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STARZ’S Black Sails: Goes Out with a Bang!

9/14/2016

Black Sails, Pirates, Starz, Final Season

After three spectacular seasons, STARZ's brings its thrilling, gritty and poignantly complex period drama, Black Sails to an end after only four seasons. Last night STARZ released its first teaser trailer which was only marked with ominous words; calmly utter by Captain Flint, "the time call's for dark men, to do dark things...Do not be afraid to lead them to it."

The teaser hints the series will pick-off right where it left off―for the fight for Nassau and freedom from the Crown. Or is it? Last season's entry of the newly appointed Governor of Nassau, Woodes Rodgers marked a significant shift towards ending the lawlessness that has governed for years. His arrival struck a line of demarcation of which the series couldn’t possibly return. And so, the fight for Nassau rages on.

The only question is how these wide range of characters, especially the complex-revenge hungry Captain Flint (portrayed by the excellent Toby Stephens) will meet either redemption or their demise. Flint's thirsty quest for revenge by manipulating and Machiavellian tactics have served him well thus far. Yet will Flint's relentless quest provide a satisfactory resolution that will be believable and true to his character? Can he truly find a modicum of peace after all the sacrifice and bloodshed? Will Eleanor realize that Vane spoke the truth and have "a come to Jesus" moment? (If I had to guess, hubris will be her downfall―if nothing else.) Will Silver be able to maintain perspective in preserving the crews’ well-being instead of backing Flint's dictates? Even if it means going toe-to-toe with Flint himself?

The series is set against the backdrop of the Golden Age of Piracy and follows the life and interactions of the most feared pirate of the time—Captain Flint. The show serves as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and set twenty years prior to the events of the novel.

Only way to find out is by tuning in to Starz when it airs it final season in January 2017.

"STARZ’S Black Sails: Goes Out with a Bang!" was written by Maria Sumoza

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Mass Effect: Andromeda on 4K? AND in Playstation NEO?...Say WHAT?!?!

9/10/2016

Promotional Image

On Wednesday, September 7th, BioWare unveiled to Mass Effect fans a taste of what we have anxiously been waiting for―a glimpse of what Mass Effect: Andromeda's gameplay will look like with a little help of Frostbite and Playstation Neo.

A power house combination? There's no doubt...Kind of hard to say from a die-hard Xbox fangirl...

Although the Mass Effect: Andromeda is schedule to release in early 2017 on all current platforms; Aaryn Flynn, General Manager at BioWare clearly states that this small morsel is meant to be experienced on a 4k.

The purpose? for fans and gamers alike to comprehend and grasp the scope of what BioWare is trying to achieve in visually and aesthetically with the best and latest technology has to offer in Next Gen gaming.

The BioWare Developers chose to utilized the Playstation Neo to demonstrate Andromeda's potential.

Yet, I can't help but wonder what Andromeda may look under Xbox's 'Project Scorpio'?

Time will tell.

Even for those of us who own HDTVs, the alpha footage released is still very titillating and visually stimulating. From the small glimpses seen of Andromeda, one can very well be underway to be classified in its own genre as an art form.

The clip released shows Rider walking and exploring an alien vault. Scanning for potential resources, such as plant life while showcasing the playable characters' dexterity and life like movement. The gameplay footage is vivid, the colors are displayed resplendently and with such great attention to detail that the surrounding environs―shadows, contrast and lighting render them visually stunning.

A formal trailer will be released on N7 Day (November 7th). I can't hardly wait to see what this new chapter in the Mass Effect will bring.

"Mass Effect: Andromeda on 4K? AND in Playstation NEO?...Say WHAT?!?!" was written by Maria Sumoza.

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Massive Entertainment: Pioneers in a New Frontier with The Division

9/7/2016

It is no secret that Massive’s Tom Clancy’s The Division has been riddled with bugs and hackers since its first major update 1.1 and so on.

And slowly the quality of gameplay has suffered; steadily declining with many of its core original player base and streamers, a fraction of what it once was.

As a dedicated player of The Division since its release‒who has gone through a shear range of emotions from raged quitting, harassment for being a female gamer and getting hit on by strangers FOR being a female gamer that has become adequately good‒I still returned to it, because of its potential.

Never in my gaming experience had I need to grind for loot so hard, matchmake due to mission difficulty and building effective sets to optimize gameplay either for PvP or PvE. Even with its flaws, these are the qualities that endeared me to this game...

The August 25th ‘State of the Game,’ brings major news in the heels of past weeks' 'State' show in which the Community Development Team fronted by dynamic duo: Hamish Bode and Yannick Banchereau took the "bull by the horns" and engaged the community in full-on honest discussion by addressing the core issues of the game in detail‒and their solution.

Bode and Banchereau did not shying away and provided their own in game experience; saying "the end-game experience is not enjoyable." Their brutal honesty and continual transparency is what other development studios SHOULD use as a landmark example of utilizing an established base‒the community they created‒and effectively use their feedback to improve the quality of the MMO experience. Unlike other development studios like DICE, Valve and Bungie; Massive has taken an experimental approach by involving gamer input into the evolution and future of the Division, by inviting payers to Malmö, Sweden to engage in a constructive discussion of the game.

A major step forward for any developer studio, of which I, for one am really excited about.

A few listed problems The Division is currently encountering are those associated with the end-game experience which imclude, but are not limited to:

NPC health and damage dealt‒especially in the Dark Zone. Enemies essential become bullet sponges, often making the player use more than two magazines in order to drop an enemy.

Shotgun Sentry’s Call build being too powerful; the use Reclaimer, when used in PvP. For those players that want to Farm the DZ rogues players can drop them and other rogue players engaging in PvP with just one bullet to the head.
The lack of a dedicated PvP area; either within the DZ or just a different addition to the map that clearly would add a line of demarcation?
Flawed loot rewards system. As of now, the only decent place to a get a variety of high-end equipment is by farming DZ05-06; if you do not own the (Underground DLC‒which has its own issues) which is basically impossible if you're not running decent gear to begin with or have a decent group to run with.
Solo player woes. It's practically impossible for solo players to run around the DZ. If an NPC doesn't mange to kill you, then a rogue will. I should know.

However, what is ground breaking is that a development studio is willing to work and take suggested feedback from their community to deliver the game they intended in the first place.

Which is what they are doing with their next update, Patch 1.4 to be released in October; thus pushing the release of more content with their next DLC: Survival to sometime late 2016 and Last Stand projected for 2017.

Core issues within the game will be addressed/fixed with Patch 1.4. Highlights include buy back options from vendors, weapon skins taking much needed inventory space, craft all button, running in the Base of Operations are a few of the details that 1.4 will contain.

Massive is a shining beacon where we hope other Devs Studios take stock of their communities and not take them for granted.

Now there are More News and Updates to come on Massive's efforts to revive The Division and we will have them for you here, so stay tuned, gamers.

"Massive Entertainment: Pioneers in a New Frontier with The Division" was written by Maria Sumoza

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STARZ’S Black Sails: Goes Out with a Bang!

Mass Effect: Andromeda on 4K? AND in Playstation NEO?...Say WHAT?!?!

Massive Entertainment: Pioneers in a New Frontier with The Division