In this week's episode of Speak-Up on Kotaku is here, with Chewblaha, Senselocke, and Pat Chan ramble on about how efficient Blizzard customer service is, easier Pokémon rematches, reviews for kids, and post-apocalysm.
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About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every Wednesday or so we'll pull the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight them here.
Dear Blizzard...
Chewblaha might have some sort of issue with Blizzard over his World of Warcraft account. I can't be sure.
Thank you, Blizzard.
For letting someone buy an authenticator under my name preventing me from log on and you just verify that without emails.
Thank you, Blizzard.
For canceling my account after it was clearly compromised by someone else. Yes! I will exploit the game by deleting my armor and weapons. They also probably deleted my "CLUCK" quest, which I was proud to spam to people in huge raids.
Thank you, Blizzard.
For having an automated phone service that automatically hangs up on you because you're too busy. Though I remember all the times I called when I was in high school about problems with my D2 and War3 accounts and was never hung up on.
Thank you, Blizzard.
For canceling my account when I was TRYING TO FUCKING CALL YOU ON THE PHONE FOR SIXTY-FIVE MINUTES AND YOU KEPT HANGING UP ON ME.
And most of all:
Thank you, Blizzard.
Because by the time I even put the account back up, it'll be past the time required necessary to have report your account hacked and be able to retrieve all of the items lost.
Fuck you, Blizzard.
Kid Tested...
Senselocke likes her game reviewers like she likes her coffee - young enough to relate to her children. Wait, that doesn't make sense.
Allright, Kotaku, I want suggestions. I have three kids, one is 11, one is almost 6, and another tyke is below gaming age. Here's by beef:
If I read a review of a game, it's written from the point of view and expectations of the reviewer—usually 30ish and male, usually hardcore. But a game I might not otherwise play on by own, might be more fun with one of my kids. Then there's the dreaded "made for kids" crud games that are made by people that don't realize kids can recognize crap too.
I need to find a site that, when reviewing games, evaluates them as if they were 7-12, not just as an adult. The only ones I can find are either "edutainment" based, or worried about religion and the "message" therein. I don't need idiotic meandering like that, I just want to know if a game, when played by my kids and/or myself, is good enough to be enjoyable, even if it wouldn't be for myself alone.
I know we have a lot of parent/gamers here, so are there any good sites like this, free from religious slants and the idea that games have to have a "constructive" purpose—I just want to know if it's fun and engaging, and hopefully splitscreen co-op!
Pokémon Rematch
Dracosummoner wants an easier way to get back at the Pokémon trainers who've wrong him in the past.
Something I'd love to see for Pokémon Black and White: A much-streamlined means of allowing us to re-battle trainers we've already battled.
No waiting for phone calls (or, conversely, being inundated with them), no fiddling with a Versus Seeker item and having to "recharge" it, let alone hope that it actually works. (The Trainer's Eyes feature in Emerald was probably one of the best implementations of the phone system I've seen in a Pokémon game.)
Just let us simply ask for a rematch. And if there's a twenty-four-hour cooldown between rematches with a given Trainer ("give me time to rest and heal"), that's just fine with me. It seems to me that this would greatly improve one of the very few aspects of a Pokémon title with which I have any hassle at all.
The New World War II
Pat Chan makes a very good point.
Anyone else feel like the post apocalypse is the new WWII? There's Borderlands, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Brink, Rage, Homefront, and (even though it gets props for not being a shooter and has a more distinct art style and color palette than the previously mentioned games) Enslaved. You could technically even throw inFamous in there if you wanted to.
Borderlands, inFamous, and Fallout 3 were all fine games, don't get me wrong. And I'm sure the others at least won't be crap when they're released. But come on, all these games in less than three years?
I watched some videos for Brink and even though the gameplay looks like a gun crazy Mirror's Edge (i.e. innovative and fun as far as FPS games go), I was just turned off by the thought of having to play in that kind of environment again.
Even though this genre just became big, I feel that it's already gotten stale and I'm ready to move on...on back that is, to the pre-apocalypse or the post apocalypse minus the apocalypse.
