Bitcoins and the Value of Currency

If you've chanced upon the news today, you might have read something about how a company named Mt. Gox, an outfit based in Japan specializing in the exchange of Bitcoins, is going bankrupt.  Apparently, over $300 million worth of Bitcoins were stolen from the company over the past several years.  If you're scratching your head just reading this, that's normal.  I've barely heard of Bitcoins too before reading the news today.  So I looked it up.  Apparently, Bitcoins are virtual currency.

 

Yeah, that's it.  Virtual currency.  It acts the same way as most other currencies.  You go to an exchange (like the aforementioned Mt. Gox) and purchase using another currency any amount of Bitcoins you desire.  You can then spend those coins on a handful of organizations who accept these things for goods and services.  Also like any other currencies, the price for Bitcoins float according to speculation and demand.  Things were going pretty well for Bitcoins until today's headlines.  They were even going to put automated kiosks in the Vancouver areas so people can freely buy the coins.  But, by now, you're probably not exactly chomping at the bit to get some.  Never mind Mt. Gox.  Who would ever buy a currency that isn't backed by anything except maybe a handful of online retailers and currency speculators?

 

You'd be surprised.  In fact, there are other currencies not back by much of anything.  Want me to show you?  Okay.  Take out your wallet.  Look inside.  What do you see?  That's right, those $20 notes (polymer, if you are lucky) aren't backed by anything either.  Now you're probably saying that's not true. They are supported by the government.  And yes, that would be accurate.  Through monetary and other policies, goverments can control (barely) the value of the dollar.  However, the note isn't isn't backed by anything.  Nothing solid.  Did you know that money used to be linked to precious metals like gold or silver?  It wasn't very long ago (just in the last century, in fact) that you can literally exchange a dollar for a certain amount of gold or silver.  Not any more.  Now, whenever you work those over time hours to get those hard earned cash, there's not much to keep them floating other than a hope and a prayer.  And belief, of course.

 

Growing up in our Canadian society, it's easy to assume that paper currency has value.  Afterall, millions upon millions of people wake up and do this every day.  The either earn it or spend it, and this happens billions of times.  But other than belief of value, there isn't much else to back up the dollar.  This reminds me of a blog I wrote a long time ago on Gamespot in which I questioned the value of limited edition copies of video games that come with codes for downloadable content.  It's one thing to issue a collector's edition like Bravely Default's, where everything is tangible (a set of cards, an art book, a sound track and a collector's packaging) but it's questionable the value of editions typically issued by EA.  For instance, the Dragon Age collectors came with a tine box, a cloth map, and a slew of codes for various DLCs.  I wonder whether or not a 'collector's' edition should include things like DLCs.  Afterall, if it's not a physical object, what's there to collect?  The same goes for avatar items (whether it's Microsoft or Sony).  A real shirt I can understand, but a digital shirt with some designer logo on it I don't.  Not really.  Clearly, there are people paying for these things, and I think if you were to ask any of these folks (myself included) whether or not they see value in their digital purchases the answer would be yes. 

 

Which is why I'm not really surprised… well, not MUCH surprised… when I hear that at it's height, a single Bitcoin was being traded at over $1000.  Yeah, pretty insane, right?  But, given how much we associate value to other virtual goods, or paper money, it really isn't surprising.  Even after the Mt. Gox news, Bitcoins are still trading at $500 the last I heard.  Yeah, it got slashed by half, but half a grand is still nothing to sneeze at. 

 

Either way, you're probably thinking that Bitcoins are a lousy idea.  Virtual currency is untested.  It just doesn't feel safe, espeically after this Mt. Gox episode.  Sure, collector's edition DLCs and avatar items might not be 'real', but anyone see the value in a few extra levels, a few additional weapons, or even a virtual shirt with a virtual designer logo.  But a virtual currency?  Indeed, in its current state, Bitcoins are something only a trader or a speculator could love.  But what if I were to tell you that you're already engaging in a form of transaction very much like Bitcoins?  And likely, you've done so very recently.

 

Ever bought a gift certificate?

