the varied abilities available to typical, small traditional MMO parties I can think of a few things that can be done to liven up strikes and raids – splitting the team and giving them different objectives? Take the fight away from just hitting the boss by ensuring other tasks have to be competed at the same time which doesn't involve add waves. Use the reactive nature of the game to inject tasks of agility and the jump powers (or the super abilities) to integrate interesting, narrative driven challenges as the fight unfolds.
I guess all this comes down to using the narrative and the environment to inject the awesome.
In terms of the story, I am progressing through Venus and have one last mission to do. I like Venus, it's more lush and has better colours. It also has better aliens as I'm liking the Vex, who are basically like the Geth in Mass Effect. Mechanical life forms. I get a strange thrill out of shooting up their mechanical bodies for some reason.
Finally, one of the family members I play with hit level 20 while groups of us were playing today. Strangely, he's not done a lot of the story. He's been doing PvP and helping other people level as he's always been quite far ahead (so he's done some missions a lot but not consistently done them all).
|Permalink | Comments(0) | Posted by: Ian O'Rourke on 10/09/2014


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Welcome to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish in Hampton, NH. Our parish includes the Mission Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Seabrook, NH. We have a combined parish community of 1,400 families, with a wide variety of ministries and programs.
In addition, we are fortunate to have a parochial school. Sacred Heart School has an enrollment of close to 200 students, a competent and dedicated staff, and a host of parents who are very involved.
Please visit the various pages on this website and see the many ways in which we strive to serve God through service to His people. We have a list of information for your convenience; including online giving, calendar of events and registration forms.
On Thursday, November 28 at 9:00 a.m. we will celebrate our annual Thanksgiving Day Liturgy. Please join us on this special day to give thanks for all of God's blessings! For as the Scriptures say, "all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).
Note: There will be no 6:45 a.m. Mass on Thanksgiving Day.
Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/OLMMhampton to stay current with what's going on at OLMM
Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/OLMMhampton.
If you would like to see what is going on with Adult Faith Formation in the Parish, please visit our Adult Faith Formation Calendar for more details about the programs being offered.
Click here to be redirected to the Adult Faith Formation Calendar.

subset: commoncrawl


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Best alternatives to the iPad 2
We round-up the best iPad 2 alternatives, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom
Apple's hotly anticipated iPad 2 has just hit Australian shores, with prices starting at $579 for the entry level 16GB Wi-Fi version.
Despite being the dominant player in the relatively new tablet market, there is set to be plenty of valid alternatives to the iPad 2, particularly Android tablets.
The newest of these is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v, which will launch in Australia in mid-April through Vodafone. Samsung is serious about the tablet market — the company will also launch the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and a thinner, lighter version of Galaxy Tab 10.1 with the same name. Both of these new Android tablets will hit Australia sometime between July and September.
Along with the Galaxy Tab, the iPad 2 will face competition from the Motorola Xoom, RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, the HTC Flyer and LG's Optimus Pad — all of which are expected to launch this year.
5 / 12
The Acer Iconia A500 is a little on the chunky side, but potential buyers may be happy to make the sacrifice in return for USB and HDMI-out connectivity.
- Review Date:
- Reviewer:
- Manufacturer:
- 15th April, 2011
- Ross Catanzariti
- Acer
- Rating:
- Price:
- Pros:
- Sturdy and well constructed design
- USB and HDMI-out ports
- Android Honeycomb 3.0 OS
- Cons:
- A little chunky and heavy
- Screen difficult to see in sunlight
Hi, in the enterprise market there seem to also be a growing number fo devices that are specific to this sector. Adress all the shortcomings of the iPad, devices such as Cius or Avaya Flare, leverage CIOs existing technology investments such as Video Conferencing or Unified Communnications equipment.
Will you put these up for review too?


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New York City Hop-on Hop-off Tour
We've selected the best candid trip photos submitted by our users to help you decide if the New York City Hop-on Hop-off Tour is right for you. Make the most of your next trip to New York City with Viator's exclusive Photo Galleries.
Click here for tour details, schedule and pricing
Times Square, NYC
July 2011
Chris T
You got to see it to Believe it! Want to go back right now!
Colorful Times Square corner
September 2008
Joyce P
In the heart of Times Square, viewed from bus.
