LCS 2014 EU Spring W2D1 + EUCS Spring 1 Ro8 - LIVE! ZOMG!!

No idea why I am linking a live event on my blog...but ITS HAPPENING

...well the live event is now over so here is the entire broadcast.

Please still continue to deal with it, thank you.


Watch live video from Riot Games on TwitchTV

Titanfall - Robots shooting you in the FACE

Right in your face...and you will love it. 

Shit is getting real people. It is finally time for me to talk about my number 1 most anticipated game of 2014, Titanfall.

Most anticipated? Really? Absolutely. I love me some FPS games and considered myself at an above average skill level when it comes to then, especially the Call of Duty franchise series. I put days of gameplay into the series starting with Modern Warfare 2 and going through Black Ops 2. Overall, I had a freaking blast playing those games and very little complaints. I just grew tired of the same of old shit. I can go on and on about why I stop playing the series with Black Ops 2, but I will save you from that rant....

My point is that I enjoyed the fuck out of the Call of Duty series, especially the Infinity Ward titles (Modern Warfare 2 & 3). Without getting into the details, Infinity Ward is still around, but all of the main guys left the company sometime during the development of Modern Warfare 3. They got together and started up their own company called "Respawn" and started creating their baby, thats right, Titanfall.

TL:DR - I like FPS games, especially the Modern Warfare Call of Duty games. The same people that developed / created the MW games made a new company and created Titanfall. Titanfall tickles my fancy.... aggressively

Let Me Break This Thing On Down....

This is taken directly from their wiki - Titanfall is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts as an exclusive for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game was officially announced as Respawn's debut game at Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference, and is scheduled for release on March 11, 2014.

In Titanfall, players fight in online multiplayer-only matches set on a war-torn planet as mech-style Titans and their pilots. Its action is fast-paced, including abilities to run on walls and hijack mechs, and extended periods between player deaths. Respawn describes the game as bringing "scale, verticality, and story" to first-person shooter multiplayer gaming, incorporating elements traditionally used in single-player campaigns. The game uses Microsoft's cloud computing services to offload non-player activity to servers and optimize the home computer for graphical performance.

The game won over 60 awards at its E3 2013 reveal, including a record-breaking six E3 Critics Awards, and Best of Show from several media outlets. It also won official awards at Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show. Many reviewers predicted Titanfall to be the next step for the first-person shooter genre, and IGN's Ryan McCaffrey declared the game "Microsoft's killer app".

I highly suggest you check out the rest of the wiki for more information on it.  I am going to touch on some of the main points that I find the most intriguing and have multiple nerd-gasums on the way. Join me!

First Official Announcement Videos

eh...okay

That is pretty much how I felt about it the first time I saw it. Looks interesting. I like FPS games, but I am not aware of a game that has really nailed down Mech gameplay. It just doesn't seem to work. Then the next day they released a gameplay demo. This is when the game got my attention and never let go. Pretty dope if I don't say so myself. However, I am still a little confused if this was footage from single or multiplayer.

Official Gameplay Trailer

I have probably watched this stupid gameplay video over 30 times in the last 4 months and is the main reason why this game jumped to number 1 on my most anticipated games list. I'll let the gameplay do the talking for me.



Fuck. Yeah.

However, I was still confused if we were watching single or multiplayer action. Some of the aspects seemed very much like a single player mission / campaign while others looked like a PvP match. Well after a few months, we finally got our answer.

This game does not have a single player...

Come again? NO SINGLE PLAYER ACTIONZ?!?1?1! Please point me to the nearest internet forum so I may rage and call this the single most retarted thing that I have ever heard...

Or not. I rarely play the single player mode in FPS games in the first place. From my experience they are normally pretty fucking lame with loads of terrible voice acting and plot lines. I think the last one that I played was Black Ops and to be honest...it was only because Ice Cube was one of the main characters lol. 

YEAH E YEAHH EEE!