 

It's really not so different.  You give up some money in exchange for a medium (in this case, a card) worth the same amount.  Then you use the card to redeem for goods and services.  Unlike Bitcoins, the effect is much safer.  You know for sure, after giving up the money, that noone can steal it from you so long as you, or the person you give it to, holds on to the card.  You are also certain that, done correctly, the exchange of goods and services will work every time.  This is why I actually think Bitcoins are a good idea.  Imagine a world wide 'gift certificate' where you put in some money and you can redeem it for anything anywhere in the world.  In fact, proponents of Bitcoins say this very thing.  It's the most cost efficient way to transfer money because it's all peer to peer.  You don't have to go through a bank or credit card company to do so, and so your fees are minimal.  They just need to shape up the execution, make things safer and offer more stability.  Of course, the big difference here is that Bitcoins are designed to fluctuate in value, depending on the market conditions, while putting $20 into a gift card guarentees you $20 worth of goods.

 

With one exception.  Every shop on Steam?  The charge in USD.  Every bought a Steam Wallet card?  They take Canadian.  Buy a $50 Steam card and you get to use it for exactly $50 on Steam.  I'll let you make the connection.

Tales from a Tank: There's no Such thing as a Bad Party

This might be my last Tales of a Tank entry for a while, so I'll cap off this trilogy on a positive note.  Since I started playing Final Fantasy XIV AAR, I make regular stops on the game's message boards.  Mostly, I just want to keep up to date on other people's experiences and maybe learn something for myself.  Most times, the topics are what you would expect, but sometimes, there will be negative topics.  Things like Tank/DPS/Healer's stink type of topics.  Basically, a lot of horror stories.  I never understood this because for the longest time, I have only been in one bad group.  Surely not the world ending crisis some people make it out to be.  Granted, later on, as the dungeons get tougher, the wheat gets sorted from the chaff but all in all, there are faaaaaar more good groups than there are bad.  Which leads me to say…  there's no such thing as a bad group, only bad group dynamics.

 

To see what I mean from a Tank's perspective, I'd like to share with you something I heard from the top salesman of a sporting goods company.  He told me once, that what makes a professional athlete different from a mere athlete is the ability to compensate.  Whatever conditions are there out in the field, a true pro would use everything in his or her skillset to compensate for the negatives and lean on the positives.  And so it is with tanking.  A lot of these so called bad groups are simply a lack of compensation between one party member to another.  Tanking is hard, yes, but not because of the tools you are given.  In fact, what you are given as a Paladin or a Warrior is more than enough to do your job with.  The rest is all about how you use them.

 

I ran a dungeon once with a Black Mage who complemented me because I can hold aggro while he went on an AOE spree.  AOE stands for Area of Effect, and denotes skills which affect a wide area, and thus, can target multiple enemies.  Using AOEs present a danger to lesser tanks because it's possible to pull aggro away from the tank and onto yourself.  A good tank, however, can compensate for this with their own AOE moves (such as Flash or Overpower).  If a black mage or an archer or a healer spams AOE, simply use your own more often.  In fact, if you use Flash or Overpower at just the right intervals, the crazy AOE spamming DPS cannot, I repeat, cannot, take aggro away from you.  Ever.  I know because I did this.  The opposite is true also.  I was with a group involving two black mages.  I was healing and my buddy C-Rox was tank.  The mages put all the enemies to sleep except for one.  It was literally the most boring dungeon run of all time, as there was no way we'd ever die, but at the same time, the tank doesn't have to AOE as often, and can focus on dealing damage (such as it is). 

 

Though a tank has all the moves necessary to compensate for all sorts of situations, it's important for healers and DPS to realize that they aren't miracle workers.  Compensation works both ways.  If you find that the tank has trouble holding onto multiple targets, then stop doing your AOEs.  For healers, just try to focus on cure rather than cure 2 and for god's sake, don't use Medica if you don't have to.  The DPS can compensate for weaker tanks the same way a strong tank can compensate for all sorts of play styles.  Also, please try not to hit enemies out of order.  Always damage the tank's target.  When a tank is focused on one target, there isn't a hope in hell of anyone pulling that target away (believe me, I tried).  That said, tanks can even compensate for this, somewhat.  I notice that it takes a long time to pull out of order enemies away from a good tank (I know because I often hit enemies out of order if the tank doesn't mark them first).  Even if the tank isn't focused on that target, it still takes 2 or 3 combo cycles to transfer aggro on to you.  That's good news for small mistakes.  Even so, the tank can compensate for this by giving the target of the offending party member a quick savage blade or a skull splitter.  This can be hard to do in the middle of a hectic fight, however.  One of my favorite tactics when tanking just two enemies is to use (as Paladin) Fight or Flight (increase damage), then hit one enemy with fast blade/savage blade combo and then the second enemy with rage of halone, then repeat.  I find that no matter who hits what this tactic lets you keep aggro and do wicked damage.

