Sunday, July 21, 2013

BLOXCon Interview: halofan987123

BloxCon Interview with Halofan987123
Hi, RayMan36 here. Today you'll read my interview with  user Halofan987123, who was sitting at the table at the hackathon with crazyman32.

RayMan36: When did you join Roblox? How did you find out about the site?
Halofan987123: I joined in 2009, when a friend in fourth grade told me about ROBLOX.

Ray: What persuaded you to join the site?
HF: It looked really cool.

Ray: Do you do anything special on Roblox?
HF: I am an admin of the popular game, survival 303. 

Ray: Have you ever tried to make any ROBLOX games?
HF:  Sometimes I edit survival 303.

Ray: How is Bloxcon So far?
HF: I am enjoying it.

Ray: Have you met any well- known users today?
HF: Well, crazyman32 is sitting right across the table from me. I also met user spookyfox

Ray: What do you think of the staff?
HF: They're cool.

Ray: Finally, what did you have to eat today?
HF: I had some McDonald's egg sandwiches.
-RayMan36

Sorry for being inactive, but there will be some more interviews still from bloxcon.



Saturday, July 20, 2013

Hat Review: Magical Mystery Hat

Over the course of this week, ROBLOX has released some random limiteds during the day. By far, the worst limited of the week was, of course, a great looking hat that got ruined by ROBLOX. It is the..


Magical Mystery Hat
Mesh: 10/10

The mesh looks great. It's a top hat with a nice band held together by what looks like a large button. On the button are three feather-like things, not 100% sure what they are, but they look like feathers so I'm going to call them features. It fits nicely on your ROBLOXian's head, going well with most headphones and shades. It looks great, and goes well with most hats, so it gets a 10/10.

Texture: 10/10

The texture goes with the mesh very nicely. The main top hat is red with a nice texture overlay to make it stand out. The band is blue with darker shadows, same with the button. The three features are cyan/green, neon/yellow, and pink/purple. The texture looks very nice on the mesh, probably being one of the best looking limiteds in a while. It looks great, and goes nicely with the mesh, so it gets a 10/10.

Price: 7/10

This hat looks great, though, ROBLOX is known to ruin great looking items by overpricing and overstocking them. They did this (once again) with this hat. It was at first 5,000 Robux with 250 in stock. This hat is NOT worth that much. It should have probably been like 1,000 Robux with the same stock, then it would profit nicely, possibly reaching highs of 2,500 Robux. Original buyers who sell for RAP (Recent Average Price) right now will loose about 2,200 Robux, just plain awful. This price was just insane, which is why it gets a 7/10. 

Compared to.. (7/10)

Mr. Hatbot
Mr. Hatbot is a classic item from 2009. It is priced at 5,000 Robux, along with all the other hats being reviewed. It is a non-limited, though looks better than the Magical Mystery Hat, and doesn't loose profit for owners so it is better than Magical Mystery Hat. 

Frost Vision Goggles
Frost Vision Goggles is a retexture of Night Vision Goggles, created in early 2012. Once again, they look better than the Magical Mystery Hat, and doesn't loose profit for owners, so it is better than Magical Mystery Hat. 

Bluesteel Crown
Bluesteel Crown is another retexture created a few months ago. It doesn't really appeal to me, and doesn't really go well with other hats, so I'm going to say that it's a bit worse than Magical Mystery Hat.

Overall: 8/10

Overall, Magical Mystery Hat is a great looking item, ruined by ROBLOX with it's high price and large stock. Compared to other items at the same price, it is one of the worst. The only 'magical mystery' about this item is why it was priced so high.


Thanks for reading!
-pbjms



Friday, July 19, 2013

Borderline: Delayed?

Well, it appears the ROBLOX "summer blockbuster" FPS Borderline has apparently been delayed, again. It was set for release in August but it appears that'll be set back thanks to the oh-so pleasant "outline" update that was set into effect about a week or so before, and since I'm one of the few that follows /r/roblox and also the factor of a slow week I've decided to cover this particular topic since I figure it would be a nice change of pace from my "reviews and spotlights". So, let's get on with it.