I am completely okay with this game not having single player if they are using all of their resources to make the multiplayer the best that it can possibly be. To the happiness of thousands, that is exactly what Respawn's Vince Zampella stated in an interview with GamesIndustry

"We make these single-player missions that take up all the focus of the studio, that take a huge team six months to make, and players run through it in 8 minutes," he said. "And how many people finish the single-player game? It's a small percentage. It's like, everyone plays through the first level, but 5 percent of people finish the game.

"Really, you split the team. They're two different games. They're balanced differently, they're scoped differently. But people spend hundreds of hours in the multiplayer experience versus 'as little time as possible rushing to the end' [in single-player]. So why do all the resources go there? To us it made sense to put it here. Now everybody sees all those resources, and multiplayer is better. For us it made sense."

I am SO glad they made this choice rather then push back the game another 4-5 months or worst, rush it to production without it being as polished and smooth as it could have been. 

Random Thoughts...be scared

We are a few months away from this game being released on Microsoft products. Yes, unfortunately this game is an exclusive to one of the rulers of the world, Microsoft. It will be available only on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. 

Since my current plan is to purchase and play this game on the PC, I have been paying closer attention then normal to how the gaming servers are setup and what the end user experience will be. The PC version will be hosted through EA's Origin gaming application and servers. Does this make anyone else have an emotion close to the word "ugh" or "gross"? I don't know, but after I bought Battlefield 4 and witnessed first hand all of the issues that came with it on the PC...I am not excited about this at all.

I always planned on purchasing a next generation console and didn't think anything would really persuade me into not purchasing a PS4. However, I got to thinking and realized that personally, it would be pretty silly of me to buy a PS4 when almost all of the games that I want to play are either on the PC or exclusive to Xbox. Lets go through the list in no particular order shall we? 

• Titanfall - Xbox /  PC
  
• Diablo 3 Expansion: Reaper of Souls - PC / PS4
  
• Watchdogs - PS4 / Xbox / PC
  
• South Park: The Stick of Truth - PS4 / Xbox / PC
  
• Tales from the Borderlands - PC
  
• Wildstar - PC

What do all of them have in common? PC! Why buy either of the consoles? I just recently updated my PC within the last year and while I wouldn't consider it a "gaming PC"...it is definitely a solid gaming rig and will be able to play all of the above mentioned games. Just makes the most sense to me. 

Leaked alpha footage and dat hype video!

I will leave you with these two videos. I recommend watching the hype video first, but you do as you see fit. Until next time people!

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WTFspaghetti

TwitchTV - www.twitch.tv/wtfspaghetti

League of Legends - Journey From Noob to Below Average - Season 4 is Here!

FIFTH Entry

Entry 5?!? Holy balls people. To my own surprise I am still playing this soul sucking game, League of Legends. Now, when I say still play it, I mean I am playing daily PvP matches and watching streams on Twitch of others playing when I am not.

It's official. I have completely been overtaken by the game and it's community. I have even started to make a few gameplay videos on my YouTube channel and I have only streamed LoL on Twitch for the last month. Overall the videos are very basic and to be honest, don't really offer much other then "here is me playing this video game". The plan is to start putting out videos with some sort of information / commentary on them, but the ones I have up now are mostly me just fucking around. The strange thing is that people are actually watching them! Even the super basic, low production, being played by a complete noob, (yours truly) YT videos are being watched. If that doesn't tell you how popular and addicting this game is...then I don't know what will.

Season 4 is Live

LCS Season 4 started this week and you know what I did? I watched the whole F'n stream on Twitch. I was at work as well, so I wasn't able to watch every single moment...but it was on in the background just like if I was watching a a baseball game or any other TV show. Overall it was my first time watching a Professional LCS match live and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It is still very clear that I am a super noob. The announcers, the live crowd, and the TwitchTV chat all seemed like they were on another level and were watching a different game then I was.

