Well Diablo 3 Season 6 is officially done. I managed to do very good this season. First of all, I ended up at paragon 904, which is more than what I expected from this season. In my previous blog post, I was hoping to reach paragon 888, which was my non-seasonal paragon level. With little time left, I ended up doing so many greater rifts that I pushed past paragon level 900. I think this paragon level puts me in the top 450 of all NA players for the season. This is pretty remarkable since I only play solo and don't play in any groups at all. I guess it shows that there was very little interest from the player base playing in this season at all. I would guess that there will even fewer players playing next season. My overall paragon level sits at 1035 now, which is amazing that it is above paragon 1000 now.
Secondly, when I was pushing higher greater rifts at the end, I managed to get up to greater rift 79 in the season. This puts me at rank 104 for hardcore witch doctors in North America. This is really good as well since last season I only managed to reach rank 373. I could have done maybe a greater rift 80 but I was pretty pleased with reaching greater rift 79. Thirdly, I managed to complete the guardian seasonal journey, which was the final seasonal journey goal. I didn't finish the guardian seasonal journey last season so I was pleased to complete it this season. I was worried mainly about completing a rift in 3 minutes, since it was pretty hard to do but once I did it, all I had to do was another conquest. The conquest that I chose to do was the one where you had to kill all the bosses in 20 minutes. It was pretty easy to do since the witch doctor has the Manajuma set, which makes you run very, very fast.
Overall, I am very pleased at what I accomplished this season. This was the first season that I felt that everything went smoothly. I did not end up dying at all this season and I only played one character throughout the season. I did get lucky with my drops early on in the season but after that I was just in a good rhythm the entire season. My season 6 witch doctor has the about the same number of hours played as my season 5 witch doctor but I feel more powerful with my season 6 witch doctor than my season 5. For season 7, I am kind of debating of whether or not to play a different class. With the Haedrig's gift being the Helltooth set for the witch doctor, there will be many people playing a witch doctor next season. I might end up playing a demon hunter since I liked playing with the Unhallowed set.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Death of Diablo 3
Just finishing up season 6 of Diablo 3. The season will end up closing on July 22nd. So far I have done fairly well for the season. I managed to get the Conqueror seasonal journey complete, which ended giving me the extra stash space. I have done up to greater rift 76, which puts me in the top 200 of all hardcore witch doctors. I think I am able to do a higher greater rift than that since it has been a while that I have pushed doing a higher greater rift level. I am currently sitting at paragon level 855 but I would like to get my paragon level to at least my non-seasonal paragon level, which is at 888. I only have 2 weeks left, so I am busy trying to push myself to get those paragon levels.
There has been lots of news lately involving Diablo 3. First of all, Josh Mosqueira recently left Diablo 3. This isn't good news since he was the game director for Diablo 3. There is no word on who might be replacing him (or if he will be replaced at all). Many people are speculating that Diablo 3 is now in "maintenance" mode, where no new features will be added to the game. I think this is really bad for Diablo 3 since there are no new features coming in the future, many people will stop playing the game. This is somewhat evident in season 6. This season it seems that I am doing really good but in all honesty, there are less players playing the game right now. I can't imagine many more people will continue to play Diablo 3 if the next few seasons don't bring some new changes. With less and less people playing, it might seem that you could reach a higher rank but then you are competing with less people.
With Diablo 3 entering the "maintenance" mode, there is further evidence that Blizzard might release a new Diablo game. Whether this Diablo game will be Diablo 4 or an MMO version we do not know yet. Currently, this new Diablo game is looking for a game director. There might be something that will be announced at GamesCon in August or at the next BlizzCon in November. I am kind of excited about this since Diablo 3 seems to be ending pretty soon. I personally think that this new Diablo game will be an MMO (as I wrote earlier in my blog). I hope that the big announcement will happen at BlizzCon because I will be attending that event again in November.
