PCGP Episode #199: Cigars and Swords
Every PC Gamer reader knows who the cigar wielding RPG expert Desslock is. Now get to know his voice as he talks in-depth about Dragon Age: Origins. Along with the RPG talk we wonder what will become of Modern Warfare 2 and WOW’s charitable pet sale.
November 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I win again and again nothing. Desslock sounds just how he looks…Manly
November 5th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
It’s amazing hearing the voice of the man himself for the first time since I began reading him nine years ago.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Yea exactly Vagabond.
I think it was early 2000/2001 when I e-mailed him after reading his “Alternative Lives” column, where he wrote about some of his favorite fantasy novels. He mentioned just about everything except for the Magician books by Raymond Fiest.
When I wrote to him about the Raymond Fiest books, he replied back almost immediately, saying that while he had forgotten to mention them in his column, he did think highly of the writer.
This was a time when the internet was still new and podcasting was still a twinkle in Steve Jobs eye; the almost immediate gratification of getting a reply from a video games journalist was quite new.
Anyway, ever since the PCG podcasts became a thing, I’ve been waiting for Desslock to come on. I am a massive fan of CRPGs, and Desslock’s columns have always been the most interesting to me.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:52 am
OK just started listening to the podcast… is it just me or does Desslock sound like some wrestler from Canada?
I propose Desslock become a podcast regular.
BTW, Dragon Age seems to be selling really well so far. Let’s hope it has the legs to hold off Modern Warfare 2.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:04 am
O.k., I have to admit that I had high expectations because I’ve always wanted to hear Desslock talk about games, but this podcast was amazing, and Desslock was fantastic. He sounded as smart as I expected, and was also funny, and I thought the Q&A was excellent. Thanks for contributing, Desslock, please come back regularly!!
November 6th, 2009 at 4:42 am
Blizzard just keep on ruining WoW with their bullshit and they’ll probably do the same with Starcraft, they’ve already split it into three games to milk us.
I’m loving Dragon Age but what I’m seeing now is it’s really hard and that’s putting me off playing because it’s not fun hard but a really annoying repetitive keep dying hard. I dunno how long I’m gonna stick with it cause it starts off amazingly and like all Bioware games the story has gone to crap and the games opened up and become abit boring and longgggggg. I’m also getting fed up with the combat because it’s constant pausing and controlling 4 characters. I really just want to play with one character like torchlight or Diablo 2. It’s a good game at the start but it’s wearing thin for me like Mass Effect it started off well and then I ended up hating it. I also hate not having a Jump because I keep going to jump and it pauses the game lol.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:56 am
http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2009/11/dedicated-servers-and-rage-news-you-probably-dont-want-to-hear.html
:(
November 6th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Hey guys, great podcast. I’m loving Dragon Age; I played a little of all the origins before I decided on one; and it was almost a coin-flip between the Human and Dwarf Noble, but in the end I settled with the Dwarf. I think this is the first time; I’ve ever played as a dwarf.
I also thought that the Magi origin was the most “Baldurs gate” of the lot. It really reminded me of the beginning of the first BG game.
Also- got anything qued up for ep.200? The podcasts have been such a high standard recently that it’s barely an issue!
EDIT: wow I really have a bit of a semi-colon fetish….
November 6th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Just Be, you know what else I am getting fed up of?
Dude, do you actually like games?
November 6th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Not far in Dragon Age yet but I’m also loving it. I do agree with some of the criticisms about the engine, though — the “invisible walls” in the outdoor areas are kind of jarring. Maybe for the sequel they could use the CryEngine . . .
November 6th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Yeh and it doesn’t feel like a world which I loved about Oblivion cause you were given this map and free to explore. I’m playing in top down mode myself cause the game feels like it was made for that kinda play. However I’m finding the controls for it to be rather odd cause you can’t move the camera around freely far enough to see whats in the distance. So I have to switch to third person mode to target the enemies and see where the quest objectives are. It’s like Fallout 3 where you couldn’t use VATS or First Person Shooting mode all the time so you had to use both of them which was annoying if you want to play just one style.