I find it very difficult to follow a match when a team fight goes down. Between the announcers yelling and 10 champions health bars on the screen...its tough for me to follow. It all kinda looks like a large cluster fuck. I do realize that the announcers make a big difference and I shouldn't quite judge it yet...but I am not sure how  much a broadcaster change can really help me. All of the team fighting I saw during the EU LCS matches very fast paced and involved ALOT of target switching. It may just be the way it is and maybe once I stop "noob'n it up" I'll be able to follow along a pro game with more enjoyment.

Road to Level 30

It takes ALOT longer then I first realized. The majority of the games that I have played have been against AI opponents and I was well aware that this yields less XP. I thought to myself that if I had just played PvP matches instead of the 100+ AI games that I would already be level 30 and to be honest, I probably would. However, I have probably played close to 40-50 PvP games in the last month or so and I just feel like I will never ever get to level 30. It is a legit grind and begs the question...

How are some people so clueless on how to play when they are level 30? 

I am not trying to be a douche or anything, but from what I have seen from streams and read on various sites, Bronze and Silver leagues are literally filled with players that know less about the game then I currently do. I just don't see how that is possible considering how much of a grind it is to get to level 30. I guess they could have bought XP boosts, but they would still have to play a large amount of games even with the boosts!

Maybe this is just me being a noob and I just don't get it because I have yet to experience the ranked queue. Maybe it is the Internet talking out of their ass (that never happens right?) However, people treat bronze league players that they are COMPLETELY clueless on how even a MOBA game works.

I for one can't wait to get to level 30 so I can actually compare myself to the rest of the LoL community. I still think that I am pretty below average, but that is only MY opinion. The ranking system is in place so I don't have to rely on opinions of myself or others, it does that shit for you. Do you know what doesn't do a good job of matchmaking games for your skill level? Normal games. Some normal games I feel like I am on a COMPLETELY different level then my opponents and then other games I get rolled so hard I feel like I should go back to playing against the AI...

...I mean it is that big of a difference and frankly I am getting annoyed with it. I think overall I am doing a pretty good job of not raging on my teammates and just keeping my frustrating to myself. Sometimes I slip up, but its normally just a passive aggressive / troll comment for the "lulz". Usually when the frustration is pointed at my direction and others are raging on me...I normally just agree with them and tell them sorry. Even if I feel that they are completely off basis.

I am not trying to have an argument with a stranger the few hours a day I get to myself. Fuck that noise.

Review and Improve

There are several reasons why I enjoy watching other, more skilled, gamers play LoL. The biggest of them all is how much I end up learning. LoL is a complicate game to get better at. Due to this, visual evidence of watching others play has been the biggest reason on my play improving. 

As I mentioned before, I have been streaming on TwitchTV and uploading some of the more entertaining games to YT. I stated that I am mostly just fucking around, but it is nice watching your old games to see how much you improved. I watch my Veigar video yesterday and even though I ended up winning the game and had very good stats, I saw SOOO many opportunities to improve. Mostly that I was playing so passively that it almost brought me to rage lol.

It is nice to review games and recognize things that you can improve on that will start helping you NOW. Riot currently does not have a built-in, client integrated replay function but has been working on one...however, there is no ETA on when this function will go to live servers.

The website LoL Replays (third party vendor) is what most people currently use to save their replays. It is legit and has been approved by Riot themselves. It has it's pros and cons, but overall its a pretty good choice.

TwitchTV just makes it too easy for me since I already had everything setup.

Being a better player and in-progress goals

I just read a flipping awesome thread on the LoL forums titled "Tips to being a better player" by Jsp. What a fantastic read and I recommend all LoL players, regardless of skill, to take a look and read it. One of the best reads on the subject that I have come across.

Below are a few goals that I am really going to focus on for the time being.

• If you actively try to improve every single game and set a goal to work towards, The ELO will come to you. Always focus on your own lane and try to improve even if your team is losing their's. You are training for the next possible game and this time it might just be YOU that is failing hard.
  
