The Guild Hall

Sometimes, after a long night of levelling, raiding and slaying countless Horde I sit back and think of what else I want to see in World of Warcraft. I think of little perks and massive changes...I think of...the Guild Hall. For those of you who have watched the internet series The Guild you may remember certain episodes featuring the introduction of the Guild Hall into the MMO that the characters in the series play. If you haven't seen it, then here's one episode below (it's less than 10 minutes long, fear not).

Ever since I watched season 4 of The Guild I have always wondered what WoW would be like with the introduction of Guild Halls to the game - places where guilds can meet, hang out, store items and customise the appearance of the hall to suit them. Of course, it would be a pretty big task and with the millions of people playing WoW it might be a little difficult, but there are other MMO's such as Runes of Magic that allow you to have your own home, and rumour has it that Elder Scrolls Online will be the same. Why not have a little haven where you can escape the deadly lag of Stormwind and the endless gold trolls on Trade Chat? Of course it would cost a fair bit of gold to actually craft a hall and the guild would have to be level 25 in order to unlock it in order to keep some order, but it would be well worth the effort.

It might be a big thing to ask, but if Blizzard did this I would be so happy - it might make up for the Pet Battles and various changes that are to come in Mists of Pandaria. What do you guys think - do you like the idea of a Guild Hall or are there other changes you want made to WoW?

Valhalla

LEAD THE REBELLION!

It's time to rebel, to rise up against the tyrannical King Logan - also known as your thin, pale and generally sickly looking brother. In Fable III it's all about rebellion and leading an army to restore Albion to its former glory. This is the story of a prince (or princess) and their journey to becoming the ruler of Albion.

You start out well enough - woken up by your butler, dressed in the clothing of your choice, it's all very relaxed and peaceful. You go and meet your girlfriend (or boyfriend) in the gardens, you fool around a bit and then suddenly your calm and easy life is shattered right before your eyes. There are protesters outside the palace, yelling about the cruelty of Logan and how he has changed over the past four years of his rule. It is then that you are called to the throne room where your brother forces you to choose - send a group of protesters for execution, or your love interest? It's a difficult choice, but it has to be made. Once you have decided who dies, your Mentor, Walter, informs you that you must escape the palace along with your butler, Jasper, and your dog.

You have to agree he looks pretty unwell.

Once you've escaped your journey begins. It is you who must gather the armies together to fight against your brother in order to repair the broken cities and civilisations that live in Albion. Starting from the mountains way to the East of the palace before moving down to the city you will earn the respect and following of the people of Albion. The game is filled with personal choices on what you do, choices that can make your character good, or turn them into evil future rulers. With every quest you do and the enemies that you kill you collect Guild Seals which allow you to buy new skills and emotes to use with NPC's and other players, as well as allowing you to unlock the gates on The Road to Rule - the road leading you to the palace. It's not a particularly long game, the storyline is very linear which allows you to complete the story pretty quickly. However, there are loads of side quests that you can do too, meaning that you can either take longer to complete the game or do them once you've finished.



The controls are pretty easy to get the hang of, it's nothing drastically different from every other games. It's a simple game to play which allows for relaxed gameplay. The co-op features are excellent - you can complete the whole game whilst playing with your friends, I did it on XBOX live. You can enter business contracts with your friends, allowing them to buy/rent properties in your game (you share the money earned), you can marry the other player and even have children with them. It's a lot of fun, especially with the different interactions that are available to you. I have to say it's on of the best forms of co-op - gaming can be so much more fun when you're playing with your mates.

The graphics aren't amazing quality, and I know it's a slightly older game being two years old, but they could have been better. Regardless, it doesn't take away from the great storyline. There may have been a few parts of the main story that I found a little disappointing, such as the length of certain battles during the game, but you can never have a perfect game. Despite the few flaws it is a fantastic story and allows for really great, enjoyable gameplay. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Fable III from your local game store. Partly because it's a great game, but also as rumour claims the next Fable game will allow you to merge your Fable III save with it - but more on that later, watch this space...

Valhalla

Pokémon Black and White 2

I've said it before - whilst the Pokémon in Black and White were lacking creativity at best, the game really made me think about the morals of keeping Pokémon in tiny little balls and using them in fights for money. With this in mind it was with great interest that I delved deeper into the sequel of the most recent addition to the Pokémon saga...

