2015 Games of the Year

A few years ago, I did my own "Games of the Year" list, where I talked about not the games that were released in that year, but those that I myself played that year. A friend of mine suggested doing the same thing in an email thread that we share with some other gaming buddies, and so a few of us shared our experiences from 2015.

But for those of you who aren't on that email thread, I figure I spent the time writing up everything, so I might as well share it. Here's my list for 2015. Also, you can see on the sidebar that I'm trying to keep track of the games I play this year, in the hopes that I maybe do this kind of post again at the end of 2016.

Honorable Mention: Rock Band 4
The newest iteration of the Rock Band franchise was...fine? I haven't gone through the whole campaign, but after advertising it as a "Rock Band RPG," it strikes me as being pretty similar to Rock Band 2; hardly a role-playing game. If you're interested, I wrote about what I thought a true Rock Band RPG could be like on my blog.

10. World of Warcraft
So here's the thing about World of Warcraft. Before Warlords of Draenor turned it into a glorified smartphone game, it was already a glorified smartphone game for me. I'm not good enough to raid or PvP, and outside of that, it's just gold-farming. I don't dislike gold-farming per se, but as I play it more, I'm realizing that it's less of engagement and more of a habit. I'm thinking 2016 won't have WoW on its list.

9. Heroes of the Storm
If we were considering sheer volume of time, Heroes would rate higher on this list. I played pretty often with Chip and Nick, the quicker matches being less of a commitment than games like CS:GO or League of Legends. The lack of items and summoner abilities takes a layer of complexity off the game, but it does have some unique heroes like Cho'Gall, Murky, and The Lost Vikings. Heroes is good for at least an occasional diversion.

8. Card Hunter
If I had only played the first 5 or 6 levels of Card Hunter by the time I wrote this up, it'd be higher on the list. It's a fun card-based game that functions like D&D. The problem is that the game kind of over-complicates itself over time. While you start out with a weak 15-card deck, as your characters advance in level, the deck gets stronger, but also bigger. Anybody who's played any Magic knows that the smaller the deck, the happier you are. Still, it's fun enough that I'll keep it installed at least.

7. Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal
There were, apparently, two previous Creeper World games, but I never played them. This was an impulse purchase for I want to say like $0.79 during one of the Steam sales. It's not an overly complex game, but it does offer a new take on tower defense style games. I enjoyed playing it as much as I did, and I could see myself getting back into it. Unconventional tower defense games are almost as much fun as...

6. Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten
...conventional tower defense games. Defender's Quest was another game I purchased during a Steam sale over the years. I began playing it before last year, but I jumped back into it when I had a stretch of regular Twitch streaming a little while back. It's a bit of a grind, but my kind of grind. I haven't finished the "new game+" yet, and it's an easy game to stream, so I expect to play it some in 2016 as well.

5. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
There was a stretch there in 2015 when CS:GO was my game of choice. Missions were an interesting addition, and it swayed my focus on a day-to-day basis. As always, I watched for interesting investments, though the time of quick profits has passed. I haven't played it in a while, but it was a huge part of my year, and I'd be surprised if I didn't get back to it at some point this year as well.

4. Magic: The Gathering - The Deckbuilding
So here's the thing about Magic. I didn't play a ton of matches of Magic. But "playing Magic" means different things for different people. For me, deckbuilding is far and away my favorite part of the game. I bought some sealed content and spent time all throughout the year building and rebuilding decks. I love trying to figure out the interplay between the various cards, and talking about it with other people or reading about it. Magic was definitely a big part of my gaming 2015.

3. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
I remember playing a demo of the original Dead Rising and running out to buy a used copy at GameStop the same day. I played the shit out of it, and I continue to play the shit out of Dead Rising games. I didn't buy Dead Rising 2: Off the Record right away, because it's basically a remake of the original Dead Rising 2 with different cutscenes. Still, it was a lot of fun.

