Deathbat's Computer Gaming Predictions for 2019

This list falls in to two categories: the first is "industry changes" I want to predict (for fun). The second is "my own habits" I want to predict (also for fun). Here goes!

Industry Predictions for 2019:

1. Epic Games will get some legs

Steam has been dominating the PC marketplace online for a decade and a half. It has in the last five or six years become well known for being an immense pit of despair when it comes to shopping for games, thanks to a series of increasingly poor policies on what games they would allow on their platform; short version is; too much garbage, and too hard to sort through to find the gems. They have in recent months gone to great lengths to try and refine their store....but I suspect for many it is too little, too late.

So with that in mind, Epic Games now has its own game store, and while it a bit anemic it does have some gems. More importantly, it has Fortnite for PC, and is therefore essentially already installed on millions of PCs. I've already grabbed the free copy of Subnautica and will likely look to future purchases depending on how things develop. Epic is poised to conveniently be a major contender to Steam right out the gate, all thanks to Fortnite. Remember when Steam ended up on all PCs thanks to Half Life 2? Yep.

2. The Next Call of Duty will have a Campaign 

The rationale is that Activision wouldn't have more than one of its three studios developing CoD games try a Battle Royale mode, and that they also would be suspicious that this isn't just a fad right now, or possibly that they are too late to market. Therefore, based on their traditional design schedule, I predict that the next Call of Duty from Infinity Ward will probably be a conventional offering with a campaign, and also I bet it's either a sequel to Modern Warfare or Ghosts (shudder). Probably the former.

3. Bioware will announce a new Mass Effect or Dragon Age game this year.

This doesn't seem far-fetched, but I bet when they announce it the reveal will include a lot of apologetic marketing to appease the disenfranchised fans and also that the actual release date will coincide with the next generation release of game consoles.

4. Fortnite will be replaced by some new hotness......in 2020

We'll see the manifestations of this sometime in 2019, and Fortnite will continue to do fine, having captured it's market share, but I have a seven year old in the house and I can see how this sort of thing works; the millions of kids playing Fortnite will eventually get tired of it and force their parents to find some other video game to babysit them. You'll know Fortnite has descended to the realm of "popular has-been" when the twitch streamers start playing As Yet Unreleased Hotness X.

(Yeah this might contradict prediction #1 above but I say no! The new hotness could after all manifest on Epic's own platform).

5. There will be a new Alien Game announcement (and possible release) this year

The official channels are hinting at it, but unlikely we will see a movie release until Disney finishes carving up Fox's corpse, so I bet the hints are about new tie-in material, including a game. A game has been mentioned in 2018 titled Alien Blackout, but I bet thanks to CoDBlops4's mode they will have a different title when it is properly announced.

6. Ubisoft may actually give Assassin's Creed a break this year

This actually seems unlikely to me, but if Odyssey didn't sell well then I get they give a two year hiatus to the franchise again to let it rejuvinate a bit....and with any luck they fill that gap with a new Watch Dogs game (but I predict that won't happen....maybe by March 2020?)

7. Another obscure corner of gaming from around 1998-2005 will come back in style

Here's the rationale: as computer and video gamers move into their early thirties they tend to start pining nostalgically for the games they loved in their formative years. This is a similar phenomenon to what happens in tabletop, but I don't think tabletop gamers start doing this until their forties or fifties (when the kids are off to college, usually)....but video games ellicit a different response, especially for thirty-somethings who suddenly find that their dexterity, time, and ability to dedicate dozens of hours a week to gaming are all on the wane. Usually, a baby is in the mix and the desperation is for a game, some game --any game-- to play between diaper changes. The Switch understands this!

But the current crop of thirty-somethings in 2019 were around age 10-15 during their formative period, which was dominated by PS1, Dreamcast, early Xbox and Nintendo64. At least part of the current trend is to pop out retro consoles, usually in miniature (easy to hide/store in apartment) filled with memory-laden titles. Sony recently released and semi-botched their own effort, but not really; this is the generation that started with polygon-based gaming that looked amazing for its time, but has aged incredibly poorly (and quickly). As a result, they want to play games like they remember......but they will also want it to look better.

Most subgenres and types of gaming from 20 years ago are still around....so what game type is due for a revival? My suggestion: Myst and Riven style games! We've had a lull in pixel bitchers for a while, and the current trend is for very user friendly titles ala the late Telltale Games' titles. I bet we start to see a new crop of "Souls Like" Myst-inspired titles soon.

(Out there, but if there's one trend you can always predict in gaming it's that diehard subculture that needs games to punish them or they can't tell if they are having fun!)

Consider that last one my "really weird prediction."