Needless to say as I've explained before the outlines have received a mixed reaction but it's not exactly the most pleasant especially on the dislike end according to BAUER102 in this thread.

Basically, a bunch of EBR members are pretty miffed about this and have decided to quit and several others are considering, although the thing is, they don't hate the feature, they're more of.. against if being forced upon them since it especially ruins places that heavily use c-frame because those outlines to quote, "display the inner workings of environments and models we build", or to better sum it up "decent builders relied on the ability to move parts into each other and make them look like one static one. Why are you trying to destroy such an appreciated ability?" Also featured are some "ruined" creations, may they rest in piece.


Now, onto the real reason behind this post, why Borderline was delayed and all that jazz. Feel free to direct your attention a certain /r/roblox post you'll have to find on your own. Basically the post is re-directed around the thread I had posted above but if you read down through the comments you'll see a debate between redditor and Greenday987 about Strobe and Borderline's development times so if you're into drama or like looking into these sort of controversies on ROBLOX then it should be an interesting read.

But at this point I'm pretty sure you're sick of me rambling and want me to get to the point, simply put, the outlines ruined the guns they'd had designed  as you can see by this lovely picture on the sidebar, also there's another read-up that isn't that hard to find, it has the picture on the side as it's thumbnail. Read up if you'd like to go "deeper" into the story so to speak.


So, in conclusion we could be possibly seeing another delay on Borderline until ROBLOX either gets rid of the outlines (which I very much doubt) or they make them optional. As far as my thoughts go, I agree they should be made less "intrusive" or optional since c-framing has become a very big building technique/practice and I'd hate to see it go thanks to these outlines, but if anything then I guess the Borderline guys will just have to get used to them or start re-designing their guns, whatever works.

So that's a bit of some insight for you, we'll have to see what happens but I'll surely update this post with new information when it pops up, anyway if you'd like, criticize me on what I could do to improve these sorts of posts if I decide to do one or two more in the future and as always, have a nice day and expect the usual reviews or spotlight next week.

Classic Hat Review: Stage Prop!

GUESS WHO? YEA THAT'S RIGHT! I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD AND LET ME TELL YOU, THAT PLACE IS SCARY. No but seriously I am back from my ROBLOX leave and I'm bringing you more posts than you have ever seen. It's gonna be like BING BANG BONG. No but seriously all jokes aside, I won't be officially joining the RN Team but I will be back posting more as a "helper" rather than a full time staff member. I decided to come back because I really missed the team and the ROBLOX community, and I'm willing to meet all the new staff members and to make the RN community a better place.

But less talk about me, more talk about today's review. I decided, since I'm coming back, to do an old school hat review that most people probably don't know about, less even have it. This was one of my first hat's and it's very cheaply priced for anyone to buy. So without further ado, I introduce... PROP HAT, wait that's not it. STAGE PROP!
Mesh: 10/10
I'd love to say that the simplicity of this mesh is what makes it a great hat, but that's not all. It's not only simple, it's unique. There hasn't ever been another hat like this with the same mesh. Saying that, I'd really like to see a retexture of this, such as the "Illumina Prop" or the "Darkheart Prop." But if there was a prop using any other SFotH sword, it would probably ruin the uniqueness of this hat and it would probably make LMaD go crazy. And we all know we don't want any of that. It is a perfect hat for the Triple Hat feature and goes perfectly well with other hats but I'll talk about those later.

Texture: 8/10
Again, amazingly simple and unique. There are some places (such as the handle) where you can see a line that separates the beginning and end of the texture. It does represent the linked sword, and I can't emphasis enough the simplicity of this hat, yet the uniqueness either. I feel like if ROBLOX were to release a Linked Sword gear, it would ruin this hat. I gave this an 8 because I feel like there were spots where it could be more fine tuned but being one of ROBLOX's first ever hats made, it deserves its solid 8.