Torchlight will probably get my GOTY which is odd cause I never even knew about it until it launched and just love it cause it’s the only Action RPG to come out that is worth playing after Diablo 2.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I think it was probably a gameplay desicion to limit the isometric view so that you didn’t play in it all the time, but it is kinda annoying that you can’t really see very far. But it was the same in BG1 and 2 and you can scroll the camera around.
I reckon we should start the “Boycott PC gamer if Dragon Age isn’t goty”.
Kidding
November 6th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
man, even though I’ve always thought CoD series was dull, I’m also feeling offended for the way IW is dealing with the PC port.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
btw, Just Be, i suggest that you think about the game like an MMO 5-man party tackling mobs, and pre-planning your strategy on handling the encounter before you go in. Also, if you’re good at RTS like Star Craft, trying to play Dragon Age in isometric view and utilizing your micro skills would help you make it more fun-hard than dying-a-lot-hard.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Just too late for the podcast I guess: http://bit.ly/3X9ce5
And here I thought GTA IV was the worst port ever..
November 6th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
If you want to catch Desslock on another podcast, he was a guest a while back on Three Moves Ahead, a strategy game podcast where he was there to discuss RPG elements in strategy games:
http://threemovesahead.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=526969
Its a good podcast on its own, BTW.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:55 am
OK this Dragon Age DLC is getting ridiculous. This is absolutely absurd. Apparently, at some point you come across some quest giver, who tells you that to proceed, you must buy more DLC?
That is totally unacceptable, and breaks the immersion factor completely. It is just bullshit. They can’t create DLC for a game when they haven’t even completed the game yet.
What happens at the sex scene?
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE TEH BOOBIES PLEASE CLICK TO CHARGE $20 FOR TEH BOOBIES
*click*
THAT IS ONE BOOBIE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SECOND, SLIGHTLY BIGGER AND EVEN BETTER BOOBIE, PLEASE CLICK AGAIN TO CHARGE $20 MORE
*click*
GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR BECAUSE YOU ARE THE BOOBIE
November 7th, 2009 at 7:42 am
About the airport scene:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/11/06/poster-claiming-be-iw-dev-weighs-mw2-furor
“This jibes with a higher-resolution video of the level in question that is currently on the MapModNews website. This version of the video actually shows a player shooting a civilian in the airport. The action immediately stops and a warning in German pops up on the screen, “Sie haben einen Zivilisten getroffen. Vorsicht beim Feuern!” Google translates this as “They have taken a civilian. Be careful when firing!” While certainly something is lost in the translation there, the fact that the level restarts when you shoot a civilian certainly implies that you are merely an observer in this mission.”
I read the German as “You’ve hit a civilian. Watch your fire!” but the intent is the same. So as you guys mentioned on the podcast, playing as a CIA op you can’t really shoot people, you’re just along for the ride.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
@ Pugnate, It’s not a main story quest, it’s just a side quest where the quest giver is already in the game, ready to give you the quest when you buy the DLC. And no one (I repeat no one) is going to pay $20 to see “teh boobies”.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Lord, you are missing the point. Side quest or main quest, breaking the immersion like that is just unacceptable. It just takes greed to another level.
As for no one wanting to pay for “teh boobies”… that’s highly perceptive of you.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Wow, finally Desslock on a podcast. Awesome.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I dunno, I haven’t actually encountered the NPC yet. Does he actually say that you have to pay for it or does a window pop up?
November 7th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I could play devil’s advocate and prove Dowzen wrong on the paying for “teh boobies” but I’d rather say Dragon age’s DLC model is terrible…. On another note, does anyone know if DLC is planned for Borderlands? it seems like a game that could benifit greatly from a few added areas and weapons (even though there’s 83 gazillion currently)
November 7th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
@Ride - Yes, and it IS coming to the PC. http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/50830/Borderlands-Zombie-DLC-Announced
November 7th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Thanks Dan, just finished the campaign, no zombies so it looks like this is all new stuff. I might get it, I ended the campaign at lv 37 hunter (survivor) with about $2,500,000 the ending is pretty weak, and I wouldn’t recommend it as a single player game. Also be prepared to force quit the game or let it sit for 10 minutes just for the credits to roll.