2. NHL '16
I'm always a fan of NHL games. I actually played a fair amount of NHL '13 this year as well, but it seemed silly to include two hockey games. NHL '16 was part of the bundle I got when I bought my Xbox One, because I knew I'd play it. I haven't tried Franchise Mode (or whatever it's called these days), but the Be A Pro, Hockey Ultimate Team, and just exhibition games are all crisp and fun. Hockey is great.

1. Dungeons & Dragons
D&D is the best game ever. I've always liked cooperative games with a lot of freedom, and no game satisfies that hunger like D&D. It's a fun game to play with friends, it's a great environment for humor and creativity, and it still incorporates battle-based challenges. It takes more time to set up a game than other games, and requires coordination with your group in order to make things happen, but with Tabletop Simulator and now (the superior) Roll20, it's a great time to play D&D.

CS:GO Skins Wishlist

A while back, I started to put together a series detailing my favorite skins for each weapon in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. I got through the pistols before I lost steam, for a couple of reasons. First, there are just so many skins, and there are more coming out every few months. But secondly, I ran out of descriptive words to use when attempting to explain why I liked X skin or Y skin. My descriptions were always going to be subjective, but once they became subjective and redundant, I decided to nix the rest of the series.

But now we're back, with a more focused effort. I'm reviewing all skins for all guns, and deciding if I could have a single skin for that gun, what would it be? I'll also be marking the ones that I've already acquired, so that in the event that a generous soul comes across this list and wants to donate something, they know what I've already got.

Note: On two of the guns, because the skin of choice runs more than a hundred dollars, I selected a secondary option. I think the Dragon Lore is a phenomenal-looking skin, but it's unlikely that I ever find myself in possession of one. So, the Man-o'-War is my alternate target.

We'll start with pistols again, same as before. But this time, we're going all the way, like a saucy prom date.

Pistols
P2000 - Amber Fade (got it!)
USP-S - Orion
Glock-18 - Brass
P250 - Undertow
Dual Berettas - Retribution
CZ75-Auto - Tigris (got it!)
Tec-9 - Nuclear Threat
Five-SeveN - Copper Galaxy
Desert Eagle - Naga

SMGs
MAC-10 - Heat
MP7 - Nemesis
MP9 - Hypnotic
P90 - Desert Warfare (got it!)
PP-Bizon - Antique (got it!)
UMP-45 - Grand Prix

Heavy
MAG-7 - Memento
Nova - Antique
Sawed-Off - Highwayman
XM1014 - Red Leather
M249 - Impact Drill
Negev - Loudmouth

Rifles
AK-47 - Vulcan
AUG - Chameleon
AWP - Dragon Lore...or Man-o'-War
FAMAS - Djinn
G3SG1 - Murky
Galil AR - Chatterbox
M4A1-S - Hot Rod...or Atomic Alloy
M4A4 - Modern Hunter
SCAR-20 - Grotto (got it!)
SG 553 - Anodized Navy
SSG 08 - Abyss (got it!)

Top 3 Skins (2013-2014) - P250, Dual Berettas, Desert Eagle

In the first leg of this journey, I looked at the three starting pistols in CS:GO. This time, I'll be looking at the three pistols that are always available to players for purchase, regardless of team or loadout: the P250, the Dual Berettas, and the big money pistol, the Desert Eagle.

P250

It's taken me a little while, but I've gotten to the point where I buy a P250 anytime I'm not buying a high-end rifle. It's low-cost, good rate and ammo and accuracy, and solid armor penetration, which is vital in those middle rounds when everybody's got armor.

That said, while it's an amazingly useful gun, the P250 doesn't have a whole lot of exciting skins. Here are the best of the bunch, but like I said, not that exciting.

#3 - Supernova

The Supernova skin is one that I think actually looks better the less you look at it. At first glance, it's got a cool color scheme and sort of an interstellar vibe (hence the name). But when you really stare at it, to me, it doesn't hold up. The sharpness of a lot of it seems counter to the theme. It's still a fine-looking skin, just not as good as it maybe could have been.