 

This is why I say there are no bad groups, only bad group dynamics.  Confict usually occurs when someone is too set in their ways.  I've seen so many different fighting styles while doing dungeons but have almost always manage to complete the instance.  There really isn't much right or wrong in the game, just what works.  While a smooth group works best, a lacking group can also be successful provided that party members adjust their tactics accordingly.  Of course, not every problem can be solved in this way.  If someone is a jerk, there's not much you can do.  If someone doesn't know their role, all you can do is educate them.  But if you want to talk game mechanics, there's very, very little (outside of outright sabotage) to trip up a party where at least half the people know what they are doing.

 

So maybe, the next time you are in a 'bad group', the best thing to do isn't to rage quit or call people names, but rather, think about what it is you can do differently to make things work better.  Easier said than done, I know, but it can be done.

Tales from a Tank: The Dungeon of Make or Break

Brayflox's Longstop.  I read a message board post on this FF14 dungeon once, and would like to paraphrase it here: 

 

Brayflox's Longstop is a make or break dungeon for Tanks and Healers.  If you manage to complete the dungeon doing either of the two and you still want to tank or heal, then you know you are meant for the role.

 

The dungeon itself isn't very hard.  The killer is the surprisingly difficult last boss fight against a poison dragon.  The Tank has to do all the planning and strategizing, while the healer has the unenviable task of keeping players alive through the dragon's vicious poison attacks.  The fight brakes down as follows.  The dragon occationally spits poison breath in a straight line.  It can be dodged, but it comes out fast and can be difficult to do so.  The tank pretty much always have to dodge this.  During the second part of the fight, the dragon starts lobbing poison puddles at random players.  If the dragon itself is standing on a part of the puddle it heals.  Again, it's up to the tank to pull it out of the puddle into a clean area.  The darn thing heals FAST, so it's imperitive this be done.  You cannot hope to damage it more than the rate it's healing.  As you can see, it's a very tall order for the tank.  I, myself, have managed to complete the stage with both classes but not without a couple of huge set backs.

 

The first time we fought this beast, my buddie C-Rox (who is a tanking prodigy) was doing the honors.  We had no issues.  On our second run, we switced it up, and he healed while I tanked.  Also no issues but right after the fight, C-Rox says to me:  you have to dodge the breath!  Back then, I had no idea the dragon's breath was so devestating.  It can easily take off 2/3 to 3/4 of a tank's health.  In all honesty, I tried dodging it, but even when I was clearly out of the attack area, I kept getting hit.  After a few times, I simply gave up and stopped dodging.  Miraculously, C-Rox managed to heal me through all that!  When I was literally putting myself in harm's way!  Turns out he's also a healing prodigy.

 

Not being the kinda person to just give up, I wanted to see if I can actually dodge better.  This time, I didn't go with C-Rox.  Big mistake.  Turns out I couldn’t dodge afterall.  Every time I tried to move out of the way, I would get hit, even though I'm clearly not anywhere near the danger zone.  Sometimes, when I run especially far it would work, but 90% of the time, I'd get hit.  This time, the healer couldn't keep up, and we wiped and we wiped and we wiped until the time ran out and everyone went home.  Everyone was very understanding in the group, so there was that but things were about to get worse.  Being a total fool, I went straight back into Brayflox.  The same thing happened.  Wipe, wipe, wipe…. and we beat it!  BUT!  I was dead.  For about the third of the fight, it was the lancer doing the tanking. 

 

The awkward conversation which ensued went as follows:

 

Lancer:  Ha ha, I was the tank and I never even tanked before.  All because the tank can't dodge.

Me:  I did dogded, but even if I do I still got hit.  How do you do it?