The Chrysler Building
September 2008
William John H
United Kingdom
This was taken from the top of the Empire State Building. My opinion this (the Chrysler Building) is the most beautiful looking skyscraper
Iconic triangle building
October 2014
Tell us who's in the photo, what you were doing etc.
October 2014
This is the tour guide to avoid if you don't speak English - don't want to constantly be told to be quiet - and how much you need to tip!
Night lights tour
September 2014
Night lights tour is a must do; you get to see the Brooklyn bridge by night.
Manhattan skyline
September 2014
Manhattan skyline as seen from the Liberty island ferry
Central Park View
July 2014
Walking in Central Park
Time square NY
July 2014
Découvrir Time square trépidant en bus la nuit c'est le TOP!
Skyline vue du bus
July 2014
Voici une vue de NY prise du bus le soir vers 20h30 en été. Nous étions sur le Manhattan bridge.Magnifique!
May 2014
Il n y a pas que des buildings
Regen im Bus
May 2014
... man hilft ja gerne !
Regenkleidung im Bus
May 2014
Frierende, nasse Menschen (eigentlich unter Dach ...)
Family on the bus
May 2014
Downtown tour with Bhavana and Mahira Alvares
Time Square morning view
April 2014
View from upper deck of Hop on and Hop off bus


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LIAR, LIAR: The National Rifle Association aired a "reprehensible" ad attacking President Obama's daughters having Secret Service protection, while other students have no armed guards in their schools. The NRA also claimed in a television ad that the Sidwell Friends School that the Obama girls attend has 11 armed guards. Um, one problem — that's not true. The school has a team of security officers who carry no firearms.
My Post colleague Glenn Kessler, who writes The Fact Checker column, wrote about the issue here and quoted Ellis Turner, associate head of Sidwell Friends, as saying: "Sidwell Friends security officers do not carry guns." Parents and students say they have never seen one either.
The president's children are protected by Secret Service agents, which is required by federal law, but that is not the same thing as armed school resource officers.
The Fact Checker, who hands out "Pinocchios" depending on how accurate — or inaccurate — a particular story is, gave the NRA and its ad the worst possible rating, four Pinocchios. Whereas three Pinocchios are given for "significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions," four Pinocchios are given for "whoppers." Source
When will they learn that anything coming from Breitbart.com should be verified and cross-verified for accuracy. When will the NRA realize that the majority of Americans want something done about the accessibility of guns to just about anyone?
Here's the NRA ad built on a LIE:
Latest posts by Janet Shan (see all)
- Timothy Loehmann ID'd as Rookie Cop Who Shot 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice - November 26, 2014
- DeAndre Joshua Becomes First Casualty of Ferguson Riots - November 25, 2014
- Michael Brown's Stepfather Louis Head Reacts: "Burn This Bitch Down" (VIDEO) - November 25, 2014


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Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Jr., MBA '85, president and CEO of Colombia's Grupo Aval S.A., mingles with MBA students in the Dyson Atrium of Sage Hall
Johnson's dean and faculty greet Ricardo Martinelli, president of the Republic of Panama, during his visit to Cornell University
Lourdes Casanova, faculty director of the Emerging Markets Institute, is a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum on Latin America
Senior lecturer Lourdes Casanova speaks at the Global Forum on Latin America
Providing thought leadership on the role of emerging markets—and emerging market multinationals—in the global economy
A new book by Johnson's Lourdes Casanova encapsulates Brazil's role in the new order of emerging economies and the steps the country needs to propel its economic growth
Johnson students were featured on ETV Ghana during their January 2013 visit to StratComm Africa, a communications consulting firm owned by Cornell alumna Esther Cobbah.
EMI Research Assistant, Sukriti Jain highlights Lourdes Casanova's work on innovation in Latin America.
EMI Research Assistant, Sukriti Jain highlights Lourdes Casanova's work on innovation in Latin America.
Over 100 Cornell alumni and business professionals in attendance.
The Fourth Emerging Markets Institute conference " China, Reaching ou...
The Emerging Markets Institute at Cornell's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management hosted the 4th Annual Emerging Market Conference which...