Now for Deathbat's Personal Predictions:

1. I will finally catch up on Assassin's Creed games. I will complete Syndicate, Odyssey and Origins in some order at last. Unity's sour taste is at last out of my mouth.

2. I will enjoy The Divison 2 for a bit but will find it less endearing than the first if Ubisoft doesn't up the ante on the story component (which I bet it instead focuses on multiplayer).

3. I will buy the next Call of Duty because it adds the campaign back in, but then fails to innovate (so far only Infinite Warfare made any headway in innovation) and I will again feel had.

4. I'll be sick to death of Fortnite by March but will still play it with my son out of paternal duty.

5. I will finish The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, sometime this year. Possibly in the last week of December 2019....knowing how I roll....!

Maybe some movie predictions next!

Green Ronin and Fantasy AGE Plans in 2017

Well, as news on this year's plans trickle out we have some details on various publishers to consider. This year Green Ronin announced a number of planned releases, although not quite as exciting as last year's announcement....key among the releases is a Ashes of Valkana campaign book which would be more exciting if I was in to Titansgrave. Fantasy AGE will get its own crowd sourced "dmsguild" this year some time, which I imagine will be a way to fill out some of the much-needed absent content from the game as it currently stands. It's a shame that this appears to be the direction RPGs are going now to handle the desire for new content among gamers vs. the skeletal release rates of books these days, but I suppose when in Rome....get used to PDFs.

Blue Rose is also releasing this year, for those who are interested. I'm not really the target demographic, but I did find the original an interesting concept in the under-appreciated romantic fantasy genre.

There's also a hint of Dragon Age content to come, but mired in the license approval requirements.

So......a bit bare this year, unfortunately, and it sounds like instead of an "Advanced" rulebook for Fantasy AGE we will instead get a community content portal instead.

Making Monsters in Fantasy AGE (a Green Ronin link)

Green Ronin's got a great article up by Jack Norris on designing monsters for Fantasy AGE and Dragon AGE. Check it out here!

There's some very useful advice, as well as a good way to frame thinking about how to design FAGE monsters in terms of what you want them to do mechanically. If you, like me, have had some fun making FAGE monsters but are keen to get a better sense of the underlying process this article is extremely useful.

He may have a -2 Accuracy but that 4D6+8 potato peeler only needs to hit once!

I'm still quite into Fantasy AGE.....this one looks like it's got staying power. The Titansgrave campaign book is fun, too, now that I've finally secured a physical copy. The setting looks very cool, even if you weren't raised on the old cartoons it's inspired by.

Fantasy AGE capsule review

If you've been waiting for your pre-orders like I have, then know that they will be arriving soon. My FLGS got my copy of Dragon AGE in and it's a really amazing looking book...like, a coffee table art book sort of deal, the kind you leave around so people can ooh and ahh at it.

Fantasy Age is slimmer and more utilitarian, but it also looks very playable, and is also gorgeously laid out. Alas, my copy is a 1st printing and has the "interlligence" printing error on the character sheet.....but that's okay, they've got one here that's spelled right. If you don't mind the typo there's a form-fillable version here as well.

Fantasy AGE is hitting at the right time. The market is ripe for mechanically easier game systems that still have some meat on them....people like systems that offer interesting choices but don't require excessive rigor. Fantasy AGE also caters to a slightly different sort of fantasy from D&D, while still being very familiar.

Characters start with nine ability scores with a -/+ modifier from -2 to +4. You have six core races to pick from as well (human, elf, dwarf, gnome, hafling and orc). FAGE adds social class and background rules designed to support a wide array of settings as well; you figure out your social class and then an appropriate background (i.e. merchant, pirate, soldier, performer) out of 24 available choices.

After that, you've got your class. There are three classes in FAGE: mage, rogue and warrior. Each one provides rules through level 20, along with optional specializations (such as mage hunter, assassin or berserker), of which there are twelve. You can also get a focus for a really good ability score. Talents (FAGE's skills) round out the character options. Mages can also gain access to spell arcana, of which there are twelve (each arcana encompasses a handful of spells related to the arcana type).

The gamemaster section includes about 20 pages on how to run the game, 7 pages on magic items, and a bestiary section with fourteen adversaries provided. It's missing a conventional monster/animal list....no wolves, for example, but does provide some good starting points for GMs. While a Fantasy AGE campaign isn't as likely to be focused on the slaughter of monsters as D&D tends to be, you'll probably find yourself wanting to pick up the AGE monster supplements on RPGnow.com* or cribbing beasts from Dragon AGE until a more robust bestiary is released. Also worth noting is the Midgard Bestiary has an AGE edition*. Those resources ought to hold us over until a proper Bestiary is released.