#2 - Nuclear Threat

The Nuclear Threat is probably the P250 skin I would want to use on a regular basis. While it's not as "attractive" as my #1 option, it's a bit more flashy in a smooth kind of way. It's also very distinguishable from the base option, which I do kind of like. Plus, Nuke is one of my favorite maps.

#1 - Cartel

In a vacuum, Cartel is my favorite P250 skin. It's sharp, uses blacks and silvers and greys, and overall looks fairly realistic. As I said, I think I'd prefer to play with the Nuclear Threat. But the Cartel has all the aspects I like in a weapon skin.

Dual Berettas

I do not enjoy using the Dual Berettas. While I appreciate that they've got a lot of ammo, and the damage is okay, I just find that the accuracy isn't great and the accuracy "feel" is even worse. I remember in the original Counter-Strike I enjoyed the feeling of wielding two guns, but in here, with a better appreciation for how well (or poorly) I'm playing, it's less appealing.

It's basically the opposite of the P250 though, because there are several Beretta skins that I enjoy. None of them is a high-rarity skin, since the gun isn't widely used. But as someone who appreciates a level of subtlety, the Beretta skins are right in my wheelhouse.

#3 - Panther

The Panther skin is the essence of subtlety. Black guns with red highlights just to give it enough character to be unique, that's what I like. They look good in-game, too.

#2 - Black Limba

Black Limbas look a lot like the base Beretta skin, but with a bit more severity, a bit more of a "criminal underworld" hue. I like the base skin a lot, so I like these a lot, but I like these more. And if I'm being honest, I occasionally buy Berettas in casual games because using this skin makes me feel like an outlaw.

#1 - Retribution

As much as I like the other skins I've mentioned, Retribution is easily my favorite weapon skin for the Dualies. When I was a kid, I played with a lot of G.I.Joe toys, and for some reason this skin reminds me of that. In addition to being a slick-looking skin, nostalgia puts it way over the top.

Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle is the glamor pistol option. It's the most expensive and most powerful, but with its small clip, it's a high-risk, high-reward option. I hardly ever buy it myself, but if I come across one dropped in a pistol round or some such, I'll give it a whirl. I'll also occasionally buy it when my primary is a P90, to give myself a better option at range.

The skins for the Desert Eagle are all up and down the range. But because it's that "glamor" option, they tend to be a little higher on the rarity spectrum, which means they're often quite attractive. Plenty of good options, but here are my favorites.

#3 - Crimson Web

I find myself swinging a lot with regards to how much I like the Crimson Web skin on the Desert Eagle. Sometimes it looks amazing, first-rate. Other times, it looks unassuming and unspectacular. The particular image of it above is more the latter, but it still looks alright. I'd like a little more of a "webby" look, and less of a "fractured earth" look, but it's still nice enough.

#2 - Conspiracy

Conspiracy is exactly my kind of gun skin. Dark colors, highlighted by metallic accents. If the color scheme wasn't so close to the Pittsburgh Penguins' team colors, this might be my #1 skin. Alas, screw the Pens.

#1 - Heirloom

The Heirloom skin shares a lot of features with the Pilot skin from the Baggage Collection, so I excluded the Pilot from the list. No point in telling you I also like this other skin that looks like the one I just mentioned. Anyways, the Heirloom honestly looks the way I would expect a fancy base Deagle skin would look. I absolutely love it, and I'm glad I have my own version to use, even if I almost never use it.

Top 3 Skins (2013-2014) - P2000, USP-S, Glock-18

When Counter-Strike:Global Offensive was originally released, I was mildly interested. I had played the original Half-Life mod and enjoyed it somewhat, but I wasn't really any good at it. It was more, I appreciated the concept, and how it would be fun if engaged in with teammates and opponents of equal skill. I had occasionally read updates on CS:GO, and noted that it included a matchmaking mechanism that would theoretically set you up to play in games with people of similar skill. Still, I didn't rush to grab the game.