November 8th, 2009 at 8:19 am
There was a nice interview with Jeff Green on the new 1Up podcast. He said that Dragon Age for the PC is doing very well for them, and that their digital service is also doing a lot of business. He also said that EA is not abandoning the PC market at all and they make a lot of money off of the platform. I thought that might be something worth mentioning with all of this MW2 hoo haa.
November 8th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Thats why I like EA now because they’re supporting the PC platform a lot better than they used to and other publishers. I just wish they brought their games to the UK on Steam last year rather than a couple months ago cause now I’m broke and can’t afford to buy them.
November 8th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Yeah the quest giver in your party camp that offers DLC was a little jarring, but its actually a brilliant way to integrate the DLC content in with the existing world, when it often feels like a separate mini-game of its own. It broke the immersion, but not in a way that I felt had a large negative impact. After the first time, you know to just avoid that NPC unless you’ve decided to buy it, its not like unavoidable spambot NPCs are popping their heads around corners constantly.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
The Dragon Age 1.01a patch among other things makes the game easier on Easy and Normal difficulty. It does improve it.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Wow scary another one of my predictions for this year came true. WoW’s population dropping.
Scary scary.
Granted I was joking when I made those predictions. But yeah…Maybe I shouldn’t make predictions anymore?
November 9th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Or maybe you should predict that you are going to win the lottery?
November 9th, 2009 at 7:27 am
http://bashandslash.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=787&Itemid=111
As you may be aware, our very own PST*Joker has made assertions on BASH that the MP AC130 and several other MW2 features were influenced (without any recognition) by him and other PC modders.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
omg
November 9th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
It’s coming…
November 9th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
That’s right, this week is Episode 200 isn’t it? Would you go as far as to say it’s going to be cat-fantastic Logan?
November 9th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
11.12.09
November 9th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
AURRGHHH!!! Is that 12th of November, or 11th of December?!!?!
November 9th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Americans do Month Day Year where as us in the UK do Day Month Year.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
It’s going to b3$*-0A00xx0..000000000 [FEED TERMINATED AT SOURCE]
November 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
geez logan they’re cutting you down tight aren’t they?
November 9th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
The guy from podcast #198 that threw the lan party also runs the site lostvectors.com a lot of people will know him from the bowmaster games. go over there and check his site out. I think he’s on a break atm but I enjoy reading his dev log (cause I’m fucking weird)
November 10th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Now _here’s_ the CoD everyone’s been waiting for: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare
November 10th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Whoa. I totally did not expect Evan to slap MW2 like that. Props to PCG. I was also surprised Dan didn’t defend IW and Activision =). Activision is officially replacing EA as the Evil Empire.
EA cannot be labeled the Evil Empire anymore when they ship Dragon Age with just an disk check DRM. Props to EA. I am totally fine with buying EA products from here on out.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
One cannot defend the indefensible.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hmm after seeing the link Just Be posted I’m starting to think that Activision, the publisher, is pushing for the “no dedicated servers” thing in these games. It’s probably just a coincidence, maybe…maybe not.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
My friend got the game even though I told him not to and he says they don’t show ping numbers but only the stupid annoying bars and they’re always yellow and red. He said it’s very inconsistent where sometimes you’ll have a game thats fine and then the host will drop out and it connects you to a different host and then it’s all laggy. He said you can only have 6 v 6 or 9 v 9 games max which obviously sucks cause you could have up to 64 on COD 4.
For me the main problem will be that without dedicated servers theres no community and in games like CS or TF I’ve gone to the same servers for years and made friends with clans and stuff. I know I can go to them servers and have a lag free experience thats fun.
In games like Gears of War which also had no dedicated servers there was no feel of an online community and it died pretty fast. People hosted the connections from their own computers so if you lived in Australia then you were screwed. you could start up the game and there would be no one playing so you’d leave. However if there were dedicated servers then you’d start up and see people on that constant running server and join them and the community would build up from there.