Pricing: 10/10
Hmm, lets talk about this pricing. Will it inflate ROBLOX? No. Is it limited? No. Will LMaD go crazy over it? No. Will it leave a hole in your bank? No. Is it worth the money? Unless you don't have 50 tix, then yes. Yes it is. For the cheaply priced 50 tix, there really isn't anything more to the pricing. Again, if there were a retexture of this, such as Darkheart Prop, and it was made limited, the pricing of both hats would be slightly ruined. Of course, it deserves a 10/10 because ROBLOX hasn't made some stupid mistake by raising the price because everyone on ROBLOX is rich now. Now even your simple guest who just joined ROBLOX can wear something so simple but they can feel cool.

Style: 10/10
Like I said before, the Triple Hat feature really helps this out. If it weren't for the Triple Hat feature, then I probably wouldn't be reviewing this. It's kind of like the Sword Pack. If there was no Triple Hat, then the hat would probably be useless. I mean, who likes to look at some bald guy walking around with a sword stuck into his head.

Recap:
This hat is perfect for it's price and what really concerns me is that this hat is somewhat lost in the swarm of limiteds. We don't appreciate these simple and cheap hats as much as the flashy and expensive hats. I feel like sometimes people should slow down, and wear this hat and not really brag about "Oohhh look at me I have a sparkly fedora and it's worth millions and all you're wearing is a sword in your head." What I would really like to appreciate would be if we were to promote a special day where you could only wear hats like these and make yourself look like an idiot. Then if everyone looks like an idiot, no one could laugh at each other "OH LOOK YOU'RE POOR YOU WEAR A SWORD IN YOUR HEAD." 

This is a very long post...
I'd really appreciate it if you would check out my twitter @alexchickenwang
And if you would check out my youtube /itschingchangchong
I make homegrown videos there, some of which are funny and some of which are serious.
Thanks for taking me back into the RN Community and I will see you in my next post!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

BloxCon Interview: Leperdy



BloxCon Interview with Leperdy
Hi, RayMan36 here. Today you'll read my BloxCon interview with a medium known user, leperdy.
I interviewed him during the hackathon, and while waiting in line for bloxcon to begin.

RayMan36: When did you join Roblox? How did you find out about the site?
leperdy: I joined in 2008, because i wanted to make a free game that was cool.

Ray: What persuaded you to join the site?
LP:You can just build. I liked the creative freedom.

Ray: Do you do anything special on Roblox?
LP: I made the popular social group Random Insanity, and I am also somewhat of a game developer.

Ray: Have you ever tried to make any ROBLOX games?
LP: I've made many games, but I am working on something that is Upwards of my other games!\

Ray: How is Bloxcon So far?
LP: It's legit.

Ray: Have you met any well- known users today?
LP: I've met crazyman32, darkgenex, and builderman.

Ray: What do you think of the staff?
LP: They're splendid.

Ray: Finally, what did you have to eat today?
LP: I had a fruit parfait today.

Ray: Thank you for your time. 



-RayMan36

Review: Legoblock Adventure 4: Rise of Shadows


Today we're looking at what you could perhaps call a "unique" breed of game, and what would that be? An adventure game. No not adventure as in "go along this linear area as a script causes certain events at certain intervals". I mean one that involves platforming, and token collecting. So, shall we put on our adventuring boots and jump into the end of a series (apparently!) that is Legoblock Adventure 4?

Gameplay

Gameplay is what I would expect from pretty much any adventure game, lots and lots of platforming, and a few puzzles here and there. But does that make it uninspired? Not really, it's a common thing but this game reminds me of TylerMcBride's Roblox Adventure series in particular. But anyway, over all 7 (full length) worlds, you'll be visiting a variety of settings, from green, lush terraces, to the dirty, abandoned skeleton of what used to be a bustling theme park. There are 6 tokens in each world, 4 normal ones, one red coin one (there are 3 red coins per level, find them all for a token), and a "Quackers" one, in which Frank loses his pet duck, Quackers over 7 times, but besides that those are your objectives and they're not too difficult to carry out. (or are they?)

Building

While most of the building within the game is basic, it gets the job done and fits the "simplistic adventure" style I suppose you could say, but of course there is c-frame here and there to spice things up. Also, there's some pretty snazzy music to keep the game going but you'll have to ask legoblockguy about what songs they are, from what I know they're mostly from Banjo Kazooie.