Beijing and Moscow are pushing for a reordering of world affairs based on 'spheres of influence'
World powers and Islamic republic fail to reach agreement
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The Old Warsaw
- Address:
2610 Maple Avenue
Dallas, TX 75201Neighborhood:
- Cuisine:
FrenchPrice: $50 and over
The Old Warsaw
- Dining Style: Fine Dining
- Website: http://www.oldwarsaw.com/
- Phone: (214) 528-0032
- Hours of Operation:
Dinner: Monday - Sunday: 5:00pm - 11:00pm
- Payment Options: AMEX,Carte Blanche,Diners Club,Discover,JCB,MasterCard,Visa
- Cuisine: Continental, Steakhouse, French
- Executive Chef: Al Heidari
- Dress Code: Business Casual
- Accepts Walk-Ins: No
- Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Entertainment, Full Bar, Late Night, Non-Smoking Area, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Personal wines welcome, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Private Room, Smoking Area, Wheelchair Access, Wine, Wine Bar
- Private Party Facilities: The Old Warsaw offers 4 private rooms for company parties, wedding rehearsals, pharmaceutical presentations, business meetings and other functions.
All of our rooms are equipped with projectors and internet access if needed.
- Private Party Contact: Erik 8773367409
- Entertainment: Pianist and Violinist nightly (Starting at 7:30pm)
A word from The Old Warsaw
A landmark of elegant dining in Dallas since 1948, The Old Warsaw is conveniently located in the heart of Uptown.Continued
The Old Warsaw is constantly recognized for its superior French Continental cuisine and it has been the recipient of many important accolades over the years such as the prestigious Four Diamond Award and it has also been rated "Excellent" by the Zagat Texas Restaurant Survey.
To go along with our exquisite dishes and succulent desserts, our wine cellar offers an extensive collection of the finest wines from Europe, South America and North America. We have over 460 stellar selections to choose from.
The rich, old world ambiance and decor found at The Old Warsaw has long made it a favorite for special celebrations. Our patrons can enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner while our musicians set the mood with a variety of classical melodies. We also offer complimentary valet parking to enhance the dining experience even further.
The Old Warsaw is constantly recognized for its superior French Continental cuisine and it has been the recipient of many important accolades over the years such as the prestigious Four Diamond Award and it has also been rated "Excellent" by the Zagat Texas Restaurant Survey.
To go along with our exquisite dishes and succulent desserts, our wine cellar offers an extensive collection of the finest wines from Europe, South America and North America. We have over 460 stellar selections to choose from.
The rich, old world ambiance and decor found at The Old Warsaw has long made it a favorite for special celebrations. Our patrons can enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner while our musicians set the mood with a variety of classical melodies. We also offer complimentary valet parking to enhance the dining experience even further.
Foodspotting photosSee all photos
Awards voted by OpenTable diners
- Diners' Choice WinnerRomantic
The Old Warsaw - Best Restaurants in Uptown ›
The Old Warsaw reviews from OpenTable diners
63 reviews since July 31, 2014
- Food4.1Service3.7
- Ambiance4Noise LevelModerate
romantic (45)special occasion (45)notable wine list (14)neighborhood gem (12)fit for foodies (12)late-night find (4)good for groups (4)vibrant bar scene (1)great for brunch (1)hot spot (1)Show More
- Music greatOpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 11/22/2014Food was great, wonderful music! Waiter did not seem to care, lousy service.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Anniversary DinnerDivineDinningDined on 11/8/2014I took my fiance to her "favorite restaurant" though I had never been there myself. The owner walked us to our table, which was a large booth for added privacy which was nice. The decor is beautiful, the waiters wear tuxedos, and there is a pianist and violinist playing memorable classics like songs from "Fiddler on the Roof," "Sound of Music," and others. Our appetizer, suggested by the waiter, was wonderful and out dinner, a 22 oz Rib-eye, was cooked perfectly. The violinist came to our table and serenaded us with a song and another waiter came by and handed my fiance a rose. She was in tears by the end of the night and it was just about the best dining experience I have ever had. This is our #1 place for any special occasions...Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Wonderful before OperaRussDined on 11/1/2014We always go here before the Opera. First because it is an outstanding high-class restaurant and second because it so easy to get the opera house after dinner.Special Features:
- SandyVIPDined on 10/29/2014Unfortunately, after dining here for over 25 years we will not be returning. Food was not up to the quality from past dining experiences. Also, the restaurant management needs to be aware of the lack of professionalism in their valet service.Special Features:
- Fabulous Romantic DinnerOpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 10/27/2014Not my first visit, but this is one of Dallas's most romantic dining establishments. Pricey but it is true you get what you pay for. My NY Strip & Scallops were fantastic, however my wife's Sea Bass made me wish I had selected that instead. The Violinist superb and even learned our favorite song during a break.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- RomanticDysonDined on 10/25/2014Definitely not a hot spot like some say it used to be! But it is a good place for a romantic dinner/special occasion. Except for desert, we liked everything else.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Worse Beef Wellington everLuv2dineDined on 10/25/2014My wife and I went to celebrate my BD and having eaten at Chef Ramsay's Steak restaurrant in Vegas We were hoping this would not be far from his version. Unfortunately that was not the case. Beef cut was tough and pastry wrap was not fully cooked Their soufflé was also not fuklly cooked I will never go back or recommend this Restaurant
- An evening to remember.WinecruiserDined on 10/18/2014The Old Warsaw is a very nice restaurant. Serving great food for many years! We like the number one special. Ambience is romantic with elegant decor and strolling violinist and a pianist.Special Features:
- Very disappointing!TNT57VIPDined on 10/18/2014I went to Old Warsaw for the first time for my birthday and was extremely disappointed! Waiter was very inattentive.