Then I heard about their skin system, and how some items were worth a considerable amount of money on the Steam Market, and I was all-in.

Now, while I still have a large number of small investments, and a number of mildly valuable skins (mostly less than a dollar apiece), I've bought into the whole concept of skins, and I find myself comparing new skins to previous ones on a basis of "coolness" rather than simply on investment potential.

In that vein, I'd like to now present the first in a series (yes, another series, relax jerk) of posts sharing my favorite gun skins from the beginning of their implementation in CS:GO through the end of 2014. The final collection included here would be the Vanguard Collection; the Chroma Collection (which looks solid though unspectacular) would be included in some future review.

This post will focus on the three starting pistols: the P2000 and USP-S (counter-terrorist team), and the Glock-18 (terrorist team).

P2000

The P2000 is a solid option as a starting pistol. It's got a fairly large clip with good damage. It doesn't have much armor penetration, but neither do any of the other starting pistols. That's why you buy P250s, obviously.

The P2000 hasn't gotten many flashy skins thus far, but in truth, I appreciate subtlety as much as anybody when it comes to skins. So I still enjoy the P2000 options as much as most guns.

#3 - Fire Elemental

The Fire Elemental is from the most newly released weapon case (Operation Vanguard), and is probably the flashiest P2000 skin available. Part of my appreciation for the gun probably comes from my years of playing fantasy RPGs, and having fond recollections of fire elementals in a variety of circumstances. Still, it's a nice, bold skin.

#2 - Pulse

Pulse is the kind of skin I enjoy almost unequivocally. Dark colors, sharp edges, a kind of electronic vibe. It's also not a high level skin, so chances are I'll grab one for myself at some point. For now, though, I've got way too many of my #1 skin to justify spending more money on P2000 skins.

#1 - Amber Fade

The Amber Fade doesn't look that exceptional in the market, but in-game, it feels like you're the man with the golden gun. It's from the Dust 2 Collection, which many investors including myself believed would be discontinued this past autumn with the new operation. Instead, the collection was made more available, so my stock of Amber Fade P2000s became less valuable. It's bounced back a bit, but it'll probably be a while before I can get my money back on these guys. In the meantime, though, sweet skin.

USP-S

The USP-S was added after the game had been around for a little while (along with the M4A1-S) to give counter-terrorists a few additional gun options. It doesn't have as much ammo as the P2000, so it's better for more accurate players (read: not me). But it's already got several attractive skins, including one of my "wishlist" skins at #1.

It also sounds amazing when you take off the silencer. Functionally it's worse in every way, but the sound, wowie.

#3 - Stainless

Stainless is a simple, classy skin. It looks how a real-life version of the gun might look, which I enjoy. It's just got a nice clean look, definitely one of my favorites.

#2 - Business Class

The Baggage Collection is full of quirky skins, and Business Class is one of the best. The skin really makes you believe in the altered texture of the gun, thinking that if you were to touch it, it would feel leathery, or soft like suede. A definite win.

#1 - Orion

The USP-S | Orion can actually no longer be pulled from the Huntsman Case. The original submitter of the skin had apparently stolen artwork on another skin, and as such got all of their skins removed from the case (six skins all told). But art theft aside, the Orion is a beautiful gun skin. It's got the dark, sharp colors I love, and possibly some subconscious Orioles magic in there as well. Orion, Orioles...can't be coincidence, right?

Glock-18

The Glock is the default terrorist pistol, and by far my least favorite of the three. I feel like I have no control over the Glock, even though I've seen videos displaying how it can be pretty accurate even when running. It also, for my money, has some of the weaker skin options. There are a few solid ones, but none of these top three would make either of my other two lists. Still, there is a noteworthy skin at #2, one worth talking (and reading) about.

