New article up at Hubpages titled: Online Games: The Future of Gaming?

As the blog post title says, I have a new article up at Hubpages! Here's the link: http://winterfate.hubpages.com/_Winterfate/hub/Online-Games-The-Future-of-Gaming

Basically, I give my own personal reasons as to why online games are poised to become the future of video gaming (some would argue this is already the case!).

Also, I've been looking on the internet for ways to increase the traffic I get to this blog, to my Hubpages account and to my Twitter account. I'd like to say I've been getting positive results, but they've been mixed at best.

Also, since I can't help but mention it in every blog post: There's NINE DAYS left for the release of Fire Emblem: Awakening in North America (I'll be getting it in 10 days!). I think it goes without saying that you can expect me to write some articles about the game, given that I'm hyping so much about it. I also think it goes without saying that my priority is in actually playing the game and not writing about it. :P

So, I don't really have much else to report! Thanks for reading as usual!

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

Path of Exile now in Open Beta!

For those of you in the crowd who haven't played a good action RPG in ages, Path of Exile may be for you. Developed by Grinding Gear Games (a New Zealand company), I feel PoE has the potential to dethrone Diablo 3 as the best ARPG of the world. Seriously, it has many features that Diablo 3 should have had, and people have been calling it a spiritual successor to Diablo 2 for quite a while. Here's some of the things that Path of Exile has that are unique among ARPGs:

• A passive skill tree with 1350 passive skills!
• A barter system for currency. You're not going to be grinding for gold. The items you grind for have inherent value since they can be used!
• Linked sockets and skill gems, meaning that your active skills are a function of the gems you have equipped, and support gems can modify said abilities. Contrast with nearly every other ARPG where classes get skills based on their job.
• Maps allow the player to create additional randomized dungeons with special enemies you won't be able to find in the main game.

I could go on, but you should check out my review at Hubpages: http://winterfate.hubpages.com/hub/Path-of-Exile-A-Review

If you're already playing Path of Exile, then perhaps you are better served by this link: http://winterfate.hubpages.com/hub/Path-of-Exile-Tips-and-Tricks-Helpful-Resources-for-the-Starting-Player

In any case, comments and feedback are appreciated!

In other news, 13 days until I can get Fire Emblem: Awakening! (12 days for the actual release; I'll be getting it a day late because of delivery/shipping date discrepancies in GameStop Puerto Rico...boo!)

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

New article published at Hubpages: League of Legends (lol) - Tips and Tricks for Playing Vi

I wrote up a new hub related to League of Legends about a day ago. It is called League of Legends (lol) - Tips and Tricks for Playing Vi. As the name suggests, it talks about Vi and how you can use her to great effect. I haven't seen her get played as much as I expected (this in spite of the QoL buffs she got in the last patch to both her Q and her E), so I assumed it was because people didn't know what to expect with her. Hence, my new hub. http://winterfate.hubpages.com/hub/League-of-Legends-lol-Tips-and-Tricks-for-Playing-Vi

Besides that, I'm eagerly counting down the days until Fire Emblem: Awakening is released in North America. Ahh, the anxiety is killing me! If you haven't played the demo, go do so. It is so much better than Radiant Dawn that it is almost criminal. Although, to be fair, Radiant Dawn has gotten mixed reviews by many, so there is that as well. I'm still on the Endgame of the first arc of Radiant Dawn (there are four)...but Awakening had me hooked with just the demo! :o

So, that's about it from me for now. Go read that article I linked to if you're considering playing Vi and make sure to stay tuned! ;)

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

Played the Fire Emblem: Awakening Demo!

Well, the demo technically came out on the 17th of January, but I hadn't had time to play it until yesterday. The demo contains the prologue and the first chapter of the full game, and you are forced to use the default avatar for your My Unit. In a curious choice, you are allowed to play on any of the game's three difficulties (Normal, Hard and Lunatic). I beat the demo on Normal, and then tried Lunatic for the sake of it. I'd just like to say that Lunatic is HARD. Brutally much so. The only saving grace is that you can play on Casual Mode (in fact, for the demo you have to), and there is no permadeath in Casual Mode. So, you can have certain units wall for your other units and get through the missions that way as well (even so, my best attempt on Lunaticwas me losing Chapter 1 on turn three). I'm predicting that the most hardcore players will have quite the monumental task ahead trying to do a Classic Lunatic run.

Besides that, I decided to write the first of (what I hope to be) many Fire Emblem: Awakening articles. You may be wondering what I could talk about when the game isn't even out in most of the world. Well, I can still give my own helpful tips and tricks on building your My Unit for the campaign that will await him/her next month. After all, Fire Emblem is a series with a relatively stable mechanics foundation, and a lot of them translate to this newest 3DS iteration.

So, please stop by at: http://winterfate.hubpages.com/hub/My-Unit-Tips-and-Tricks-for-Fire-Emblem-Awakening

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

Free RPG Maker VX Ace e-book promotion done!