I just wish Dice were making BF3 and not BC2 cause with a BF3 you know you’re gonna be getting a game that’ll last a few years before the next one. So you can invest in that game where as BC2 there will be another BF game out next year that’ll kill it off and that would make me feel ripped off. you know if BC2 was called BC and was the first one then I might expect a solid FPS to last years. However BC2 just sounds like another side project from them and it’ll be overlooked.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:20 am
I’m quiting PC Gaming now and going to focus on my Guitar and Motorbike, them things never change and will always be the same. Frigging had a love for gaming since I played that Stealth Fighter game in 1987 (I think it was) and frigging loved PCs ever since.
However ever since the 360 launched PC gaming has turned into a bunch of noobs and casual gamers trying to change our experience. It’s like I’m sorry you ain’t coordinated enough to use a mouse and keyboard at the same time so fuck off back to consoles and stop trying to change my platform. I don’t buy a console and try to change their experience so why are all these fucking noobs changing ours.
I loved the glory days of when CS was launched and there were no fucking noobs on the internet. Everyone was good at the game and real serious but then this new generation has taken PC games and changed them into console games and ruined them for the PC.
I’m just fucking sick of it and the way PC gaming is going, I’m finding it hard to like games these days and just gonna quit from gaming like most of my friends have done now because theres no good games anymore.
COD MW2 is a sorry excuse for a PC game and yet all the fucking console tards are loving the matchmaking service cause they’re tool stupid to use a server browser. I’m so dumb I dunno how to work out what ping numbers mean so I need the stupid coloured bar system.
Gaming was superior to what we have now and even tho tech has become better developers are just getting greedy and want to milk everyone. So instead of giving us a good deep customizable experience they dumb it down so they can charge for every little addon. Most people got into the gaming industry via mods and they’re taking that away and we’ll see where their good ideas come from cause MW2 just ripped them off modders.
Even Blizzard butchers WoW just so they can charge extra money from people who’re completionists. Frigging gone are the days when mmorpgs were pure virtual worlds where the developers didn’t want to break the worlds rules. Now it’s Micro Transactions for everything and noobing games up for the console tards.
Sick of it and just give up on gaming.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I’m disturbed. I’ve been playing DAO for about 17 hours and I haven’t hit 15% done yet.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Is the completion rate cumulative across multiple playthroughs? Where’s Desslock after his 130+ hours?
November 11th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Like I haven’t heard that before, Just Be. Is this another empty statement and rant or is it for real this time? (read: are you going to stay ro are we going to party)
On DAO I would assume it;s all content, because there’s a achievement for seeing all endings. the % probably means all content, secret or not, where a normal playthrough won’t get you all the way there. This is just on speculation, however, as I haven’t been able to buy it quite yet. I think I’ll have to wait until after the holidays…
P.S. to the PCG crew I loved your holiday gift guide in the new issue, some great ideas for some of my non-gamer friends as well! I especially liked Logan’s pose amongst his choices, it looks like that Neural interface is zapping his brain energy.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I’m hoping it’s over multiple playthroughs (its what it says in the journal) but I’m not sure how much the different endings and different ways of doing quests would count for. Problem is I’ve got exams right now and juggling DAO and study is difficult. Saving an ancient land from Darkspawn’s more important than going to university, right?
November 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
It’s unfortunate you’re quitting PC gaming an episode before Episode 200!
November 11th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
IT’S ALMOST HERE
http://bit.ly/3tVm2m
November 12th, 2009 at 1:45 am
The kitty picture tells me that Ep 200 might be cat-related somehow. Fox-senses tingling.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Dan S.: “One cannot defend the indefensible. ”
You’ve obviously never watched Fox News.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
It’s 11.12.2009; Do you know where your podcast is?
November 12th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
it usually isn’t up until later, firefox, or maybe I’m just remembering wrongly, or maybe I haven’t been sleeping I don’t know, but as long as it’s here before 11:59:59 tonight I can forgive them
November 12th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Maybe the Catfantastic went horribly wrong and Dan killed Logan over one of his questions with more than one technically right answer.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
TicTocTicToc Meow????
November 12th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
or maybe Logan’s Neural interface malfunctioned, becoming sentient and taking over the office
November 12th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I think it’s Logan’s and Dan’s neutral interface.
LODAN.