Of Titans and Quests

I don't buy a lot of new computer games. I've been playing them now for well over 20 years, and I really don't feel I need the latest flashiest graphical experience. I want a game that's fun; everything else is secondary.

I also enjoy playing deep and sprawling strategy games; exactly the kind of game I don't have a lot of time to play. As a result, my progress through such games tends to be slow. A game for me can last months.

Titan Quest is something I just picked up. It's best descirbed as a successor game to Diablo 2. It repeats the formula in an ancient Greek setting. As with Diablo 2, the getting of items offers as much depth as playing the actual game.

I won't waste your time by trying to give this game marks out of ten. It's like Diablo 2. You know what that means.

Blood Bowl: New Version, New Game

Hmm, two months between updates. At least I've been busy - though not busy writing blog entries.

Legend Bowl, as the Blood Bowl League I am running is called, is progressing well. Seven stable teams, comprising Orcs, Humans, Dwarfs, Dark Elves, and Halflings are involved. I had hoped for a dozen entrants, but with competing calls on people's time, and only one chance to play per month, seven is what I could get.

The league has given me a good chance to get to grips with the new version of Blood Bowl. In short, it is excellent. Two years in development, and it shows. The changes make the individual matches and the league flow so much better than in the past.

The new version, known as LRB5 has made changes to some key parts of the game. While running, passing, blocking and throwing all remain the same, major changes to skills, team value, after match winnings, and equalising teams has really made the difference.

The new system of inducements, and journeymen players, means that league games do not become unbalanced between the haves and have-nots. Teams that suffer early injuries do not find themselves in a vicious circle with the journeymen rule, and teams of different values are made equal through inducements.

Team value is calculated differently, and is now a meaningful score of a team's ability and experience, rather than the rough guide it used to be.

The smoothness of LRB5 has appealed to old and new players alike, to judge from first hand observation.

This league will finish in October or November, and I'm going to start a second season soon after, and use Chaos Dwarfs in place of my current Orc team.