#3 - Blue Fissure

This is a skin that looks a fair amount better in-game, actually. The fissures aren't quite so pronounced, and it looks more textured, less broken. This is another skin I think I'd like to own at some point.

#2 - Fade

The Glock-18 | Fade is one of the most famous skins in all of CS:GO. It was a top-rarity skin in the first group of skins released into the game, and its desirability and rarity make it one of the most expensive non-StatTrak guns in the Steam market. Personally, I think the style is pretty good, but not as amazing as others do. Still, among a fairly weak class, the Fade is a strong Glock skin.

#1 - Reactor

Introducing one of my favorite collections, the Cache Collection. Almost every skin in this set is appealing to me, and it tops off with restricted-level skins for the two cheap assault rifles, the Galil and FAMAS. And anyone who knows me knows I love me some Galil. The Reactor is a fine skin as well, a bit more subtle than some of the other options. I like the black base with the nuclear-feeling orange on top. Quite a solid skin.

That'll do it for the first round of reviews. Tune in next time when I get to some of the other pistol options, including a couple of market movers.

A Gambler's Secret CS:GO Fun: The Trade-Up Contract

Note: Prices from this article were retrieved in November, 2014. CS:GO market fluctuations may result in jumps and dips, but the relative prices between tiers should be consistent.
 
If, like me, you're new-ish to CS:GO, you may only have a cursory knowledge of the Trade-Up Contract. And that's okay; it's not like you're missing out on a key game feature, like grenades or deathmatch. It's a sideways way of getting new weapon skins when you've got a lot of junkers. But if you like gambling, it can be a slightly less risky way to wet your whistle than opening cases.

The Basics

First, let's go over how it works. Weapon skins have multiple grades, progressing in the following order from least rare to most rare:

• Consumer
• Industrial
• Mil-Spec
• Restricted
• Classified
• Covert
• Contraband*

*Contraband is a designation given to only one weapon thus far, the M4A4 Howl, which was redesigned and discontinued due to art theft by the submitter. For our purposes in this article, Contraband Grade weapons are irrelevant.

In order to "trade up," you select ten weapons of all the same grade, and you will receive one weapon of the next grade up. For example, If you trade up ten industrial grade weapons, you get one mil-spec weapon. If you trade up ten mil-spec weapons, you'll get a restricted weapon, and so on. So, if you wanted to trade from only consumer grade weapons and get a covert weapon, you'd need 100,000 consumer grade weapons. There are certainly that many consumer grade weapons out there, but at a nickel apiece, you'd be spending five grand to get to that point; not exactly a great strategy.

Map Collections and Case Collections

Of course, there's more to it than that. How does the game decide what weapon to grant you? Each weapon is part of a specific "collection." There are two different kinds of collections. There are collections that drop at the end of matches. We'll call these "map collections," because each of these collections is named after a map in CS:GO. So you have the Dust Collection, the Mirage Collection, the Train Collection, etc. The other kind of collections are those that drop when you use a key to open a weapon case. We'll call these "case collections," for obvious reasons. Something to note is that case collections only drop mil-spec or higher weapons. Consumer and industrial grade weapons only exist in map collections, and only drop at the end of matches.

If you trade up ten items from within the same collection, you'll get an item from the next tier up in that collection. For example, take a look at the Arms Deal Collection, the first case collection in the game. If you were to trade up ten AUG | Wings, you would be guaranteed to get one of three items: Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo, USP-S | Dark Water, or M4A1-S | Dark Water. So, your chances of getting any one of those three items would be about 33.3%. You could also trade up three AUG | Wings, three SG 553 | Ultraviolet, and four MP7 | Skulls, and have the same odds of the three restricted-grade weapon skins.

With the original Trade Up Contract, this was your only option. You were required to trade up within the same collection. Now, however, you have more options, which creates greater gambling possibilities.