Wrapping up the book is a short section on world building and a setting/adventure location to get you started. All told, for 144 pages it's a nice, compact set of rules with plenty of meat. If you can sustain yourself on the meager adversary offerings you'll be okay --for a while.

I haven't seen the Titansgrave module yet but expect to have it soon (ordered it via the FLGS). I do happen to have all of the AGE System PDFs Green Ronin offers, and for the price they are worth it if you are in to the system.

Five things Fantasy AGE does really well:

1. The stunt system. It's a dynamic combat mechanic that is only rivalled by Runequest 6's combat system.

2. Lot's of flexible character design features. You can make a lot of interesting characters in this system, but it remains focused and easy to roll up new PCs. While it has only three classes, the dozen specializations, numerous backgrounds and talents/focus rules make for a wide range of character options.

3. Emphasis on the fantasy tale vs. just monster killing/dungeon crawling. To be fair, D&D 5E (for example) provides lots of tools to do all sorts of cool stuff, but then limits the bulk of it's XP system to slaying things. FAGE provides a more well-rounded experience as part of its core design.

4. Ease of play. It's all about six sided dice, and the game has some very clean math in my experience.

5. Gorgeous, readable book! This is harder to achieve than it sounds, but Green Ronin really knows how to produce a nice looking, easily accessible tome.

Some downsides:

1. The "interlligence" typo is indicative of a few such editorial gaffs. On the plus side maybe the already-planned second printing will fix these issues.

2. It really needs more adversaries as well as more conventional beasties statted out in the core, or in a bestiary hopefully out yesterday. But with the PDF and Dragon AGE resources out there you can make do for now.

3. This is still definitely a "basic book" in the sense that it gives you enough to run with the game (a lot more than the D&D Basic Rules, to contrast) but after a year of using these rules I bet I'd start wishing for some follow-up material. I am confident Green Ronin has plans, though.

EDIT: I've bounced around a lot on what system(s) to use for my Sarvaelen (Watchers of the Sullen Vigil) setting....now thinking Fantasy Age might be the best fit....hmmmmm!


*All of the old AGE System documents are directly compatible with Dragon AGE but need minor conversion to Fantasy AGE, which uses some slightly different ability score names, and the combat skills (formerly dexterity in DA) is now split between accuracy and fighting scores. Abilities and attacks seem to mesh fine, however. Hopefully Green Ronin will think about releasing Fantasy AGE -compatible editions of these prior works that require no effort at conversion.

Green Ronin Shows how a Real Game Company Announces its 2015 Game Lineup (but...)

Green Ronin apparently also made an announcement for its 2015 book lineup, In this listing we have some very robust entries, including:

The AGE System gets:

A new Dragon Age Core Rulebook comprising the contents (revised) of the three boxed sets

An Inquisition sourcebook and revised GM's Toolkit

Faces of Thedas (formerly a PDF line) gets its own book

A may release of the long-awaited Fantasy AGE engine with a Gencon-release setting book

Mutants & Masterminds gets:

The Cosmic Sourcebook so you can have faux Guardians of the Galaxy Adventures

Freedom City revised book

Atlas of Earth Prime continues with an eventual print release

Other Stuff:

A Return to Freeport book for Pathfinder

Two Song of Ice and Fire releases for people who are into that (I have only ever read the novels. Seriously. We don't get Cable so no HBO, and until they show up on Netflix I am not going to see it)

Some card game called Love2Hate

Ork! the beer-and-pretzels RPG gets a re-release! This is kinda cool.

Now THAT is a proper game line-up. Of course, there is that giant BUT......

And if you know Green Ronin, you know what the BUT is: they are ambitious, determined, and produce fantastic books, but they are also notorious for slipping deadlines, sometimes by a year or two. So when it comes to much of their planned schedule (especially and chiefly for their licensed IP) I suggest adding 6 months to a year minimum to the release dates. I could be wrong.....I seriously hope I am wrong!.....but it's just how it's been for a long time now.

However, the good news is Fantasy AGE is not tied to any IP, and the rules are functionally out there now, so we just need the "IP-free" edition and we're good. My post yesterday mentioning to Paizo that we need a competitive "lite" edition of their game to go up against D&D 5E with more product support? Yeah, forget that.....I think Green Ronin may have this one handled just fine.


As a complete aside: I really need to look at Mutants & Masterminds seriously. I don't know why I am not playing this game (at all). I loved 1st edition, liked (but did not run) 2nd edition, and own all of 3rd.... 3rd edition appears to be amazingly well done, actually, and the DC Heroes books, despite being pre New-52, are also great resources. I don't know why I'm not doing something with this, need to investigate.