I'll come out and say this now, the game is not built entirely by the owner, but he has used the models which may I add, are all from TylerMcBride's games(if you wanna know more about these I'll talk about them later) which is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, in-fact this is quite good since Tyler's stuff hasn't gone to waste and the stuff he's made free has been used to give birth to games like this!

Creativity

Early on, the level design is pretty generic, but quickly ramps up to more interesting obstacles and visuals so if you keep playing, the more interesting and fun it gets you could say. Although, without saying much, the conclusion is a bit weak compared to what could've been done..

Overall

LegoBlock Adventure 4 can be summed up as a very fun, but uninspired adventure. While I applaud legoblockguy for making a good adventure, but if he makes another adventure game or series, then I think he needs to find inspiration elsewhere, as I've seen enough TylerMcBride styled adventures to be honest, but this is just my opinion and don't let it sour up your experience, enjoy the game for what it is.

While I close on this "review", it's probably best to explain why there was only two posts last week, I will only do a 2nd spotlight in a week if I find time for it, although there is very likely to be a short, but important post about a delay in the long awaited ROBLOX shooter, Borderline. But while I'm still here, I might as well leave this.
Coming Soon.





Wednesday, July 17, 2013

BLOXcon Chicago: Video Footage

BLOXcon Chicago Logo
BLOXcons are conventions run by the ROBLOX team touring across the globe. This year, in addition to Chicago, they are visiting London and New York. BLOXcons are an excellent way of communicating with staff and users alike, but also to preview upcoming alpha and beta features.

Some of you may recall the livestream covering the Chicago BLOXcon, which was embedded onto Roblox News at the weekend. The user named Pliztef who originally hosted this, has kindly uploaded all his footage onto YouTube for everyone to enjoy.


So; if you didn't catch certain sections of the livestream or missed the entire event - now is a great opportunity to catch up on everything ROBLOX.

 

In addition to this lengthy recap, Plitztef has also provided us with two comical videos of events at the BLOXcon Chicago. In the first, Pliztef meets ROBLOX intern Merely and renowned user DarkGenex



In this second video, David Baszucki (the founder and CEO of ROBLOX) was asked 'Do you even lift?' Of course, everyone knows the answer to that. 




Thanks for watching!

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News


BloxCon Interview with Crazyman32!

BloxCon Interview with Crazyman32
Hi, RayMan36 here. Today you'll read my Bloxcon Interview with crazyman32, a very well-known user. I interviewed him during the Hackathon, at about 11:00 AM. 

RayMan36: When did you join Roblox? How did you find out about the site?
Crazyman32: My friend, gunner120, showed me one day.

Ray: What persuaded you to join the site?
C32: I saw roblox as really cool. Also, you could blow up stuff.

Ray: Do you do anything special on Roblox?
C32: Yes. As many of you know, I make planes and other stuff.

Ray: How did you get into creating planes?
C32: I really wasn't interested in planes, I just wanted a challenge.

Ray: What is the most interesting aspect of making planes?
C32: They are really realistic.

Ray: Have you ever tried to make any ROBLOX games?
C32: Yes; Perilous Skies, Freeflight* and my upcoming games, stranded and Perilous Skies: New Horizons.
* I don't think Crazyman32 realized that freeflight was actually a Bloxcon trading card at that time!

Ray: How is Bloxcon So far?
C32: It's awesome.

Ray: Have you met any well- known users today?
C32: I met halofan987123 (admin of survival 303)

Ray: What do you think of the staff?
C32: They, as well, are awesome.

Ray: Finally, what did you have to eat today?
C32: I guess I had a box of poptarts, typical gaming food.

Ray: Thank you for your time.




-RayMan36

Monday, July 15, 2013

BLOXCon Chicago: Introduction

BloxCon Interviews
Introduction

Hi, RayMan36 here. As many of you know, I went to bloxcon last Saturday and had a great time. Arbirator gave me a mission: Interview as many famous users as possible. I did, and many users now know me as "that hatbot kid", wearing this hat:                                                                                  It was great at BloxCon. 