Mix and Match

With the current Trade Up format, you can now trade up ten equal grade weapons from any collection and receive a random item from the next tier up among those collections. Each of the ten items contributes 10% of the odds of the resulting skin. So for example, using the AUG | Wings from above, each AUG | Wings you use in a contract would add a 3.33% chance to draw each of the Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo, the USP-S | Dark Water, and the M4A1-S | Dark Water. If you were to add a PP-Bizon | Brass from the Dust 2 Collection, you would add a full 10% chance of drawing the P2000 | Amber Fade (one of my personal favorite skins). Each base item contributes ten percent to the total, so adding this list of guns to your Trade Up Contract...

AUG | Wings
AUG | Wings
AUG | Wings
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass

...would result in the following odds:

Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo = (3.33 + 3.33 + 3.33) = 10%
USP-S | Dark Water = 10%
M4A1-S | Dark Water = 10%
P2000 | Amber Fade = (10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10) = 70%

But Math Isn't Fun...

So what's the big deal, right? The Mil-Spec weapons from the Phoenix case (UMP-45 | Corporal, Negev | Terrain, etc) are about $0.05 apiece, and at the trade up level, the Restricted weapons from that case range from $0.25 to $0.45 apiece. So a trade up only loses you money...

...unless you mix and match sets. For example, look at the Assault Collection (which you'll find is everyone's favorite because of the Glock-18 | Fade). The only industrial grade skin is the Five-SeveN | Candy Apple, which is about $1.11 on the market right now. If you traded up with only consumer grade skins from the Assault Collection, you'd spend about $1.50. But, if you only included, say, two skins from the Assault Collection, and then put in eight skins from lower end collections (Dust 2 consumer grade skins are about $0.03 right now), you could roll the dice on a 20% chance at getting the Candy Apple. It's still mathematically a losing proposition, but now it at least boasts the possibility of a big win. That's gambling, folks.

So what you're looking for are skins whose values at various tiers are notably different from the same tiers in other collections. Some rough base values to use:

• Consumer - $0.03 - $0.05
• Industrial - $0.05 - $0.09
• Mil-Spec - $0.09 - $0.14
• Restricted - $0.34 - $0.45
• Classified - $2.00 - $2.45

Covert weapons can't be traded up, only case collections go up to cover level, and covert weapon skins generally set the value for the whole collection. So, there's no reason to concern yourself with them on this chart.

An important note: there are some skins that are regularly below average market value for their grade that you should never, ever buy for trade ups. The reason is that some skins below Covert are still the top level weapon skin for their collection.

Which Collections Have Outliers?

All collections are going to have some variation in price from one tier to the next. It's a complicated result of a number of factors, most specifically the following:

• Age/supply of collection
• Demand for highest tier of weapon

That's really it. Other people will try to tell you there are more factors, like how much time is left in the current operation, or the value of lower tier weapons within the collection, and maybe they're right. But the impact of those factors is almost always negligible. I use CSGO Stash to get quick glances at various collections when I'm in the mood, or just to check up on a particular skin. The information is usually up-to-date, though it's almost always a couple cents off. Still, not enough to be a problem.

You can, of course, do your own research, but I wanted to provide a little information directly regarding which spots have some potential for gambling upside. These are skins that you can slide in as your "lotto ticket" for a reasonable price, and give yourself a chance at a big win. These are in no way guarantees, and I want to impress upon you that, even these adjusted tactics will still, more often than not, lead to a negative result, value-wise. It's just fun to give yourself that chance.

Anyways, these skins have trade-up potential that goes above and beyond the normal values for that tier. These are also only skins that have 100% trade up "win" potential; that is, if you "hit" on this skin, you're going to get a valuable skin as a result.

Assault Collection 
All consumer grade skins 
Five-SeveN | Candy Apple

Bank Collection
CZ75-Auto | Tuxedo
Galil AR | Tuxedo

Cobblestone Collection
All industrial grade skins
All mil-spec grade skins
All restricted grade skins

Italy Collection
Sawed-Off | Full Stop

Overpass Collection
All industrial grade skins

Vertigo Collection
All consumer grade skins

For giggles, and in case you were unsure of what this whole process looks like, I've prepared the videos below for your pleasure.






