News: Ashes, Torchlight, Twitch – Blaugust 23

There were a few big news items in the gaming world that I failed to mention, largely because they didn’t mean that much to me, but if I smash them all together perhaps I can make a post out of them.

Ashes of Creation and My.com

The first is Ashes of Creation’s publishing deal with My.com. My understanding is this is a European deal so theoretically it doesn’t affect me anyway.

I don’t like My.com, but it wouldn’t stop me from playing Ashes of Creation. What will likely stop me from playing Ashes of Creation beyond the standard one-month-and-done MMORPG trial period (which realistically now is down to one-week-and-complete or one-day-and-…belayed?) is that I don’t think it’s going to be an innovative game.

By the way, to followup a bit on yesterday’s critical drubbing of New World, I should mention that even if I sound like I hate a game and everything it stands for, it doesn’t mean I won’t try it. I usually try every new MMORPG especially if it’s free to do so, and I’m completely open to liking it. Unless I have to pay for the “trial”-ie. early access-then I’m a bit more wary.

I say that because a lot of people like to declare that they definitely will or won’t play a game years before the game even comes out, in a sort of preemptive strike: I’m saying I will always try a game if it’s free, and I’m always open to playing it when (or if) launch day arrives, and I’m always open to changing my mind about a game on any given day as new information surfaces.

Torchlight Frontiers

Second is the announcement of the Torchlight Frontiers MMO coming to the Perfect World (ARC) family of games.

I’m pretty sure I own both Torchlight 1 and 2, and have played both at some time or another, but neither really hooked me. I previously discussed my general dislike of the isometric-view game format, which covers every Diablo-clone, and every isometric MMORPG. So it’s probably no surprise that I’m not all that excited about a Torchlight MMO. (I’m not even going to call it an MMORPG.)

As I mentioned above, though, if it’s free, I’m sure I’ll try it, but I don’t expect it to ever be anything but an occasionally-if-I’m-really-bored kind of game. (Much like Marvel Heroes was for me.)

Twitch Prime

Third is the pitchfork and torch mob rising up against Twitch for discontinuing ad-free viewing for Twitch Prime members.

I never connected my Amazon Prime account to Twitch, and now I’m really glad I didn’t. I never wanted to in the first place, because that would have been connecting a real-identity account to a game-identity account, which is deeply troubling and weird to me. I maintain a pretty solid wall between my real-life online stuff (which is a lot lower profile now than it used to be, after those fateful years when I stopped being the only person I knew on the Internet, and random friends, family, and co-workers learned how to Google) and my gaming-life online stuff (which is now where I spend most of my online time).

I never saw any real benefit to the customer for connecting those accounts. I only saw the benefit to Amazon for connecting those accounts. I didn’t even know that ad-free viewing was a thing until I read that they were stopping it.

FYI, the top photo is a pair of bucks half-heartedly fighting in my back yard last year (they were going so slow that I wasn’t sure if they were fighting or playing, to be honest). The bottom photo is a fire in a wood stove, a subject I could finally photograph after I bought my first DLSR in 2011.