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We hear about this a lot, as it's starting to become more of a regular thing for game developers and companies and the like to turn their well known franchise into an MMORPG, which I don't really see the problem, if your game is doing well, why not go the extra mile and make something new, well...everyone knows that most MMORPG share the same concept and imagination. Again, I don't really see that as a bad thing, but if one of your favorite franchises is turning to an MMORPG, I wouldn't expect much difference from games say like World of Warcraft etc. I want to talk about a few of them that I have found both enjoyable or looking interesting.

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World of Warcraft

I assume most people know that Blizzard didn't introduce the concept of Warcraft with World of Warcraft, the concept of Warcraft was actually started back in 1994 with the title Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. I often wonder if Blizzard had any idea if their franchise would take off as well as it has over the years. I certainly would't have expect ed it if I were running the company. Anyway, growing up, I came to know the Warcraft franchise as top down real time strategy games. I was actually introduced to the series by Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, which is a great game on it's own, great story, great character development, etc. But of course, at that age, I was curious about the the games that Blizzard had worked on prior to Warcraft III, which led me to somehow get my hands on Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness which funny enough, I ended up playing this one more than the third one. I found the graphics both charming and fun, as well as the gameplay. Of course, that was until the Warcraft III expansion "Frozen Throne" was released, and my time was quickly thrown into that. Fantastic expansion as well. The story was perfect, and to see the fall of Arthas and the rise of The Lich King was truly a remarkable experience to playthrough. As those games really got a lot of play from me, I was given news of an MMORPG being released by Blizzard titled World of Warcraft. I wasn't drawn to it as quickly as other people were upon it's release because I don't think I was hugely into MMORPG's at that age. A week had gone by when I heard about the game and everybody and their mother was talking about it. I wasn't only until a few years ago that I decided to venture into the game itself to see what my experience would be like. I had a lot of fun. And from what I heard, the game was supposedly made easier and leveling was much easier to do then it was at it's initial release. I didn't mind though, I just enjoyed running around with my character finding new loot and killing tougher enemies and bosses as I leveled up. One of these days I do want to get back into it, but as it stands right now, I don't really see any reason to. Fun game though, and definitely one worth playing if you're into a pretty good MMORPG.

Next up we have one that I also had a lot of fun with...

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Star Wars: The Old Republic

I'll get straight to the point, I have always loved Star Wars games. Anything with the Star Wars name attached to it i'll play it. I've played through the old school games like Jedi Knight and Jedi Knight II, all the way to Knights of The Old Republic, and KOTOR II, and Force Unleashed etc etc. All have been great experiences and i've played through them multiple times because they're so much fun. When I heard the Star Wars franchise was being put to the test of being an MMORPG, I was instantly hooked onto the idea and was genuinely excited. Same thing happened with World of Warcraft though. When The Old Republic was released, I wasn't instantly on it like a hawk, I waited a little while until I knew I could spare some time to put some time into the game. When I finally got around to playing it, I did have such a great time. The environments that they built all the way to the character involvement was awesome. The developers did a pretty good job in bringing in the lore and using it for quests etc etc. I don't think there was really any point where I was disappointed with the game. I know that over time they did end up making the game easier for newcomers, but c'mon, not every game can be headache enducingly difficult. I'll happily play this one again when I feel like getting into MMORPG's again as I still do have my copy on Steam, and I don't see that changing any time soon. It's not an official Steam version, but I put the shortcut there so I never lose it. Which that also shows that I haven't played SWTOR since May of 2014, that may change soon as i'm itching to get back into it.

Now moving onto one that I haven't actually played...