According to my sources the  game is due for release in Japan later on this month, with us Europeans seeing is towards the end of August/early September. The story will begin two years after the end of the previous game and will be in the same region as before - the Unova region. A mysterious icecap has covered parts of the region, leading to new cities and gyms forming to replace the ones that have been captured. There are two new conformed gym leaders - one who appears to be a rockstar of some kind (I would assume he uses electric Pokémon) and another who seems to use water-types. It would appear that Team Plasma are still wandering around and will likely serve as the main villains again. You'll have a new rival and apparently new playable characters too - something which I find highly intriguing. It looks like you can play characters that aren't traditional looking Pokémon trainers. However, it's hard to say. Many of the routes have been altered or changed drastically, making the area a lot different to the previous game, most likely so that it does not appear repetitive. You will begin the game in an area of Unova that was previously unreachable - a town called Aspertia in the South West.

The Pokédex is different too. Instead of starting of with a regional Dex of 150-200 Pokémon there will be 300 available in the region - most of which are Pokémon from other regions such as Psyduck and Mareep. It is the largest local Dex yet - the National Dex is sure to be massive.

There is also a new minigame known as the Pokéwood in which you will participate in the filming of a movie. Seems like an interesting idea. There is also the Pokémon World Tournament which will allow you to battle gym members from previous versions of the game - leaders such as Brock and Misty (I was very pleased to hear this).

Have a quick look at some of the official gameplay - it was unavailable in English but it gives you a good idea.

It's said that it will be released on DS, so those of you fearing that Pokémon would only be on 3DS from now on you can let out the breath you've been holding for the past year or so. Looks like things are going to work.

Whilst there is little information on the game out there, what I have discovered has been incredibly exciting. Being a Pokémon fan from pretty much the beginning, I can see myself buying this game. I love the Pokémon games too much to say no.

Valhalla

8-bit Masterpiece

Those who know me would tell you that I hate Minecraft with a burning passion, that the idea makes me angry and the gameplay is confusing. I was a fool.

Yesterday, our anti-gamer invited me to his Minecraft server to try the game out. I was reluctant, but I gave it a go. I bought and downloaded Minecraft, thinking I had probably just wasted £16.95 of my hard-earned money. I was so wrong. So very, very wrong.

Minecraft is amazing. I've never been against 8-bit gaming, I just found the whole concept to be somewhat stupid. However, when the anti-gamer showed me the world he, Devinity and co had created my mind was changed. In Minecraft anything is possible, any structure can be built. It's just a world of possibility, limited only by your own imagination.

I said before that I found gameplay confusing. That was just me being a n00b. I just hadn't received the proper instruction. After around 15 minutes of me being generally n00bish, I got the hang of how to work the game and I was chopping down trees and crafting materials - it was fantastic. After killing Devinity's cows and getting my revenge on the anti-gamer for setting a load of monsters on me, I realized what I'd been missing out on every time I had declined a request to play Minecraft. It's a great social and creative game.

Not my creation - Fraps didn't save my screens. But it shows you what you can do. 

Once the multiplayer server had been turned off for the evening, I decided to go solo for a while and see what I could do with my new favourite game. I played for a couple of hours, messing around with the tools and materials, until I eventually built a house. It may not be the greatest house, but I was quite proud of myself. I built it on the cliff facing the sea for that scenic look and outside I built two pens - one for my pack of wolves and one to house my cow and sheep.

There are several game modes that the anti-gamer showed me during my lesson on how to play Minecraft, all of which were very interesting. Survival mode was terrifying - mainly because he released a whole bunch of monsters and set them on me. I decided that mode was a little much for now as I was killed instantly by the creepers and zombies that were mauling me. Creative mode was definitely better, being able to fly and such made travel easier, and the full inventory was useful, even if it did take from the fun of mining for materials. Of course, if you want to play for free then Classic is available - it just isn't updated anymore.

Minecraft is a great game, and I honestly don't know why I hated it so much before. You haven't gamed until you've sat down on Mincecraft. You can get it for PC and XBOX so don't hesitate, visit minecraft.net now.

There are those who were ashamed of me for converting to Minecraft, but I can only say they haven't yet seen the light. I found my newest addiction.

Valhalla