Anyways, I am currently rushing to finish season 6 on a high note. This weekend has double blood shards dropping so I am doing plenty of rifts and greater rifts. I am probably going to play witch doctor again for season 7, which starts on August 5th. It is going to be pretty easy to gear up a witch doctor again since Haedrig's gift for the witch doctor is the Helltooth set.
There has been lots of news lately involving Diablo 3. First of all, Josh Mosqueira recently left Diablo 3. This isn't good news since he was the game director for Diablo 3. There is no word on who might be replacing him (or if he will be replaced at all). Many people are speculating that Diablo 3 is now in "maintenance" mode, where no new features will be added to the game. I think this is really bad for Diablo 3 since there are no new features coming in the future, many people will stop playing the game. This is somewhat evident in season 6. This season it seems that I am doing really good but in all honesty, there are less players playing the game right now. I can't imagine many more people will continue to play Diablo 3 if the next few seasons don't bring some new changes. With less and less people playing, it might seem that you could reach a higher rank but then you are competing with less people.
With Diablo 3 entering the "maintenance" mode, there is further evidence that Blizzard might release a new Diablo game. Whether this Diablo game will be Diablo 4 or an MMO version we do not know yet. Currently, this new Diablo game is looking for a game director. There might be something that will be announced at GamesCon in August or at the next BlizzCon in November. I am kind of excited about this since Diablo 3 seems to be ending pretty soon. I personally think that this new Diablo game will be an MMO (as I wrote earlier in my blog). I hope that the big announcement will happen at BlizzCon because I will be attending that event again in November.
Anyways, I am currently rushing to finish season 6 on a high note. This weekend has double blood shards dropping so I am doing plenty of rifts and greater rifts. I am probably going to play witch doctor again for season 7, which starts on August 5th. It is going to be pretty easy to gear up a witch doctor again since Haedrig's gift for the witch doctor is the Helltooth set.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Juno Reactor Live Show in Vancouver Part 2
Last week I did a basic review of the Juno Reactor Live show in Vancouver. In this blog, I want to go into a bit more detail of the event. Like I wrote in the previous blog, it was kinda weird hearing something other than Conquistador opening the live show. But it was nice hearing a new song at the beginning. After Voyager 303, Feel the Universe was next. This was a bit unexpected but it set the tone for the show. You could tell that Ben was going to play the old music first and then play the newer music later. This really reminded me of the Planet Perfecto set Ben did for Paul Oakenfold. So I was secretly wanting Samurai to be played next (which it did - woooo!!). Samurai was definitely my favorite song played at the live show. I was dancing super hard to this song and I was really sweating after the song was over. Samurai is such a good song to be played live and a great song to dance to. Next up was Magnetic and this really surprised me. As I wrote in another blog post, this song is one of my favorites but it is often overlooked. It was nice hearing it at a live show since I haven't heard it at a live show before. After Magnetic it was Rotorblade. Although Rotorblade is a good song it quite isn't a great song to be played live. I kind of like songs that are more "danceable" at a live show and Rotorblade sort of doesn't do that. I used this song to cool down after hearing Samurai and Magnetic, since I was dancing really hard to both of those songs. Swamp Thing was next and this was also a nice surprise. I haven't heard this one played live either and it was really nice to dance and listen to. Conga Fury was next and I had sort of mixed feelings about this. On one hand, this is an awesome song to be played live. But on the other hand, this song is so much better when Amampondo are playing with Ben on this. This song really makes me miss Amampondo very much, they are such a great spectacle in a live show environment.