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The Elder Scrolls Online

Very cool idea to make Elder Scrolls into an MMORPG. I'd have thought this would have happened a long time ago, but maybe they wanted to be sure they could make it the best they could. Having not actually played it, there's not a lot I can really say about this game other than the fact that the concept looks really interesting. Unfortunately, from what i've heard since it's initial release, the game hasn't been holding up to standards as well as it should. To be fair though, Elder Scrolls games have been notorious to not really holding up to standards with them being notorious for having glitches in their games. But, some people have learned to accept that because it makes the games not only hilarious in some cases, but more enjoyable in other cases. When I played through Skyrim, I did find my fair share of glitches, but it was never game breaking, it was always one that really made the game a little bit more interesting or just plain hilarious. The reason I was put off of Elder Scrolls Online from the get-go was honestly the price. I wasn't really prepared to throw as much money as it was asking for on a subscription base. Perhaps that has changed over time, but I haven't really bothered looking into it. I would like to give the game a chance for myself, but with how much negative feedback it has gotten over time, it's not very motivating to put the money into it and start playing. Again, it really seems like it'd be a cool idea, it's just a shame to hear how poorly it's been doing.

100%
and why I do it.

There have been times where i've been asked why 100%'ing a game is such an important part of playing games for me. Well, it's pretty simple. The developers of the games that I want to complete 100% put all the content in the game for a reason. For me to play it. I know that sometimes 100%'ing a game means I have to do a bunch of menial tasks and side quests that have nothing to do with the story, but having the thought of "it will help me complete the game if I do this" in my head certainly makes it easier to come to terms with the menial tasks and makes them even easier and sometimes more fun to do. Now, i'm not saying that every single game I play I just know right from the get-go that I am going to 100% complete the game, but if it's a game I really like, Fable Anniversary for example, I will do what I can to make sure every quest is done, every side quest gets completed, every weapon gets in my inventory, etc etc. Now, this is just a small reason why I play those certain games the way I do, but one big reason I do is because of one thing...

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(i'm using a Steam achievement list because I use Steam for 99% of my gaming experience)

Achievements! Yes, the wonderful, the lovely, the time consuming achievements in games. Now, keep in mind that not every single game even has achievements involved with it, but man...when they do, I really want to get them all. The best kind are when you unlock them as you progress through the story, that'll knock out almost half the achievements, if not more, just for playing the story/campaign of the game. Others will be more collection based or weird ones like in Fable Anniversary where you get an achievement for getting your hair cut a certain number of times, or you marry 3 people at the same time. The best part about Steam achievements is that it basically tells you how to get the achievement right there in the list, but honestly, it's never the easiest thing to do. Sometimes I just lack motivation, but when the motivation is up, I get going and going. I do have a few games on my list where 70-80% of the achievements are unlocked, and the last 20-30% are just achievements that are so time consuming that I just need to be in the mood to do them.

I do want to say that I think part of why I like to try to 100% games is because I have this weird sense of OCD where when I look at the achievement progress for a game and I see this...

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the OCD fairy in my head just start screaming rude profanities at me telling me to, as the fairy put it..."fill up that ****ing achievement bar". Seriously though, I know it sounds crazy, but I can't be 150% satisfied with finishing a game until that achievement bar is completely filled up. I know it may be sad, but I find it fun and makes the game i'm playing continuously enjoyable for years and years until the achievement bar is completely filled up. And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

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So I went to Target today and bought a 'Double Crisis' biister pack. I was hoping to pull a couple great cards that I've wanted to add to my collection, and I was able to pull one that I've been wanting.

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Team Magma's Groudon EX full art

From what I can tell, this card is not only a rare pull from these packs, it's also worth between 10-12 dollars. Pretty happy to have this as a part of my collection now. I think that brings my tally of Groudon rares up to like...6. I've been pulling different Groudon cards like crazy lately. I'm not complaining as Groudon is one of my favorite rare pokemon in the TCG and video games.

I take it that the Star Wars game month is just about games and nothing else from Star Wars?

There'll be some facts and things but yeah, it'll mostly focus on the video games.

I knew you weren't going to go crazy like Trollheart would or anything :D but I guess linking them into the Star Wars time chronology would be a good idea.

I'm thinking what i'll try to do is when I talk about certain planets that I've enjoyed in the games, i'll make sure to add the surrounding planets that you'd find in Star Wars lore, and things like that. There won't be a whole lot of connections between the movies and games etc, but if something is factual, i'll obviously touch on it a bit more.

I'm assuming this will include Rogue Squadron, X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, KOTOR 1 & 2, and the Dark Forces series?

I'm going to do my best, but the Kotor series and Dark Forces are for sure going to be included.