- Great eveningOpenTable Diner Since 2012Dined on 10/15/2014My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and for the first time, he asked me to make reservations at a restaurant of my choice. It was great, the food was incredible. We took advantage of your pick appetizer, entrée, and dessert for one price and we both were extremely happy with the food and the price. Great evening.Special Features:
- A place to returnOpenTable Diner Since 2013Dined on 10/10/2014I always enjoy this dining venue. The food is good. The French Continental menu provides many interesting choices. The ambiance is elegant and warm with dark wood and chandeliers. There is live music with a roving violinist who takes requests. The service component could be a little better. There were noticeable gaps in wine ordering a delivery. Overall though a unique and worthwhile dining experience in Dallas. I will return.Special Features:
- Excellent as always!LeighDined on 10/6/2014One of our favorite restaurants for an Old World dining experience!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- The Old WarsawbesteatsDined on 10/4/2014My in-laws ate there for special occasions, and we have carried on that tradition.Special Features:
- Great atmosphereRomanticDined on 10/1/2014First time here and I really enjoyed myself. The food was very good. Perfect place for a quiet evening out with that special someone or a group of friends.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Mixed review, won't returnDallasVIPDined on 9/27/2014Food Excellent, table setting great, waiter very attentive. Atmosphere now is an older crowd and on Saturday night very sedate with few people for a 9:00PM seating. When served they ran out of crated cheese and chives for our baked potatoes (kitchen must have been closing). By 10:30 on Saturday night we were the last table to leave. Not very vibrant compared to other offerings around town. Musicians were good and appreciated. Lights too bright to be romantic. Attention & compliments by Matre'D to my date when I wasn't around, escorting her to bathroom & at table, was unappreciated by my date and me. She felt like she was being hit on. This will be the last time for us to go there.Special Features:
- The Restaurant That Time ForgotEarlVIPDined on 9/27/2014If you would like to find a better place to dine than The Old Warsaw, simply go to OpenTable and pick ANY other restaurant. This place may have been the bomb 50 years ago, but it is really old and dated now. If it were cheap, you could possibly make an argument in favor of eating here, but it is NOT cheap. My ribeye steak at $45 was similar in price to Capital Grill, Bob's, Del Frisco's, or any other far, far better restaurant. And the steaks at those other places would actually be edible. Do yourself a favor and READ THE REVIEWS OF THIS PLACE before committing. Especially note the 1-STAR review from the Dallas Morning News food critic who also cited this as the worst review she ever had to write. This place is absolutely terrible.
- Poor ServiceOpenTable Diner Since 2011Dined on 9/26/2014This was the worst service i have ever had at a nice restaurant in my life. The server was rude and slow and the food came out cold. I will never go back to Old Warsaw.
- flat5454Dined on 9/21/2014The ambiance was great -very romantic. Violinist was spectacular - wait staff friendly and accommodating . Food while edible, was a major disappointment. Tasted like it came straight out of a microwave. It reminded me of those Gordon Ramsey shows where he screams obscenities about charging top dollar and serving sub par fast food. The only two people that really cared about their work - violinist and pianist who were exceptional - waiter and other servers, were polite and marginally attentive. Food edible -but that is all Cocktails were great and so was the coffee. What a shameSpecial Features:
- KevinEVIPDined on 9/20/2014We love the piano and violin playing, and the overall quieter atmosphere (as compared to other restaurants). However, it is unfortunate that the food just does not measure up. We had a variety of dishes, including appetizers, salads, steak, seafood and desserts and we were not impressed with any course. We will not be back.