The second half of the live show starts with Navras (Jayant Remix), which was pretty much expected. I love Navras very much and Ben usually plays the Jayant Remix with it. The new song after Navras was pretty good. Next was Mona Lisa Overdrive (Thomas P. Heckmann remix) which was pretty interesting. Not my favorite remix but it was nice hearing Mona Lisa Overdrive. God Is God was next and Ben played a very cool new remix for it. I would love to get the new remix of it someday. Zombie (GMS remix) and Guillotine (Bliss remix) were the next 2 songs and this was pretty much expected. Both are real nice remixes and good songs to dance to. Conquistador (Astrix remix) was next and I was expecting this song to be played first. Still it was nice to be able to listen to this one again (it first debuted at the previous live show in Vancouver 2 years ago). Pistolero was up next, Ben played two remixes of it. The first one I didn't like too much but the second, the Astrix remix, I liked more. Definitely a crowd pleaser like always, a nice danceable song. Next was Hotaka (Uber Tmar remix) and really don't like this remix at all. I know Ben said that it was one of his favorite remixes from the Inside the Reactor remix album so he keeps playing this song. The new songs at the end of the show, I don't know the names of the song so I'll try to describe them to you. One new song featured the lovely vocals of Hamsika Iyer and it sounded so badass. Another new song Ben played (which I am pretty sure is) had sort of a Japanese vibe to it. It is tough to describe it but it almost sounds like Kaguya Hime but a bit more up-tempo. Ben did play another song after an encore but it was another new song and I can't really remember what it sounded like since it was so late in the live show.
Overall I was definitely pleased with the live show event. Since Ben has a vast array of songs from which to choose from, I am pretty sure it was hard for him to pick the songs to put into this live event. Some songs that I wanted to hear but weren't in this show were Tanta Pena (Micky Noise remix), Zwara, and Invincible (Ritmo Remix). I really like that Ben came to Vancouver again but next time I wish to see Juno Reactor the group play again. I really miss watching Amampondo, Taz, Greg Ellis and Sugizo. The lineup of Juno Reactor has changed over the years but hopefully the new group members will add as much entertainment as the previous members did. Whenever there is a chance that Juno Reactor will play live near where I live, I am sure that I am ready to go to another event because every time that I go to a Juno Reactor show, I am never, ever disappointed.
The second half of the live show starts with Navras (Jayant Remix), which was pretty much expected. I love Navras very much and Ben usually plays the Jayant Remix with it. The new song after Navras was pretty good. Next was Mona Lisa Overdrive (Thomas P. Heckmann remix) which was pretty interesting. Not my favorite remix but it was nice hearing Mona Lisa Overdrive. God Is God was next and Ben played a very cool new remix for it. I would love to get the new remix of it someday. Zombie (GMS remix) and Guillotine (Bliss remix) were the next 2 songs and this was pretty much expected. Both are real nice remixes and good songs to dance to. Conquistador (Astrix remix) was next and I was expecting this song to be played first. Still it was nice to be able to listen to this one again (it first debuted at the previous live show in Vancouver 2 years ago). Pistolero was up next, Ben played two remixes of it. The first one I didn't like too much but the second, the Astrix remix, I liked more. Definitely a crowd pleaser like always, a nice danceable song. Next was Hotaka (Uber Tmar remix) and really don't like this remix at all. I know Ben said that it was one of his favorite remixes from the Inside the Reactor remix album so he keeps playing this song. The new songs at the end of the show, I don't know the names of the song so I'll try to describe them to you. One new song featured the lovely vocals of Hamsika Iyer and it sounded so badass. Another new song Ben played (which I am pretty sure is) had sort of a Japanese vibe to it. It is tough to describe it but it almost sounds like Kaguya Hime but a bit more up-tempo. Ben did play another song after an encore but it was another new song and I can't really remember what it sounded like since it was so late in the live show.