Lancer:  Learn to strafe!

Me:  How?  You mean like just move right off to the side?  I did that, but it doesn't work.  (Strafing is the act of locking on and moving, but I didn't know it at the time.  You can still dodge perfectly well without it.)

Lancer:  Then react faster!

 

And with that, I was broken.

 

It was time for some soul searching.  This means hitting the Interweb.  Turns out that I'm not the only one having issues with dodging smelly dragon breath.  This particular attack is especially hard to avoid.  What's worse, if you are lagging online, it's even more difficult to dodge.  That was my way out.  In truth, I have had bad lag for weeks now, every time I play.  For the most part, it's managable.  But it's still not good enough.  If it's lag, I had to PROVE it's lag.  And that means finding some way to speed up the connection.  I've always suspected that the wireless modem we're using isn't up to par.  So the best way to test out the theory would be to connect my PS3 to the modem via wire.  This didn't prove to be overly difficult.  Just needed a very long wire.  With that, I was set.

 

The next time I got the chance, I asked C-Rox to heal Brayflox for me again while I tank, promising him that this time, the breath will be dodged.  Lo and behold, I did!  All except for the very last breath attack before the dragon fell.  I will always remember what he said to me after.  "9/10 dodges is better than 0/10."  And with that, I am vindicated.  It was lag all along.

 

Since then, I have witness more than my share of tanks and healers broken by this notorious dungeon.  Twice have I seen healers unable to keep up with the damage, and twice I have seen tanks fall victim to the same dastardly attack which nearly broke me.  To all the tanks out there who have had the crap beaten out of you:  don't give up.  By hook or by crook you will beat this boss.  Just stay calm, watch the patterns, pull when you have to, and use your buffs wisely.  One way or another, I guarentee you will make it.  You've all made it this far.  There is a great tank within you.  Do not fear, and do not give up.

 

Victory will be your's.

Tales from a Tank: In the Beginning, there was Chaos

Like so many times before, when I first started Final Fantasy 14 (yes, it's another one of THOSE blogs), my first instinct is to roll a healer.  That's was what I did in all other MMOs I've ever played so why not?  But never would I suspect the game would hook me so bad and in the end, playing as one class seems like a waste.  But what to take on next?  How about a tank?

 

A tank, for those not into MMO vernacular, is a character class who's job is to be on the front lines, facing the enemy, and protecting other party members from harm.  With their high HP and defense, tanks are designed to soak up insane amounts of damage.  Almost all their skills revolve around attracting the monsters' attention (known as aggro) and having the enemy attack the tank and only the tank.  In a perfect encounter,  the tank is the only character who will take any damage.  If, by now, you think that's a lot of responsibility, that's because it is.  Tanks, along with the healers, are nearly indispensible.  Since I was already used to the pressures of being a healer (maybe a blog about that is in order), being a tank seems like a natural fit.  So that's exactly what I did one day in FF14.  Just got up, walked into the gladiator's guild (gladiators and it's eventual successor, the paladin, are two of the tank classes in FF14), and signed up.  Little did I know what I was getting into, because….

 

Tanking is hard.

 

I've seen tanking done before in other games, but FF14 takes the role a little too far.  In any given four player dungeon, the tank is in charge (mostly) of the following:  leading the party geographically though the dungeon (gotta know the map layout), marking enemies (which to attack first, second, etc.), engaging the enemy (often called 'pulling'), enemy positioning (facing the enemies with big attacks away from other party memebers), holding onto enemy aggro for dear life (what tanking is all about), buffing yourself (so your HP doesn't sink like a stone and panic the healer) and if the fight wants for it, to watch out for adds (that being enemy reinforcements). 

 

Failing any of the above could get you labled as a 'bad tank' and one of my friends, I'll call him C-Rox, likes to call out bad tanks.  But he has the luxury of being one of the best ones.  It also doesn't help that another one of my buddies, I'll call him Z-man, is a natural born tank.  Between the two, I've got almost as much standards to live up to as the Pope.