Thanks for reading all the way down, and good luck with your gambling!

Experiential Gaming

I was at a friends' house a couple weeks ago, and we were watching some random Twitch streams. He's got an Xbox One, so we were able to browse Twitch from the comfort of his living room couch. Anyways, the stream that we settled on was a guy playing the recently released Alien: Isolation on his PS4. He was very animated, and he did a great job of ramping up the tension in the stream. He was clearly nervous and scared (of the outcome of the game, not of streaming; he seemed perfectly comfortable sharing his gaming experience, and I wish I remembered his name). He was truly "experiencing" this game.

As I watched, I realized that this guy's gaming experience is almost completely opposite my own recent experience, and his experience is what I wish I was getting out of gaming.

I've been playing the following games of late:

PAYDAY 2

Payday 2 has a number of different heists, usually with both a stealth and "loud" approach. Each mission holds several different challenges, and some are multi-day affairs that change based on your actions on the first day. The game also offers a wide variety of moddable weapons and customizable masks, both of which are consistently supplemented through DLC (some of which I've bought, some I've not bought).

But I've really done everything I wanted to do in Payday 2. There are some achievements I don't have, some guns I haven't bought, and some missions I haven't completed on the highest difficulties, but I don't feel compelled to satisfy any of those "incomplete" aspects of the game. I've completed all I feel compelled to complete from this game, though I keep playing, because "levels" and "unlocks" I guess.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

About two months ago, I decided to finally check out the Star Wars MMO. I was a huge fan of Knights of the Old Republic, and I had actually played a little bit of the beta for SW:TOR. It was fun enough, and story-heavy, which is a nice change of pace from some of the other MMOs I've played. So I've been playing for a while now, and while the stories are interesting (and unique for each class!), I find that most of my time "playing" the game is simply spent on crafting while I do some other task outside of the game, like watch a TV show or work on a Magic deck. It's like I'm only seeking the regular validation of a successful crew mission, not actually caring about the time spent.

Pattern?

Counter-Strike:Global Offensive

I go through spurts of playing CS:GO a lot or very little. The game recently began a new "Operation," which involves a few new maps, some new weapon skins, and a revival of the mission system that was present in the last operation. The missions require you to complete some task in the game (get 20 kills in deathmatch, win a match on a particular map, etc), and after completing the mission, you receive a reward of some in-game item. These items can be worth anywhere from $0.03 (most often) up to a hundred dollars or more (pretty rare, obviously). So, naturally, I grind out some games here and there to feel like I'm "accomplishing" something.

What the shit, right?

Remember the old days of playing games just because you hadn't beaten them? Or damn, I mean, I've played Mega Man 2 a thousand times, and probably 900 of those times were after I'd beaten the game. I keep playing because the gameplay itself is fun. I don't get any achievements or register any points when I play. I just play.

So much of my gaming these days is in pursuit of small, artificial, unsatisfying goals. I'm not saying I don't like getting achievements; I'm saying I want to want to play the game, not solely want to pursue the achievements.

I have managed to get back to playing "the game" of Star Wars; I'm actually scheduled to regress from "subscriber" to "preferred user" in the next day or so, so actually I'll have fewer options with regards to crew skills and auction houses anyways. It's possible that this artificial barrier, designed to encourage users to re-subscribe, might actually help me play the game I want to play it again.

I have 846 games just on Steam. I've got a dozen more on Origin, maybe 40 on GOG.com, and probably another 30-40 on Xbox 360 (my one console that's set up). There's literally zero chance that there isn't a game in here that will get my blood pumping again. I just have to A) find it, and B) feel like I'm okay with adding a new game to my "rotation." I should feel that way, since as I said, my gaming isn't satisfying me in its current state. But I'm a complicated guy, so you never know.