Overall I was definitely pleased with the live show event. Since Ben has a vast array of songs from which to choose from, I am pretty sure it was hard for him to pick the songs to put into this live event. Some songs that I wanted to hear but weren't in this show were Tanta Pena (Micky Noise remix), Zwara, and Invincible (Ritmo Remix). I really like that Ben came to Vancouver again but next time I wish to see Juno Reactor the group play again. I really miss watching Amampondo, Taz, Greg Ellis and Sugizo. The lineup of Juno Reactor has changed over the years but hopefully the new group members will add as much entertainment as the previous members did. Whenever there is a chance that Juno Reactor will play live near where I live, I am sure that I am ready to go to another event because every time that I go to a Juno Reactor show, I am never, ever disappointed.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Juno Reactor Live Show Vancouver Jun 04 2016
Just got back from the Juno Reactor Live Show at the Hindenburg. Man what an awesome show it was. I was dancing like Muhammed Ali (dancing like a fly, stinging like a bee). Set list is as follows (sort of, can't remember exactly):
- I think it was Shark mixed in with Voyager 303
- Feel the Universe
- Samurai (omg!!!!!)
- Magnetic
- Rotorblade
- Swamp Thing
- Conga Fury
- Navras (Jayant Remix)
- New Song
- Mona Lisa Overdrive (Thomas P. Heckmann Remix)
- God Is God (new remix)
- Zombie (GMS remix
- Guillotine (Bliss remix)
- Conquistador (Astrix remix)
- Pistolero (2 remixes, one was Astrix remix)
- Hotaka (Uber Tmar remix)
- A couple of new songs
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Overwatch: Dragons
Blizzard's new game, Overwatch is coming out next week and I am very excited about playing it. Although I am not good at playing first-person shooter games, I think Overwatch will be a good game. I have played on the open beta for Overwatch and I did enjoy playing it. I don't think I will play Overwatch more than Diablo 3 but I will probably play it just as much as Hearthstone. Overwatch recently put out an animated short called "Dragons" which features two of the heroes in Overwatch. Please watch this animated short because I think it is very well done.
"Dragons" features two brothers, Hanzo and Genji. This animated short reminds me of myself and my little brother. My brother and I often fought with each other so I know how both Hanzo and Genji feel about each other. I, like Hanzo, am the older brother so I am going to defend Hanzo a bit more than Genji in this blog. The story of Hanzo and Genji is that they were part of the Shimada ninja clan, which was a crime-oriented syndicate run by Hanzo's and Genji's father. Once the father passed away, the elder council asked both Hanzo and Genji to run the family business. Genji refused to do this because he didn't want the responsibility. The elder council asked Hanzo to do something about Genji and Hanzo ended up killing Genji. However, Genji was revived by Dr. Angela Ziegler, who is Mercy at Overwatch. In exchange for the new cybernetic body, Genji joins Overwatch. With the help of Zenyatta, Genji learns to accept his new body. That is the story before the animated short from above.
I can totally understand Hanzo's logic to force Genji into helping him run the family business. Being the little brother, Genji doesn't realize his responsibilities the way Hanzo does. With their father being dead, it is now up to Hanzo to teach this to Genji. The only thing that I don't agree with Hanzo doing is that the fact that he killed his little brother. As the older brother, the first rule of being the older brother is to "Protect younger brother" (or sometimes younger sister even). Trust me when I say this but this is the most important thing that the older sibling must learn from their parents, without fail. Doesn't matter if you are out with your friends or your parents are away, you must always look out for your younger brother. So I have a hard time understanding why Hanzo would choose to kill his brother. Sure beat him up or something but don't kill him.
Having said all that, Genji probably had this coming to him. If he had grown up to become more responsible maybe this wouldn't have happened. Genji, like my younger brother, probably spent most of his time being a nuisance to his older brother. I often think that younger brothers are born to be just a pest to the older brother. Being the older brother, I know that I can't go and tease my little brother for no reason. If I do, the little brother will always go crying to mom or dad (and the older brother gets in trouble). But on the other hand, if the little brother starts teasing the older brother, the only way to shut up the younger brother is to beat him up (older brother is still the one that gets into trouble even though he didn't start the fight). You can clearly see this in the animated short especially when Genji tells Hanzo that burning incense isn't the right way to honor his brother's death. Either Genji must be very brave or stupid to confront Hanzo again because if Genji keeps insulting Hanzo, it will probably get Genji killed again.
