Author: aabicus

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Payday 2: On Perk Decks

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I wanted to write a quick article about perk decks in Payday 2, because I find them pretty fascinating as a concept. Not the fact that they exist (they’re identical in function to the level-up trees from Payday the Heist) but that they exist in conjunction to the standard character classes, each of which has a ton of random abilities and playstyles with different weapons, equippables, armors, and concealment levels. As someone who loves game design, I’ve spent way more time than I should trying to figure out what criteria Overkill put into deciding when an ability is worthy of a… [Continue Reading]

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Left 4 Dead 2 Announces First New Campaign in over 8 Years

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Well, this is certainly a surprise! Left 4 Dead 2 is getting a new campaign! The announcement came on Valve’s long-dead Left 4 Dead blog, and the full text is rather cryptic: It has been many years since the infection first hit. Radio silence, no sign of life, nothing but lingering hopes… CEDA is not going to save us. But there is hope! A few brave souls have continued the fight against all odds, and soon we can all benefit from their resilience. “The Last Stand” is an update for Left 4 Dead 2, created by the community, for the… [Continue Reading]

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An Odd Interaction Between TF2 Weapon Sheens and Decorations

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I noticed something unusual (pardon the pun) after I added a violet killstreak sheen to my Totally Boned Scotsman’s Skullcutter. And before we continue, I shamelessly admit this is one of the most minor observations I’ve probably ever made in TF2. It’s not quite on the level of 500 characters on the wind you can only notice during a single taunt, but it would fit comfortably into that list of nitpick articles in the final paragraph. Anyway, after a couple different times visiting my Demoman loadout page, I realized the Skullcutter’s inventory icon was occasionally showcasing the purple sheen. It’d… [Continue Reading]

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The SPUF of Legend Hits 1,000 Subscribers!

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On July 13th, Tarun Chahal subscribed to the channel and we officially passed 1,000 subscribers on The SPUF Of Legend! Medic and I are both completely blown away that you’ve all decided to join us on this little channel, and I don’t think either of us ever suspected from the beginning that we were going to hit the quadruple digits on subscribers. We just want to give you a big thank you not just for subscribing, though, because actually you guys add a lot of value to the channel, and really, it’s not just the two of us. In a… [Continue Reading]

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Trying EverQuest in 2020

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Despite not considering myself an MMO kind of guy, I’ve somehow put in hundreds of hours in both World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14, mostly because they’re great games to play while plowing through my TV backlog on the second monitor. Both of them were highly influential games for their generation of MMOs, cornering the market by setting the standards many of their competitors would try and (for the most part, fail to) surpass. But they’re only two parts of the triumvirate. There’s a third game, one that first put 3D MMOs on the map. Most of the earlier… [Continue Reading]

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Portal Stories: Mel Review

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Part of me feels unsure about writing an article on Portal Stories: Mel, because it’s the sort of game that’s best played by leaping in without knowing anything beforehand. That was how I did it, and I’m very glad I didn’t perform my usual pre-game research. Not because there are twists or spoilers or anything, this isn’t Doki Doki Literature Club or Undertale. The game is very straightforward, but the player character has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, and ideally you should be in a similar state if you give the game a try. The Portal series will… [Continue Reading]

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A Beginner’s Guide to Shoutcasting

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I’ve been amateur shoutcasting for 3 years, and I recently got voted by League Zero to cast the grand finals, but I’ve also never peaked beyond low gold in my game of choice. So don’t worry about your in-game talent level, you’re fine! Shoutcasting has almost a completely different skillset from actual playing (just like how most chess commentators aren’t grandmasters) so don’t feel discouraged about your own personal heights. (This goes for other possible esport positions as well, there are tons of options other than playing for breaking in!) If you’ve ever watched a shoutcast and thought it would… [Continue Reading]

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5 Useful Battle Pets in World of Warcraft

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Since Pokémon has still somehow not released an MMO, World of Warcraft has remained the perennial title any monster-collecting MMO gets inevitably compared to. Its completely-optional minigame of traveling the world capturing pets, choosing their movesets, leveling them up and doing turn-based battle with NPC trainers and even other players is one of the most straightforward adaptations of the monster-collector formula, and I don’t know of any WoW players who didn’t sink an embarrassing amount of time into obtaining their favorite critters. While there are far, far too many battle pets to ever make a case-closed list of “The 5… [Continue Reading]

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Final Fantasy XIV: First Impressions in 2020

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Breaking News: Yesterday the devs revealed that FF14 is raising the free trial’s level cap from 35 to 60, as well as adding the whole base game, the Heavensward DLC, and all related races, classes, and content permanently free to play. This is the best opportunity to try this game out if you’re on the fence! Two months ago my boyfriend asked if I’d be interested in trying Final Fantasy 14. The coronavirus had completely zapped all semblances of a social life outside the confines of our apartment, and the rest of our local friend circle had already subscribed just… [Continue Reading]

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The Making of a Demoman

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Three years ago I indulged in a full article about my Medic cosmetic loadout, since it had remained remarkably consistent throughout the years and each piece held a lot of sentimental value to me. But only recently did I realize that there’s a fair amount of personal history in my Demoman loadout as well, considering I’ve been offclassing him for almost as long. Much like with Medic, my first few years were spent playing completely cosmetic-free; I was so addicted to stats I couldn’t fathom caring about something that didn’t change the actual gameplay in any way. It also took… [Continue Reading]

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