 

Still, there was nothing to do but to try and right away things decended into chaos.  In the first three or four runs, I think I must have lost aggro in 50% of battles.  Given that some battles are against very easy foes in sets of one or two, the real error rate is much higher.  It wasn't long into a dungeon before the 'advice' started coming.  'You've got to keep attention away from other party members,' says a party member.  'What do you think I've been trying to do for the past three fights, jerk,' I wanted to say, but instead, I just said 'okay'.  For the longest while, facing off against groups of three or more had me in near panic and more often than not, an enemy or two would always get away.  After these first few dungeon runs, I would consider hanging up my sword and shield and never tank again.

 

(I'm never gonna tank again, guilty feet have got not aggro…)

 

Annnnyway….  the discourgement never kept me down, and I hacked at it one dungeon after another.  Ironically, it was those very same 'bad tanks' that gave me the courage to go on.  Before I joined the tanking pantheon, I too, was very critical of 'bad tanks'.  After having done it myself, suddenly, all those bad tanks weren't so bad anymore.  Everytime I got partied with one of these, I would be reminded of my own follies.  This allowed me to see all tanks as essentially 'good'.   It's just that, some tanks are 'more good' than others.  In other words, I developed an unnatural appreciation of the role, seeing myself reflected back in every single tank, good or bad.  Seeing other tanks make the same mistakes I do meant that I wasn't alone.  There are people out there who do understand.  People like… other tanks!  And, as I learned to forgive other tanks for their mistakes, so too, do I free myself of the mistakes I make.  This is the breakthrough.  This allowed me to accept my mistakes and to keep going.

 

Now, after more than a month, I've lead dozens of dungeons through countless encounters.  Sometimes, I did well, sometimes, not so much.  But I've progressed: going from being a bad tank to a pretty good one.

 

But just when I thought the worse was behind me… just when tanking was getting comfortable under the skin the game throws a curveball in the form of the biggest tanking challenge for me yet.  I think I'll save that story for another blog.

Trojan Horses

With the recent announcement of real, live, actual Steam Machines this past CES and the ongoing Steam Dev Days, Valve has been on in the spotlight for a long time now.  With Steam Machines just over the horizon, I want to take this time to revist some of my earlier theories in light of some recent information.

 

I still think the machines are a bad idea from a console lover's perspective and that hasn't changed.  In fact, it only got reinforced as several manufacturers confirmed that the machines will be aimed at existing Steam customers.  It is all well and good, they say, if console gamers adopt Steam Machines, but first and formost, the boxes would be meant for existing Steam gamers.  Basically, they are asking fans to buy a second PC, this time, for use in the living room.  This makes no sense. 

 

Unless there's something else involved. 

 

I don't have any proof, but I think this has less to do with game boxes in your living room, and more to do with the operating system.  As mentioned in another blog of mine, there isn't a single console manufacturer who boasts about their operating system.  Until now.  I think there's a good reason for it.  Steam is already very large in the PC arena, but as big as they get, they will always be shackled by Microsoft Windows.  If Windows do well, Steam does well.  If not, then not so well.  With PC sales sagging under the weight of smart phones and tablets, Valve is probably worried about their future.  Afterall, they do not have a foot hold in the mobile market.  Which is why they are now creating their own with Steam OS.

 

The living room space is a frontier that hasn't quite been conquered.  Every day is a battle between the Big Three.  Not like the PC, where Windows is king.  There's room here in the living room market to make an impact.  The Steam Machines are a trojan horse for Steam OS.  Sell enough machines, and you will propogate the operating system.  And it's very well possible that the machines will sell very much indded.  Valve recently release new figures.  There are over 70 million active Steam accounts, right now.  Suppose just 10% of PC gamers make the jump to a Steam Machine.  That's 7 million units sold, each one with Steam OS.  To be fair, some manufaturers are installing their machines with both Windows and Steam OS, but not a single machine will ship without Steam.  All of a sudden, Steam OS users would be 7 million large.  Even if only five percent of gamers choose to buy a machine, it's still 3.5 million.  That's right up there with PS4 and Xbone.  Not too shabby.