Well, let's see: 68 people grabbed my RPG Maker VX Ace e-book from Amazon.com and an assorted few from the other Amazon sites worldwide. It's not much in the grand scale of things, but it's a start.

Besides that, I cleared another episode of Pokemon Conquest! Only...28 more to go? O_o

OH GOD WHAT AM I DOING? :O

Seriously though, Pokemon Conquest becomes a trial of patience rather than skill if you take advantage of Ieyasu's episode to grind. Since his win objective is 100 obtained Pokemon, you can just grab all 17 kingdoms and grind. Grind as much as you like. Buy 5 (or more) of each Evolution item. Get a few Guardian Charms (oh yes, please, grab a few of those; I soloed a kingdom with a Samurott yesterday just because it had a Guardian Charm equipped).

I still have a hideous backlog of video games to get through and Fire Emblem: Awakening comes out on February 4th! AHH! :O

Anyway, thanks for reading, as usual.

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

Check out my first e-book for Kindle today!

As of the time of this post, I have no idea whether the promotion I lined up for my e-book will have started or not. What I do know is that, Monday, January 14 and Tuesday, January 15, you can get a free copy of my e-book "The RPG Maker VX Ace Help Guide for Beginners: Tips and Tricks You Can Use For Your Very Own RPG".

Just look at the left side of this blog to see the link!

Please feel free to grab a copy and let me know how I did! Knowing what you did right helps you build upon what you did for a second edition. Knowing what you did wrong will help you to fix said problems before you release a second edition!

In other news, I wrote up another article over at Hubpages. This one is about the top 5 champions for kill stealing in League of Legends. You might want to check it out even if that is not your inclination, as others around may be into KSing and you need to keep your guard up!

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

Learning How To Ruby for possible scripts in my game development

Well, hello there everyone! I got a book today in the mail called Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. The information it contains is extremely concise and detailed, and is perfect even if you've never touched a programming language in your life. Of course, having a little previous knowledge never hurt anyone.

I'm currently looking over RPG Maker VX Ace's script database and seeing what kinds of things I'd like to add to my game. However, since the meat and bones of my game is already done, I don't anticipate adding too many scripted things. However, you never know. :)

Besides that, I started playing Pokemon Conquest a few days ago, and I have to say that it is pretty darn fun. It's like a lite-strategy RPG for those who don't want to risk the permadeath of Fire Emblem or don't want to spend a long time per quest like in Final Fantasy tactics.

Finally, I've launched my very own e-book for the Kindle related to RPG Maker VX Ace. It's for beginners who want to learn about ways to use RPG Maker VX Ace to do cool things without the use of scripting, so it's definitely not for everyone. However, if you're a beginner, I daresay it will help you out. I wish I knew most of the things I wrote in that e-book when I started!

Anyway, that's about it from me for now!

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

Games For Girls: A Video Game Debate

I recently wrote an article over at HubPages.com titled like the post. Basically, I wanted to touch upon the whole male/female imbalance when it comes to video games. Why do men discriminate against female gamers? Well, during the course of my article, I give my own point of view on the subject. Needless to say, that particular article has gotten a lot of traffic so far! It seems it is definitely a touchy, interesting, or annoying subject depending on who you ask.

Well, I'd like to hear your point of view on the whole situation. So, don't hesitate to visit http://winterfate.hubpages.com/hub/Games-For-Girls-A-Video-Game-Debate and comment today!

Feel free to comment here if you want to give me ideas for what articles I should write. What video games are you expecting for 2013? Let me know and maybe I'll write about them, ok?

Still alive, in case you cared...

So, it's been an awful long while since I've posted in this video game blog. How long, you may ask? Well, just look at the date of this post and then look at the date of the previous post.

To be fair, it's because life caught up with me. I was working at a job until recently and then I decided to quit. Wait, you may wonder, why would I quit a perfectly good job? Well, the job just wasn't doing it for me. I have numerous talents and my job wasn't allowing me to exploit any of them in a reasonable fashion. So, I left. To do what? Well, to do what I love to do: Write articles and continue developing my very own video game. I've kept mostly quiet about my game, as I want to have a nearly completed game before I start talking more about it. Also, I'm wondering whether to have a beta for the game or not.

Anyway, for those of you who have peeked in here every once in a while during 2012, you may have noticed that the little HubPages widget to the left and the one to the right have both been updating. Also, I've been trying to branch out into other categories of articles in an attempt to get more traffic for my writing. Results up to now have mostly been mixed.

What else can I say? Oh, I fell in love with Fire Emblem. Hadn't played any of them and decided to play Shadow Dragon a while ago. Pre-ordered Fire Emblem: Awakening, so you can look forward to some articles from me related to that game come February. Besides that, I've been playing Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, which is just as good as the original ever was.

That's about it from me for now. So, if you want me to actually maintain this blog for real, please give me comments. I feel like I'm talking to myself otherwise.

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)
-Winterfate