Val Hull

Val Hull

Resident role-playing RPG game expert. Knows where trolls and paladins come from. You must fight for your right to gather your party before venturing forth.

Scalebound Trademark Renewed

It came as a surprise to many when Microsoft’s dragon-themed action-RPG Scalebound was cancelled. But now it seems that this wasn’t the end of that story. The folks at WCCF Tech noticed that Microsoft has recently renewed the trademark for…

Chris Avellone on Kotaku’s Splitscreen Podcast

Chris Avellone has recently made an appearance on Kotaku’s Splitscreen podcast where he talked about his involvement in Arkane Studios’ Prey. As is always the case with Chris Avellone, it’s quite entertaining. The relevant part starts at the 34:30 mark…

Path of Exile Upcoming Changes to Energy Shield and Life

A new Development Manifesto outlines the planned changes to damage mitigation in the upcoming Path of Exile expansion, The Fall of Oriath. The short version is that Energy Shield is getting nerfed, while the other defences are buffed to compensate.…

Ken Levine on the Literate Gamer Podcast

Ken Levine, who recently moved away from AAA game development and formed a smaller studio, Ghost Story Games, has participated in an episode of the Literate Gamer podcast. He talked about his creative process, writing in video games, and some…

Dungeons & Dragons in PC Gaming Through the Years

An editorial on PCGamesN takes a look at the symbiotic relationship between the behemoth of tabletop roleplaying, Dungeons & Dragons, and PC games. It lists a number of influential examples, starting with Pool of Radiance and concluding with the recently…

Does Your Video Game Have Too Many Words?

On his personal blog, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software says what we’ve all probably been thinking. That is – video games are becoming too verbose for their own good. He lists examples and observations, as well as his own personal…

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Public Beta Announced

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is currently in Closed Beta. This is soon to change, when on May 24, 2017, the Public Beta kicks off. An important thing to note is that the current participants of the Closed Beta will…