 

But why is the OS important?  Afterall, Steam OS is based off Linux, and Linux is open source and free.  What does Valve gain?  Well, what does Microsoft gain?  iOS?  Or Google's Android?  The power of incumbency.  Internet Exploerer is the most popular web brower.  Not because it's better than the competition, but because it comes with every copy of Windows.  Both Apple and Google control the app spaces on their iOS and Android with their respective stores.  Can Valve take advantage of this?  Suppose Steam Machines take off better than people would expect.  Every machine comes with Steam OS, and every Steam OS is installed with Steam.  All of a sudden, Valve's got a foothold in your gaming purchase decision, just by being there, by default.  Steam OS itself is a second trojan horse, this time, for Steam the vendor.

 

Right now, Steam isn't included with every copy of Windows nor will it ever be.  The biggest thing about Windows 8 isn't how ugly it looks, but the app store.  It's Microsoft taking a page from Apple and Google and creating their own default vendor with every copy of their latest Windows.  They will never let Valve be that vendor.  But it's too little, too late.  Steam already has a strangle hold on the PC market, and Microsoft's app store hasn't taken off.  Not for lack of trying, however.  But how long will this last?  As MS gears up for another round of dominance with Windows 9, where does that leave Valve?  With the rise of Apple and Android, where can they go? 

 

It's true.  At first glace, the Steam Machine makes very little sense.  But if you were a top player being squeezed by all sides, yet have the numbers to back you up in the foreseeable future, wouldn't you, too, take a gamble on dominance?  To take your own chunk out of a big pie?  Of course.  And if anyone has the means, the will, and the reason to do so, it's Valve.

My Top Five Games in 2013

2013 has come and gone, and the new systems are out!  Now it's time to look back at last gen and pick some games that are cream of the crop.  Here they are, in descending order!

At #5, we have Beyond: Two Souls.  Though not as good as it's predecessor, Heavy Rain, this game still managed to do what most others cannot.  Other games depend on big set pieces, over the top moments, and the biggest bang for the buck.  Beyond, though, is the opposite.  In fact, the most over the top action pieces are the worse part of this game.  The best part are the quiet moments.  What makes this game on my list is how the developers took some of the most mundane moments in life and turn it into an adventure.  Whether it's a girl stuck inside her house on a cold, winter day, or at the party of a teenager, there's never a dull moment, even when there are dull moments.  Totally worth playing just to see these masterpiece sequences.

#4 on the list is Project Diva f for the PS3.  I've played plenty of rhythm and music titles in my day, but none of them feature the sheer amount of great tunes as Hatsune Miku and Project Diva f.  In games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, I always struggle to find good songs.  In the end, out of a roster of 50 tunes, I might only like 5.  In Project Diva f, that number is more like 10, or even 15.  To be sure, there are some outright objectionable tunes, but unlike other music games, they are the minority.  With Project Diva, I can play for hours without getting bored, and I can even play the same song 10 times or more in a row!  It's also fun with friends.  We had a group of four over, once, and easily spent about 8 hours just taking turns playing.  Jpop isn't for everybody, but that's too bad.  This game is a pinnacle all by itself.

I had real trouble with #3.  2013 had a lot of great titles.  Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, GTA V...  Just incredible.  It was tough but The Last of Us takes the third slot.  Thing is, I've played games like TR, Bio, GTA before, but nothing like The Last of Us.  The way it combines action and stealth together is a rareness and the best sequences in the game make use of both at once.  I find that, if a player chooses to use stealth over run-and-gun or vice versa, that player only experiences half the greatness of this game.  The act of being spotted and then having to run for your life is an amazing experience in and of itself.  Oh and the environment!  For once it actually makes sense.  If you're in a forest, it doesn't feel like you're running in a corridor of trees.  It also helps that the graphics are drop dead gorgeous, and the story captivates until the very shocking ending.  Believe the hype.  This game is a masterpiece.

I love a good story, which is why #2 is no surprise.  Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies take this slot.  Though not as good as Trials and Tribulations, DD recovers from the disappointing Apollo Justice outing, delivering a satisfying story from beginning to end.  The 3D graphics are slight below par compared to the 2D counterparts, but it also allows for additional effects like zooming and perspective.  The cases are still as twisted as ever, and will leave you guessing right up to the end.  Of course, a wack load of crazy characters populate this game, and the translation serving all this up is worthy of a Pulitzer.  It's one of the harder games in the series too, and I love that!  The icing on the cake is the $6 DLC.  It's an additional case that took me about 8 hours to beat, possibly longer than the longest case in the main game and every bit as good as the rest.  There is a lot of game here, and a lot to miss if people pass it over!