Another part of the animated short that reminds me of my brother and I is the scroll in the room where Hanzo killed Genji. The scroll translate to "Dragon", "Head", "Snake", "Tail". This is very ironic that it is written this way because I was born in the year of the dragon (Chinese astrology) and my brother born one year later was born in the year of the snake. Some other ironies are that if you noticed, Genji is taller than Hanzo (which the same for myself and my brother - my brother is taller than me). Genji is probably the better swordsman, just like my brother (we both did Kendo growing up so I know that my brother is better than me). I think what Hanzo should do is what I did. I know I used to feel sad and depressed but what made me into such a positive force was listen to Juno Reactor's Samurai. And hopefully I get to do that soon again because the Juno Reactor live show is very closely approaching - yes!
"Dragons" features two brothers, Hanzo and Genji. This animated short reminds me of myself and my little brother. My brother and I often fought with each other so I know how both Hanzo and Genji feel about each other. I, like Hanzo, am the older brother so I am going to defend Hanzo a bit more than Genji in this blog. The story of Hanzo and Genji is that they were part of the Shimada ninja clan, which was a crime-oriented syndicate run by Hanzo's and Genji's father. Once the father passed away, the elder council asked both Hanzo and Genji to run the family business. Genji refused to do this because he didn't want the responsibility. The elder council asked Hanzo to do something about Genji and Hanzo ended up killing Genji. However, Genji was revived by Dr. Angela Ziegler, who is Mercy at Overwatch. In exchange for the new cybernetic body, Genji joins Overwatch. With the help of Zenyatta, Genji learns to accept his new body. That is the story before the animated short from above.
I can totally understand Hanzo's logic to force Genji into helping him run the family business. Being the little brother, Genji doesn't realize his responsibilities the way Hanzo does. With their father being dead, it is now up to Hanzo to teach this to Genji. The only thing that I don't agree with Hanzo doing is that the fact that he killed his little brother. As the older brother, the first rule of being the older brother is to "Protect younger brother" (or sometimes younger sister even). Trust me when I say this but this is the most important thing that the older sibling must learn from their parents, without fail. Doesn't matter if you are out with your friends or your parents are away, you must always look out for your younger brother. So I have a hard time understanding why Hanzo would choose to kill his brother. Sure beat him up or something but don't kill him.
Having said all that, Genji probably had this coming to him. If he had grown up to become more responsible maybe this wouldn't have happened. Genji, like my younger brother, probably spent most of his time being a nuisance to his older brother. I often think that younger brothers are born to be just a pest to the older brother. Being the older brother, I know that I can't go and tease my little brother for no reason. If I do, the little brother will always go crying to mom or dad (and the older brother gets in trouble). But on the other hand, if the little brother starts teasing the older brother, the only way to shut up the younger brother is to beat him up (older brother is still the one that gets into trouble even though he didn't start the fight). You can clearly see this in the animated short especially when Genji tells Hanzo that burning incense isn't the right way to honor his brother's death. Either Genji must be very brave or stupid to confront Hanzo again because if Genji keeps insulting Hanzo, it will probably get Genji killed again.
Another part of the animated short that reminds me of my brother and I is the scroll in the room where Hanzo killed Genji. The scroll translate to "Dragon", "Head", "Snake", "Tail". This is very ironic that it is written this way because I was born in the year of the dragon (Chinese astrology) and my brother born one year later was born in the year of the snake. Some other ironies are that if you noticed, Genji is taller than Hanzo (which the same for myself and my brother - my brother is taller than me). Genji is probably the better swordsman, just like my brother (we both did Kendo growing up so I know that my brother is better than me). I think what Hanzo should do is what I did. I know I used to feel sad and depressed but what made me into such a positive force was listen to Juno Reactor's Samurai. And hopefully I get to do that soon again because the Juno Reactor live show is very closely approaching - yes!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)