• Top level players aim for 10 CS per minute. If my math doesn't fail me that is 100 CS at 10 minutes and 300 CS at 30 minutes. At this rate you do not need to kill any champions and still be just as powerful. I am setting my goal at 75 CS at 10 minutes consistently no matter what the situation is in the top and middle lanes. There are plenty of factors that can happen during a game that can throw this off, but if I can hit every game, I should have a pretty good edge on my opponents.
  
• Use smart pings Abuse the smart ping system. Ignore the chat. Stop making that kid's tantrum lose the game for you. Why do you care what that 12 year old kid thinks?  The mute button / feature is there for a reason, use it and make sure it doesn't affect your game. If you really want, disable the /all chat. Your teammates can still smart ping.
  
• Minimap awareness. I think this one has been on my goals list since the beginning. In soloqueue its pointless to assume that your team has your back. Train yourself into looking at the minimap every 30 seconds and after you have mastered that, take a peek every 15 seconds. After awhile you should take a quick peek at the minimap every 2 seconds to watch out for anything suspicious. Examples being empty lanes which weren't pinged or catching an enemy jungler walking towards you. Its always worth it to check the minimap.

HOORAH! We have reached the end and if you are reading this I want to thank you and hope you check out previous articles. Follow me on TwitchTV and Twitter if you so choose. Until next time people!

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WTFspaghetti

TwitchTV - www.twitch.tv/wtfspaghetti

League of Legends - Veigar IS EVIL! Stop Laughing!

Hola peeps!

First off I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope all is well with you personally. 2014 is now here and what better way to celebrate then playing video games and then blogging about it?!?

Is that a short joke?!?

Meet Veigar. He is one of the many champions in League of Legends and is described in game as the "Tiny Master of Evil". He was actually my first champion that I ever bought when I first gave this game a go back in 2011. In every game I am normally drawn to the caster / mage type and Veigar looked like a good fit to try out.

He is super squishy but has one, if not the best, nuke in the game. He is the definition of a "glass cannon" caster. Normally, I don't like that in my casters, especially in PvP game. Knowing that if you make even a little mistake you can be one-shot by anyone is lame, but I don't know...there is something about this little dude that is overwhelming fun. He has a pretty shit early game, but if you can keep pace with your opponents you will completely own them come middle and late game.

I started playing him again and due to the fun factor, pretty much stop playing any other champion. This guide really helped me and the author did a great job putting it together. It goes over everything that you can possible want to know about Veigar and it is currently updated for season 4. There isn't much else I can say that the guide doesn't cover in detail, but here are my big takeaways / tips.

• One of my favorite things about him is that your opponent has to severely slow you in the early game (first 10-15 minutes or so). If not they will pay for it later on in the game. Due to this fact, it is best just to stay by your tower and try to farm as many minions as possible. 
• Veigar's main attack, Baleful Strike, gives a permanent Ability Power bonus if the unit dies. WTF? Yes, you did read that correctly. The more kills he gets with this spell, the stronger he becomes. FYI, there is no AP cap people. Most games you end up with over 1000 AP and this is what allows Veigar to melt opposing enemies' face completely off. It is silly. Try to kill units with this spell every single chance you get.
• The item, Deathfire Grasp, pretty much means your combo will take any champion from 100 to 0. It is crazy good for Veigar and is worth rushing. 
• Bottom lane is a good place to drift to for a gank after you push a wave of minions towards the enemy tower. They are normally more squishy then then the top lane. 

WTFspaghetti proudly presents...

A full game of your's truly playing Veigar against others in the solo queue. I started off pretty shaky and after watching it back noticed several mistakes and things that I could have done differently...but overall it turned out pretty well. 

My end game stats are below the video if you are interested. Follow me on the below links if you would be so kind. Until next time people!

Twitter - https://twitter.com/WTFspaghetti

TwitchTV - www.twitch.tv/wtfspaghetti

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/WTFspaghetti