Two Gripes and a Fun

It's time to get all crotchety and cranky about gaming related gripes--oh, and to celebrate something fun.  I took a week off to celebrate the fourth of July with family, but I'm back and have had time to contemplate something that happened just prior to my little vacay.  I hope everyone else is having a relaxing summer and has had a chance to enjoy some quality down-time (even if you don't celebrate the fourth of July--which IMO is overrated...but you do get time off work, so cool!).  Now, let's get the crabby, griping going at full tilt!

Gripe #1:  "Always Online" is a PITA!

If you're one of the die hard Diablo IV players you were probably aware of the issues that happened (now a couple of weeks ago) when poor Blizz was Ddos'd and folks couldn't get logged in.  Of course this resulted in a lot of angry internet rage because people couldn't play as a result (understandable).  Blizz did manage to get the issue under control somewhat quickly.  I, as someone who is not playing Diablo IV, was not impacted by this event, but was impacted by something that I have a feeling was related.  I was happily tooling away with a new Commander Shepard in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and decided to take a break and do some other stuff.  When I returned to the game, I found that I couldn't get logged in!  Apparently, EA's log-in server system was having issues (I strongly suspect that it could've been tied to the Ddos attacks--kiddies got shut down on Blizz so decided to turn their ire onto another favorite target of online hate).  The issue was fixed within an hour, but it was nonetheless irritating.

Why, oh why, do single player games need to have ANY online requirements?  This is one aspect of gaming that I desperately wish would go away.  If you want to play co-op or multiplayer games--you need that online aspect, but for single player games it just feels like an annoying way for developers to gather data for free (which could be a good or bad thing).  In the long run, most down time is brief, but why should people be prevented from using something they've paid for just because they need to be online?

I just wanna MELE!

Gripe #2: Launchers within Launchers.

My issue with ME also brought up another irritating aspect of gamine--the fact that most games are now sold through digital storefronts that are tied to multiple developers and all require their own launchers.  Part of my issue with being unable to play ME was related to the fact that Steam was working just fine, but in order to launch it I also needed to go through the EA app (which wasn't working at the time).  I'm so tired of the multi-launcher nightmare that has emerged.  I just want to log-in to one thing!  (And I know that GoG has their own "single-launcher" system, but to me it just feels like basically the exact same thing).  And this is directly related to the "always online" issue!

Alright, I'm done griping now.

Fun:  The Steam Summer Sale is in full swing!

Steam sales are definitely the highlight of the gaming year and I've been eyeballing my wishlist and trying to figure out which title(s) I might want to snatch up.  So far I haven't bitten, but I will probably grab something by the end.  The only recent purchase I have made is the new DLC for Powerwash Simulator--the Spongebob Pack (which I will write up next week).

For now, enjoy perusing those sweet, sweet summer sale deals and try to avoid the angry, cranky feelings when stupid online requirements break things.