Tag Archives: Gaming

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Overwatch- Stage 1, Week 2

The Overwatch League has closed out its second week, with a great deal of excitement. There were certainly some very strong performances, some heartbreak, and a very notable suspension. With a strong showing of fans, this new eSports venture is only getting better every week. So let’s dive into the takeaways from Week 2 of the Overwatch League.

The first thing that needs to be discussed is the suspension of xQc. Felix “xQc” Lengyel was suspended and fined by the Overwatch League for homophobic insults towards Austin “Muma” Wilmont, who plays for the Houston Outlaws, after the Dallas Fuel/Houston Outlaws match-up. Lengyel is no stranger to controversy. The Twitch streamer/pro-gamer had previously been banned from the Overwatch for 7 days for throwing matches. This time, xQc was fined $2,000 and forced to sit out for 4 matches for violating the Code of Conduct. Jeff Kaplan has consistently expressed his desire to do whatever he could to create a less toxic environment for players so that they can have more fun while enjoying Overwatch. His push for kindness has definitely had a more positive effect on the game, including the way they turn phrases like “ez” into something more positive (or in some case, a mocking commentary to the person trying to be a jerk). This made it no surprise that when xQc said what he said about Muma, he was going to get punished by the Overwatch team. However, the fact that Dallas Fuel took it a step further to suspend him for the remainder of Stage 1 shows the true spirit of what Kaplan aspires Overwatch to be. It’s a bit depressing that this news has overtaken the conversation on the Overwatch League this week but it shows the high level of character that they hold their players to. (For more on this story, this is a great place to read the details.)

Boston Uprising continues to struggle this week. They were utterly demolished by Seoul Dynasty on Friday, which is to be expected considering the fact they are the best in the league, losing all 4 matches. On Saturday, they played against the San Fransisco Shock. This was a closer back and forth battle that was awesome to watch. The problem with this team still seems to be their inability to conquer these control points. They do not have a strong showing here and this is something that they should be focusing their efforts on. Their next match on Thursday, January 25 is against the London Spitfire (my second favorite team). Spitfire is a very strong team that is going to be incredibly difficult for Boston to overcome. Stage 1 just started, so there is plenty of time for them to turn this around.

It was an exciting week for Overwatch League fans and I hope this momentum keeps up. It should also be mentioned that Pine is more than just a McCree, as his Widow was also very deadly. He is one of the most dangerous players on New York. Jake had another strong showing, especially on his Junkrat, which he seemed unstoppable on this week. Birdring was another amazing player to watch this week. There are so many amazing players in this league that they all really have something to offer viewers at this point. It is going to be an incredible rush to the finish and I can’t wait to see how it ends up.

 

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The Return of Vanilla WoW

It is very likely that sometime this year, WoW fans will get to achieve their long-awaited dream: going back to the beginning. For a long while, a lot of fans that got into the game later on wanted to have that Vanilla experience that they missed when they were making fun of their friends for playing the game. There was still plenty of content by then for people to enjoy. I enjoyed my time in MC and Naxx, though the AQs were more difficult to get into as everyone had played them out so much by the time I got into the game. I didn’t get to experience the opening of the Gates, an event that I’m told was equal parts frustrating and exciting. (It was certainly more exciting for those who weren’t booted from the servers so that they could experience the moment.)

Nostalgia really is often times more amazing than the experience itself was. People can get clouded by remembering something was greater than it was. How many times did people lag out because of bugs in the game during important fights? Or remember when you finally killed Rag but you were Alliance and all shaman loot dropped? Sure, your guild bank got enchanting materials but you want something for your time. These bugs did give the game character, but it was more frustrating than it was worth sometimes.

The thing is, while the content was amazing and fresh in Vanilla, that wasn’t what I missed most about it. I liked how hard it was. There were only a few add-ons that you needed, but you could’ve gotten by successfully without them. You just managed to do your job. But there was a unique social aspect to it that really drew people in. You needed to be in a guild to see content. You couldn’t just LFR it like you can now. Sure, I like that I no longer have to dedicate so much of my time for raiding. But I miss the friendships that you could make with people across not just the country, but sometimes the globe. One of our tanks was this hilarious guy from Egypt. There was this shadow priest from Australia. You could connect with people while working together to complete these pixelated goals that meant so much to people.

With the newer expansions, the emphasis grew to making the game better for casuals who didn’t have the time to raid but still wanted that experience. But in the process, the game lost something that made it so special to begin with. You really cannot form these kinds of friendships and bonds with people anymore. I still talk to people, albeit sparingly, that I played with nearly a decade ago. (Probably a decade ago now) We mourned when a friend of ours died. We mourned a person that we had never met in person but yet had such a profound impact on (at least in my case) our lives. The Vanilla server could be a good thing if it was able to bring back that same level of comradery that drew so many people into the game to begin with.