Episode 019 What We Learned From Heroes 3, Stack Armies, CCG Mechanics and Server Based Games

In which we discuss Heroes 3, Pox Nora, how the loot crate mechanic is way older than some folks realize, and game preservation misteps when relating to online games.  Also, we get some great emails from Robert, Fred and Greg.

Games discussed in this episode:

Pox Nora for PC and Playstation 2/3

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 for PC

Heroes of Might and Magic 2 for PC

Dualyst for PC

Magic: The Gathering the collectable card game
Doom for PC/DOS

Harvest Moon for SNES

Stardew Valley for everything

Stellaris for PC

FTL for PC

Assassin’s Creed: Origins for contemporary platforms

World of Tanks for contemporary platforms

The Swindle on PC

Mario : Rabbids on Switch

Items discussed in What we Learned this Month:

Blizzard/Activision makes 4 Billion dollars in micro transactions and DLC in 2017 and how this will effect how they perform business moving into 2018.  This accounts for more than half of the company’s total revenue.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-blizzard-made-4-billion-on-microtransac/1100-6456669/

Google and Ubisoft join forces to provide open source game hosting: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ubisoft-agones-kubernetes-dedicated-game-servers-2018-3

ESA pushes back against preservation of online content on servers that are not first party, deeming them illegal in attempt to protect intellectual properties of corporations: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/02/preservation-or-theft-historians-publishers-argue-over-dead-game-servers/

Game Scoop also discusses this on ep 472 link: https://youtu.be/d2ukgTb-RxA?t=35m25s

What we Learned from You Discussion:

Robert writes in about playing games that aren’t designed to be educational but motivate us to explore and learn more about their source topics.

Fred writes in about a video series he created comparing the different version of Resident Evil 2, which can be watched at the link below.  He also talks about mishaps in Resident Evil 7 VR, and asks Stu and Chase if they have an opinion on Assassin’s Creed: Origins and it’s educational mode.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycwc1hdZIl8&index=2&list=PLlLaoX7aLm9-rjtIjnc5T3JarrWgDrRwN

We also work through the rest of Greg’s email from last episode.

Shoutouts:

Lets Play Stellaris on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1hdyL1uHjU&list=PL4hR-M4rl7ud5C2zlI5l_9kX3DRt-uSac

Stu recommends watching this video on Stealth Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuTdMKqzPCk

Check out Gamescoop for contemporary news on games, and IGN in general: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChDyKjO7PB_QuqTTFKKR9Iw

Shout out to Fred Rojas and Gaming History 101 for having me back for another episode and for producing great content.  Link: https://gaminghistory101.com/

Shout out to Robert and Jay at the Classic Gaming Podcast for having me on for ep 100 to discuss my favorite games of all time.  Link: http://classicgamingpodcast.com/