Dragon Age Set 3 Slated for January 2013 Release

In the realm of RPGs I really love that I can't find anyone to play with, this is exciting news. Dragon Age Set 3 has an official drop date, for sometime in January according to ICv2. Dragon Age uses the AGE System from Green Ronin, which is actually a great game system, and one which they have said will eventually get a proper treatment with its own license-free edition. Some of the seeds for the AGE System are evident in prior Green Ronin games (True20, Mutants & Masterminds) but it is distinct on its own merits.

Anyway, looking forward to this. Maybe I can finally talk some of my players in to trying Dragon Age out...I think a lot of my tabletop cohorts are simply not sufficiently in to the Dragon Age universe as I am, thus why it is a harder sell. Maybe....hard to say! I'll have to bring it up again soon, see if I can generate some interest.

Dragon Age and AGE System Resources

So I've been poking around loking for interesting stuff, blogs, what have you for the AGE System and Dragon Age PnP RPG. I have found some gems, thought I'd post links for those who might also be interested, a really cool site for the system:

Dragon Age Oracle is a great resource for DARPG stuff. There's a scenario for DARPG here! It looks like a decent introductory adventure. There are also some other useful resources, including some new monsters right here. Also, check out this Pathfinder hack for DARPG, adapting the Pathfinder classes/races to Dragon Age. I was seriously overjoyed when I found this....it might dramatically ease the prospect of getting some of my more stubborn cohorts to give the system a spin.

There is the aforementioned AGE System Conan Hack here. I talked about this a couple days ago, but felt it was worth mentioning again.

Remember Mystara? Well it's been AGE-ified right here.

Esoterica of Thedas Volume I is available from Google Docs and looks quite interesting. I am having trouble finding a working link to Volume II. Is it just me and my browser, or is Google Docs garbage?

Then I discovered this web site and realized someone had already done all the Finding Cool Stuff work for me.

This is inspiring me to do an AGE Hack for Ages of Lingusia, or the more recent Warlords Era campaign...or maybe my more traditionalist Irkalla campaign (in which elves, dwarves and men are the only normal races). I think I might just set about to doing that....over the next month the Ages Era setting will be features with daily entries, mostly a generic setting with occasional references to 4E or sometimes Pathfinder; when its done, if I am sufficiently inspired, I will work on an AGE-based release for the current campaign in Lingusia, the Warlords Era...or Irkalla, if I don't feel like converting all the WoL Pathfinder content.

All your Dragon Age Base are Belong to Us! Plus, AGE System for Conan

I now have Dragon Age Set 1, Set 2 and Blood in Ferelden. This is some good stuff, a very tight, well-designed game that just happens to have a clever old-school approach dressed up in the finest modern fineries. Now, all I need to do is convince my extremely suspicious and tightly focused Saturday group to trust me that it's worth a spin...

One thing I like about Dragon Age, among many other things, is the fact that it manages to encompass some pretty traditional fantasy tropes, play them straight, and still come off feeling distinctly original and unique in its take. It's also a great example of a setting using "economy of design," as opposed to the more traditional Kitchen Sink approach common to D&D settings.

I'm really looking forward to exploring it more. And not just for Thedas. There's a really nice conversion for the AGE System right here for the Hyborian world of Conan. I like what I see; I may drag out my Tales of the Black Kingdoms book and adopt it to the AGE System using this campaign hack as a starting point.

Long Weekend, Overloaded on Dragon Age

After a bit of flu this weekend I found I didn't make it out of the house. On the other hand, I had a three day weekend thanks to the holiday, so I took advantage of this convergence of "stuck in house" + "Thanks, Columbus" to finish at long last Dragon Age: Origins, and the expansions, including Lelianna's Song and the Dragon Age: Awakening mega-expansion. Whew. Very good game, extremely emotional impact at the end (lets just say that to avoid continuity issues I couldn't import my PC from DA:O to DA:A) and I have to say that this game remains one of many reasons Bioware is CRPG king out there. Looking forward to Dragon Age II (I know its changed up a bit, but as long as the storytelling is good old Bioware, I'm cool with it).

Rest in Peace, Anastra, you were a good fighter/champion/berserker/ranger!

And long live Dartain, just another Gray Warden in the wrong place at the right time:

I think its very telling that this game...a computer RPG no less....left me feeling pretty attached to the characters and their tales. The last several hours of Dragon Age: Origins was better than most movies or books, I felt, and the ability of these tales to invoke a meaningful sense of consequence (and moral ambiguity) for one's choice of actions was impressive. It's very rare to see that in any medium, especially gaming.