Community Chronicle: 09/08/15

I slept an awful lot yesterday, as I returned from my little sojourn in Cologne for Gamescom, and it’s odd to think that while I’ve been in the heart of such a large games expo, I’ve managed to miss out on so much of what’s going on in the games industry.

Also the cricket, where it seems that a truly stunning rout of the Australians had taken place over the last few days to return the Ashes to England’s hands.

Looking at the news, there were tons of announcements, but one thing that stuck out was the reveal that the price of a three month PS+ subscription is set to rise in the EU.

Planning to top up his subscription in August as a result of this, Youles said, “I don’t mind – and in fact expect – the odd increase, but it’s quite the increase. Also a bit sneaky that it’s clearly just to make people pay for the year as they’re only increasing that tariff – presumably because most people pay that way, and perhaps have the odd month break here and there so don’t pay for a full 12-month cycle.”

Avenger was one of several who bemoaned the change, saying, “A bit of a joke. Sony are in no position to make any price rises whilst the network lacks investment and stability. It doesn’t even have the premium quality IGC titles it once had, which is further reason to veer away from the 12 month subs.”

JR. meanwhile, has been particularly proactive in the past:

I went overboard when there was a good deal on and I think im signed up until Feb 2025 or something, so it doesn’t really affect me.

Trust me when I say you’ll get to that February 2025 and then find yourself completely baffles as to why you can’t play online on your PlayStation 5.

Speaking of expensive things, Microsoft unveiled a Halo 5 collector’s edition that is set to cost a simply staggering £449. What’s so astonishing about it is that, while there will be a Halo 5 themed version of the Xbox One, this £449 version of the game does not include one, but rather some statues and a replica Needler gun…

“Cool set of gear, just a really chronic price,” Avenger said. “The franchise probably has to be one of the biggest in terms of mythology and story, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it sold well to hardcore fans.”

But stefhutch20 saw this as a worrying precedent. “Is Microsoft taking the mick with that price?” they asked. “I sincerely hope this doesn’t start a precedent for future collector’s editions.”

Though my understanding is that it can be traded for a physical disc, perhaps the oddest part of this CE is that, as Starman said, it has “A steel case for the game but it’s a digital code? That’s a strange one.”

Finally for this week, there are a myriad of changes on the way for Destiny: The Taken King which have its fans a little uncertain of what’s in store. In particular was the announcement that the levelling system will change and that year one guns would be stuck with year one damage levels.

Takyu said, “All this sounds like some great steps in the right direction for Destiny, but what worries me is the announcement that gear from Year One won’t increase in stats throughout Year Two. I could accept this if it were items up to Legendary value, but if Exotics won’t have a continued evolution as the game progresses I’d be very disappointed.”

Nate seems to have been able to clarify that point though:

The source mentions not being able to carry your legendaries forward, so I imagine exotics will still be upgradable. Especially as they are specifically patching a lot of the exotics, makes no sense to do so of they are to become redundant.

It seems a shame to lose the old faithful’s like Fatebringer, but I understand the logic. Roll on Sept!

However, fillip2k is most concerned about what this means for the game’s longevity. “Seems a bit odd to effectively shut down legendaries from year one when so many people only joined recently and are working to get the raid weapons,” he said. “Also in my eyes it doesn’t really mesh with this whole trying to get people to play their “endgame” content if the rewards are useless trophies taking up space in your already limited vault space…”

Perhaps what’s more concerning for Bungie is whether or not these changes are enough to bring back some of the players that have moved on to other games or felt disaffected by the previous announcements. We shall see.

Youles, despite having grabbed the platinum trophy has kept on playing Black Ops 2 zombies, and managed to get the Mob of the Dead easter egg in the game. It only took him 2.5 hours, but came alongside a few other DLC trophies.

Youles then also teamed up with his brother, Bunimomike and GTOWN to take on the final heist of GTAV, managing to take absolutely no hits along the way for a final reward of $2.5 million.

JustTaylorNow took the time to revisit God of War 3 with the PS4’s remaster, and reckons he might have a platinum record out of it. JR. has also been killing off gods at every turn as he too completed GoW3, before turning his attentions to finishing The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a play of Journey, the Never Alone: Foxtales DLC and getting close to the end of Wolfenstien: The New Order!

JR. also started off playing Batman: Arkham Knight, which ron_mcphatty finished this week, saying the finale was the series’ pinnacle. Meanwhile, DividSmythe joined Taylor in this week’s platinum club with Lego Batman 3

Alas, there’s no trophy leaderboard update this week, as a inferior race is dealing with a crisis on his cattle ranch. Probably. So, to finish off this page, we have the usual submission form.