- PerfectJNU0Dined on 9/6/2014My wife and I have dined at the Old Warsaw on several anniversaries. The food is always very good, the ambiance is romantic, service is very good, and we enjoy the strolling violinist and the accompanying pianist. It is nice to dine in a fairly quiet atmosphere without televisions everywhere you look.Special Features:
- In need of a faceliftRickMVIPDined on 9/4/2014I have been travelling to Dallas for years on business and have seen advertisements for The Old Warsaw. It is in a great location, the staff was outstanding and the food was good. The problem is, the place is "tired". Upon valeting my car, my first impression was "where is everybody?". My next impression, upon entering was "this place smells like my 97 year old grandmothers" parlor. You know what I'm talking about. I would go back, but only after a total renovation.
- Proud tradition, but stale.FudeDudeDined on 9/1/2014The food here is, by design, very traditional and it is a gem for that reason. Mostly very well executed. It is the best place in town to have old school gourmet food (think beef wellington and lobster thermador) and the fixed price menus are a value. The service was underwhelming and understaffed. The wine list was heavily weighted towards $90+ but unexceptional wines and the cocktail offerings were somewhat disappointing - probably could find better at a biker bar. In all, this is a history lesson well worth visiting, but, other than the food itself, it seriously needs refreshing and a lot more attention to detail. I hate to see such potential go wanting. They spend a lot of money on advertising, but just don't deliver the promise.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- A Step Back In TimeQuadJVIPDined on 8/31/2014The Old Warsaw has been in Dallas for 50+ years and continues to put out a decent meal.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Ambience is hard to beat!WinecruiserDined on 8/30/2014The Old Warsaw has been around for a very long time. One can ways count on a wonderful experience in dining there. I recommend the Special dinner #1. We will return again for another special occasion.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Go for the live musicdgjamzDined on 8/30/2014The food, service, and ambiance were good, but the violinist and pianist were what really will bring us back.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Old Warsaw customer for 30 yrs.myfavoriteDined on 8/29/2014I took a friend of mine who was visiting from Tennessee to Old Warsaw for the unique experience and she loved it. Al is always great and welcomes all his customers as he has for years and never forgets who you are. I loved the violinist and pianist was so great as usual and contributes to the unique ambiance. It's the details and ambiance that make The Old Warsaw stand out about the rest in service by Al and his team of gentleman. I think these little details have made the Old Warsaw one of the most unique restaurants in Dallas for years. I had smoked Salmon appetizer, Caesar salad, my favorite course chateaubriandSpecial Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Worst service I have had in years.ServeMeDined on 8/23/2014They seemed surprised we had a reservation. Too awhile to get seated even though plenty of open tables. Never asked if we wanted a second drink even though we were there 1 1/2 hours. Waiter forgot the baked potatoe. When I asked about it he barked "it's coming.". It never came and he wouldn't make eye contact. Good food, good music, but for the money, service was like a Taco Bell. Too many good restaurants in Dallas to waste time here.Special Features:
- Undercooked steak and poor serviceFood123Dined on 8/23/2014Meat was severely undercooked, crab cake was full of shells, rest of the food was okay- nothing spectacular. Service was meh. Not at all the caliber of restaurant I was expecting.Special Features:
- OpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 8/22/2014My wife and I had a nice time. Service was excellent, food excellent, and the musicians were outstanding!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Very romanticJenHagemanDined on 8/22/2014Great place to go for an anniversary. Food was amazing... piano was wonderful and they had a man come around to the tables and play the violin. It was so nice....candlelit dinner. They even gave me a rose. It is a gem. A very special find. We will go back every year for our anniversary. It was that special. Guys wear a coat.I would recommend this to a friend.
