Philippa Warr

I guess this is where I discover whether anyone who reads RPS also watches Casualty or Holby City. I'm toying with the idea of doing weekly (or weekly-ish depending on work trips) roundups of the two BBC soaps for this Saturday Supplement malarkey. I caught up on this week's Casualty and Holby City episodes over lunch breaks when I came back from Atlanta. I actually…

Tagged with Casualty, Holby City, Saturday Supplement.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. As Dota enthusiasts and experts pick through the 6.82 patch notes and ponder their implications this seems like an EXCELLENT opportunity to flesh out a talk…

Tagged with Dote Night, fashion, feature, patch notes, VideoBrains.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. "We do not examine individual win / loss streaks or try to end them," say Valve staff in a blog about matchmaking and matchmaking ranking (MMR).…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, matchmaking, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. A few days ago I was playing Dota as part of a group of four. The fifth slot went to a total stranger. Maybe it'll be…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, Valve, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. A few days back I was reading through Skeleton King's lore and picking over his evolution through the years. It pulled me into a wider train…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, Dota 2, League of Legends.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. Confession: I have spent approximately $357.38 on a free videogame. Three hundred and fifty seven dollars and thirty eight cents. Second confession: Actually it's a little…

Tagged with Anuxi, Dota 2 store, Dote Night, feature, Steam Workshop, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. Just prior to The International 4 one of the professional teams – Fnatic – was engaged in a frantic back-and-forth with Valve. The discussion (and thus,…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, Valve, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. This week I wanted to share something a little different when it comes to Dota 2. It's not based on scientific research or a pet theory;…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, Goldfrapp, Instagram, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. I am on a horrific Dota 2 losing streak at the moment. Unrelatedly, this week's Dote Night will be about losing streaks and Dota 2. I've…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, losing streams, Dota 2.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. Dota, League of Legends, Smite – these are complex games to get your head around and thus a good first impression is key. Until this point…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, The International 2014, Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na’Vi’s Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. A recent Dota 2 update furnished owners of Valve's digital wizard fundraising book, the Compendium, with new in-game weather options. I've had the weather effects enabled…

Tagged with Dote Night, Dota 2.

Having just stepped into a church crypt I was confronted with the prospect of a talk on art and videogames. This could so easily be the opening sentence for a horror novel aimed at games journos or internet commenters. Luckily it was actually part of Feral Vector. Feral Vector - previously A Bit Of Alright, previously World of Love - is an indie games conference…

Tagged with events, feature, Feral Vector, That there London, wot i think.

Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na'Vi's Dendi at a dessert buffet cart. "Dota 2 is not about kills, it's not about how many towers you can take, it's about killing the throne. That's the game" I'm talking to…

Tagged with Dote Night, feature, Rat Dota, Valve, Dota 2.

A Story About My Uncle is actually a story about the narrator's uncle told as a bedtime story to a small child. Said uncle is a brilliant scientist - a whimsical and even-tempered version of Uncle Quentin from the Famous Five books. A blackboard in his abandoned house reveals that he has built some kind of waste disposal system possibly powered by starlight. The story…

Tagged with Coffee Stain Publishing, feature, Gone North Games, review, wot i think, A Story About My Uncle.

We always feel that MMOs are difficult to review in a single article, and Wildstar is even larger than most. To give a broader sense of what playing it is like, we asked Philippa Warr to venture inside and report back in three parts (part one, part two). Part three covers player housing, long-term roleplay and the subscription fee. There is a giant monstrous snail…

Tagged with Carbine Studios, feature, ncsoft, review, Wildstar review, wot i think, Wildstar.

We always feel that MMOs are difficult to review in a single article, and Wildstar is even larger than most. To give a broader sense of what playing it is like, we asked Philippa Warr to venture inside and report back in three parts (part one). Part two covers more combat detail, and getting to grips with PvP and dungeons. In a piece of advice…

Tagged with Carbine Studios, feature, MMO, ncsoft, review, Wildstar review, wot i think, Wildstar.

We always feel that MMOs are difficult to review in a single article, and Wildstar is even larger than most. To give a broader sense of what playing it is like, we asked Philippa Warr to venture inside and report back in three parts. In part one, she covers the first 18 levels of combat, questing and exploration. "Help! Bees! Bees everywhere! HELP ME!" This…

Tagged with Carbine Studios, feature, MMO, ncsoft, review, Wildstar review, wot i think, Wildstar.

'Hero brawler'. That's what Blizzard would like you to call their all-star lane pushing videogame, Heroes of the Storm. In marketing terms it's better than referencing your competitors by saying Dota-like or LoL-a-like (sidenote: no-one says LoL-a-like and this is a crying shame). More importantly, it's better than the emotionally dead and uselessly expansive MOBA. It gives you the flavour of the game you're about…

Tagged with Blizzard Entertainment, feature, hands on, hots, MOBA, preview, Heroes of the Storm.

"Oh God, it's like playing League of Legends crossed with Jumanji," was my initial verdict on Smite. I stand by that assessment but I probably ought to flesh it out a bit in this here Wot I Think piece. Here goes: Smite is Hi-Rez's god-themed MOBA. Hang on, are we calling them MOBAs at the moment? ARTS? Lane pushing game? Lords management? Wizard-em-up? Magi-brawler? Five-a-side…

Tagged with features, Hi-Rez Studios, reviews, wot i think, Smite.