Here's some things that I did:
  1. Interviewed users
  2. Participated in the Hackathon with user Leperdy
  3. Went in the R&D lab (This was really playing on Roblox with super powered laptops).
  4. Went to the main stage presentation
  5. Bought some stuff at the merchandise booth
  6. Traded Roblox Trading Cards with other users
  7. Livestreamed the livestream livestreaming the livestream with users liama517 and Darkgenex
  8. Spun the free Roblox Stuff Wheel and won a favorite by an admin
  9. Tried to ask Merely some interview questions
  10. Got turned down by Merely
  11. Got ashamed by how cool people could build stuff
Overall, I had a ton of fun.

For some of my upcoming posts, I'll be writing down the interviews with people at BloxCon. Here's the questions I asked them:

  1. When Did you join Roblox? How did you find out about the site?
  2. What persuaded you to join Roblox?\
  3. Do you do anything special on Roblox?
  4. Have you ever made a popular Roblox Level? what is it called?
  5. How's Bloxcon so far?
  6. Have you met any well-known users today?
  7. What do you think of the staff?
  8. (Requested by arbirator) What did you have to eat today?



-RayMan36

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hat Review: Chicago: The Windy City

It's most ROBLOXian's favorite time of year as long as they bought tickets a few months in advance, Bloxcon! (Formerly known as Roblox Game Conference and ROBLOX Rally). This year, the event will be held in three different places, yesterday, the 13th of July, Bloxcon was held in Chicago. Later in the month, there will be one in London, and about a month from now there will be one in New York City. Well, during the day, a limited was released (surprisingly not causing havoc at Bloxcon);

Chicago: The Windy City
"And each time I roam, Chicago is /  Calling me home, Chicago is /  Why I just grin like a clown /  It's my kind of town"

Mesh:

The mesh is really nice. There are 2 large buildings, most likely the Sears Tower and Trump Tower. There is also a flag, a sign, a bowl, and a ball with horns. It is set up like a few other ROBLOX limiteds that I really don't recall what they're called (tweet me: @pbjmsRBLX if you know). Anyways, all of those things are set on a base that sits on your head. It looks really nice, and defiantly represents Chicago, so I'm giving the mesh a 10/10. 

Texture:

The texture really makes the mesh pop, revealing the flag to be none other than the Chicago flag. The ball is a basketball with horns (representing the Chicago Bulls), and the bowl is pizza. One tower is colored blue with white lines, my guess is that is is the Trump Tower. The other tower is grey with black lines and two lightning rods, most likely the Sears Tower. The sign also says, (I believe) "Play Ball Chicago" The grass on the bottom is, like a lot of grass, awful. It's pretty much just green with black spots. The "toppings" are nice, a bit plain, but nice. Though the grass looks awful, I'm giving the texture a 9/10.

Price:

The great part about this hat is the price. It was the cheap amount of 100 Robux. It was a limited U item with 2,500 in stock. It took a few minutes to sell out, and now it's selling for around 300-350 Robux. Original buyers get a little over 100 Robux profit, doubling what they bought the hat for. This hat profited a little more than what it sold for, so I'm giving it a 10/10 for the price.

Compared To: 9/10

Paint Bucket
Paint Bucket
Paint Bucket is a gear made in 2009 for 100 Robux, just like the other items below. It allows owners to paint any unlocked bricks in games where it is allowed. Although there is no profit with this item, it's classic and fun, so I'm saying it's better than The Windy City.

Xtreme Rainbow Hair
Xtreme Rainbow Hair
Xtreme Rainbow Hair is a hat made recently for 100 Robux. It looks plain awful, and is by far worse than The Windy City. 

Space Trooper
Space Trooper
Space Trooper is an awful looking package made in 2011, also for 100 Robux. I really don't see the point in all those pads covering up your clothes, and I rarely ever see people wearing it, so it's most likely unliked by the community, so I'm going to say it's worse than The Windy City.

Overall: 9.5/10

Chicago: The Windy City is a great looking limited to represent one of the windiest cities in the United States. The texture is alright, but a bit plain, and the mesh really shows all the great things to see in Chicago. It profited nicely, over 100 Robux profit. Compared to other items at it's original price, it's one of the best, but beaten by few. Thanks for reading!

-pbjms