- Great Steak!ukneeqDined on 8/22/2014Went for my girlfriend's bday and it was a great time. The service was wonderful and the waiter had a great sense of humor. I had the Ribeye and it was very flavorful. My girlfriend had the lamb chops and it also had a ton of flavor. We both thought the Ribeye was better though.Special Features:
- Old WarsawGunzDined on 8/22/2014I call it like I see it ... This is one of those places you just have to try on your own. Just too say you been there. It's really not a bad. They try to be romantic. It's a little pricey maybe because of the location, maybe because of the wait staff that are wearing tuxedos, or the pianist or violinist on site . Who knows ? The food was okay. The bread server was nice. The waiter was not on the same page, didn't recommend anything even though we asked. Expect to stay here a good 2 hours. Coffee is not on the house if you want it with your desert. No complaints ... wasn't all that impressed. Don't over dress. Everyone is right the place smells funny, but it's an old building (what do you expect). Hope this helps.Special Features:
- The violin and single stem roseKitKatVIPDined on 8/22/2014What a perfect filet! Wanted a lettuce wedge alongside but the awesome Brussel sprouts made upSpecial Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- OpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 8/20/2014Just outstanding. Was there with 2 other couples for Restaurant week and we were very impressed. So much so that I took some business associates there a week later. Service is impeccable. head waiter even recognized me and thanked me for coming back. All were very impressed with food and serviceSpecial Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Special Occasion: 69th BirthdayMendyDined on 8/19/2014We truly enjoyed our dinner at Old Warsaw. Since it was a birthday for my fiancé, I was expecting perhaps a comment or maybe even a special dessert but got neither. That did not take away from the fabulous food. He had a steak, and I had sea bass. The caesar salad was decadent and one of the best i ever tasted. We also had the soufflé and tres leches for dessert. They were also delicious. The piano player was wonderful and added immeasurably to the atmosphere. We had 6:30 reservations on a Tuesday night and found the restaurant very quiet without many patrons.Special Features:
- OpenTable Diner Since 2012Dined on 8/14/2014It was really good, but we went on a Thursday night and at 32, we were probably the youngest people there. Plus, it was a really slow night, so it seemed even more quiet and stuffy. The food was really great though, so it was worth it.Special Features:
- nice but datedTeacher14Dined on 8/10/2014As a young married couple without children we like to try new places and especially on our anniversary. We showed up and our first impression was that we would be the youngest people in the restaurant. The food was delicious, but it is definitely not the restaurant that is set up for the younger crowd. (Mid 20s-30's). It was almost too quiet.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Worst dining experience ever.TortelliniVIPDined on 8/9/2014This restaurant accepted reservations from individual parties on the same night they had a group of 120 people. We brought family visiting from out of town to the Old Warsaw to celebrate a birthday. They sat us in a small space off the main dinning room yet the whole main dining room was empty. We had told our guests about the music and ambience and were excited to share the experience. 30 minutes into our seating this large group showed up. The music was muffled by the load voices, a speech started and the service at our tables and others in this smaller dining area suffered. The restaurant should not have booked individual parties this night. They never warned us to offer the opportunity to book another night. Will not return.
- Old school warmth!TexasrepublicDined on 8/7/2014We took my parents here for their 50th anniversary. Our table of 6 was in awe all night with the food, the service, and the ambiance. The food was superb, and it's so wonderful to actually receive a steak cooked like you ordered it. The restaurant is as it advertises itself, old style quality and service. The restaurant was very quiet and we could actually have a conversation with each other without yelling which is rare these days in new, trendy restaurants. Staff was very attentive without being overbearing, and the live pianist and violinist topped off our experience. Thanks for making my parents anniversary extra special!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Service was awfulNeums24Dined on 8/2/2014Sucked Sucked sucked sucked sucked sucked totally ruined my eveningSpecial Features:
- The following 571 reviews are from the The Old Warsaw reviews archive.


text:
'Mike Du Jour' steps up as temporary replacement tryout for 'Doonesbury'
By Peninsula Daily News
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Most Popular this week
2nd UPDATE — Logger injured by falling tree near Lake Ozette; Forks man killed in earlier logging accident identified by authorities
Sequim resident at fore of Peninsula coastal cleanups gets firsthand look at tsunami devastation in Japan
(Trudeau stopped doing new strips in early June. His syndicate has been sending us only old "rerun" strips that we originally published months ago. For now we've had to use some of these on Sundays. We've been told "Doonesbury" won't be back — with new daily strips — until after Labor Day.)
Beginning today (Monday, July 15), "Mike Du Jour" steps up to the plate, replacing "Candorville," the previous temporary tryout, in our Monday through Friday comics lineup.
Creator Mike Lester calls the main character, Mike Du Jour, a generic office worker for a company called Big Bottom Line Inc., "a combination of Walter Mitty, Buster Keaton and moi."
Readers are invited to give us your feedback on Mike Du Jour by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
Many thanks!
Last modified: July 14. 2013 5:06PM