How Can You Enjoy a Game You're So Unbelievably Bad At?

I'm talking, of course, about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO for short). I am just really, really bad at it. Part of it is age; I'm no spring chicken anymore, so my reflexes aren't what they used to be...which is not to say they were ever particularly good. Additionally, most of my positive experience in first-person shooters has been in campaign form (Call of Duty, Halo, Borderlands, etc), which is way different from competitive gaming against other human players. You can usually game out AI, figuring out their tendencies, their weaknesses, and, more often than not, a gimmicky way to get past difficult points in the game.

Counter-Strike isn't like that. You're almost always playing against real life opponents with real life responses to everything that happens. Most of the time, they're people who play more games than me, are younger and quicker than me, and know more about the game's strategies than me. I lose more than I win, and I'm often at or near the bottom of the scoreboard. And yet, I enjoy the game. Why?

(Mostly) Good Matchmaking

While some of the game modes (Deathmatch, Arms Race, Casual) bring in all levels of players, CS:GO's competitive matchmaking queues emphasize competitive balance. There are 18 levels in all, listed below (I'm a Silver IV):

As you can see, I'm in the fourth group out of eighteen, so obviously I'm a below average player. But when I put myself into competitive matchmaking, I get matched up against players around my skill level. This makes for interesting, competitive matches, and that makes for a more enjoyable gaming experience.

It's not a perfect system, of course. If you queue up for only a single map, or only very uncommon maps, your queues will often take longer, and the longer your queue time, the more likely the system will put you into a game with players of more widely varied skill levels. They'd rather you play something than just sit in the queue all day. But overall, especially if you're interested in playing any of a few maps, competitive matchmaking is a great way to find similarly skilled players to play with and against.

You Get Better

I don't expect I'll ever reach even the second column above. I don't have the time or youth to be particularly good at the game. But I am unequivocally better than I was. Some stuff is simple enough that the instructions are enough to change your behavior:

• Fire in short bursts
• Grab guns at the end of a round
• Aim for headshots

Some improvements require a little more instruction/experience, like good and bad usage of smokes, grenades, and flashbangs. And of course, learning each of the different guns and finding your own strengths and weaknesses goes a long way towards improving your play. The feeling of playing in games where I know the opponent is actually worse than me is great (albeit rare). And as you get better, you want to play more, which makes you better, etc etc.

The Drops

As much as I'd like to say the first two factors were equally important, the truth is the whole reason I got the game is because of the in-game item drops. A lot of these drops are nearly worthless (the number of nickel skins out there is insane), but some of them sell for a dollar or more. The fact that the game paid for itself within a few weeks was fantastic. Of course, now I've got an inventory worth probably $100, so Valve has gotten their share of my money. But I keep getting more drops, keep defraying whatever costs I incur from operations or investments or simply buying myself a neat-looking gun skin. While competitive matchmaking and my own personal improvement would keep me somewhat interested, it's the drops that will keep me interested in CS:GO for the foreseeable future.

The Professional Competitive Community

There's one more factor that's really drawn me in recently, and that's the explosion of professional CS:GO teams playing worldwide. In case you missed it, there was a huge event in August, ESL One Cologne 2014. Sixteen elite teams from all over the world competed for a $250,000 prize pool, and the event drew massive numbers of viewers on Twitch.tv. I was glued to my computer screen for a great deal of the event, and it reinforced what had been brewing in my mind for a while: I love watching experts play this game. The perfectly timed movements, the strategic use of grenades and flashbangs, and the absolutely insane "trigger speeds" they have is just incredible. If you haven't had a chance to watch two top-tier CS:GO teams clash, I highly recommend it.

So that's that, that's the deal with me and CS:GO. If you want to play with me, my name is GoodPointJoe on Steam. And as I said before, bear in mind I'm a silver IV. So it may be horrible playing with me, if you enjoy winning.