#1 will be no surprise to regulars of this blog.  That's right, it's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.  For the first time ever, I appreciate and understand what it means to play an MMO.  It's endless, it's daunting, it's a time sink, but I love every minute of it.  It takes top honors because it's a stellar MMO.  The best I've played.  It's got all the modern enmities: a class system you can switch in and out of anytime, a fantastic matchmaking tool, the most involved crafting system I've seen, and tonnes of things to see and do.  There is one thing about this game that surprises me still.  The writing here is top notch!  I don't know who localized it, but every NPC manages to have it's own personality conveyed almost exclusively through text.  There are also some genuine moments in the game too, which would fall flat if not for the excellent script. But it also takes top prize because of what it did to me.  It made me a believer again. For a long time I stopped playing with other people, but with FFXIV, I do that every day.  It's given me hope.  Hope that I don't have to be alone in my gaming. 

And that's it folks.  Here's to another fantastic year for gaming!  Ciao.

A Very Rough Cost Comparison Between Ways to Play

After the launch of the PS4 and Xbone, I find myself frequenting gaming news sites more and more.  I want to see who's in the lead, what the latest titles are and what the public reception has been for each console.  Inevitably, at the end of each article, in the comments section, there will be the usual fanboy wars.  Proponents for both PS4 and Xbone come out in droves, whether or not the news article was for one, the other, or both, there's no avoiding it.

Surprisingly, there is also a third faction joining the fray, and their involvement is also as inevitable as fanboys on both sides of the debate.  In every comments section, without exception, there will always be one, or more, poster(s) with the following comment: "both the PS4 and Xbone suck.  The PC is still the best platform".  I can't help but think that, in a topic which is no business of PC gamers, that comments like these come out of jealousy.  Even the layest person have heard of a PS4 or an Xbox One, but few know the latest graphics cards, or even Alienware.  I think the PC gamers are just envious of the hype surrounding the latest round of consoles.

But they do have a point.  A gaming rig specifically designed for performance can beat the pants off even the current generation of consoles.  But what I never hear, when PC fans boast of their machines, is how much the darn things costs.  Because to do so would clearly give the advantage to consoles.  Something I found out just recently, when my old PC broke down on me and I had to get a new one.

My new PC cost $550, before tax.  You will note that its more expensive than either the PS4 or the Xbone.  And for that price, the performance is modest.  How modest?  So modest I couldn't find more than a single review for my graphics card.  I found a bunch of bench mark results, however, but it only serves to confirm just how modest my PC is for playing games.  The one article on the web says it can play games like Bioshock Infinite, Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3 on low to medium settings.  From there I can make an extrapolation:  the card is probably as good as an Xbox 360 or a PS3, but cannot be good as PS4 or Xbone.  Because if my PC and 360 can run Crysis but presumably the Xbone can do it better, then my PC cannot be as good as an Xbone.  It's a loose interpretation, to be sure, but it's the best I've got.

Now, given that you can get a PS3 or a 360 for about $200 dollars during he boxing day sales, with pack in games, even(!), the PC costs a fortune in comparison.  Granted, you can do more with a PC, but and extra $350+ dollars worth?  I don't think so.  Is the ability to surf the web or multitask really worth the extra $350?  It might.  There's no doubt that PCs are very versatile machines and the older consoles can't multitask worth beans.  So maybe it's worth it.

But let's think ahead a little bit.  If my PC is basically a 360 with a premium of $350, then wouldn't that mean a PC performing up to PS4 specs be $750?  That is, $400 (the price of the PS4) plus the $350 PC premium (for versatility)?  So if you want next gen console performance on PC, you'll likely be spending at lest $750 to $850 on a rig.  Now that's expensive, especially given all the latest PC like features on current generation consoles.  Bottom line:  if you want a good PC, you pay through the nose.

That's something I never hear PC fanboys boast about.

PS.  I'm aware that building your own PC costs less than buying one in stores.  Good for you if you can. But there are more people out there who can't.  In which case, I say, if you want to game for a good price, get a PS4!