A change of pace for this article - a look at mechanical keyboards and a company that is trying to make it easier for popular Asian-manufactured models to be bought in Europe and North America.  This article features a short interview with Massdrop CEO Steve El-Hage, who was kind enough to take time out a couple of months ago to answer some of my questions.  Let's get right to the interview:

How popular are mechanical keyboard group buy requests overall?

"The Mechanical Keyboard community is the second largest community on Massdrop, behind Audiophiles, making it one of the most active and engaged communities on our platform."

How receptive are keyboard manufacturers to Massdrop?

"The larger our community grows, the more receptive keyboard manufacturers become. We're currently at a point where the majority of keyboard manufacturers have listed or are interested in listing their products on Massdrop."

What advantages do you feel you offer over eBay sellers and other retailers?

"On Massdrop, everything that happens is totally community driven. The community suggests products for us to list, they vote on the best ones, they talk about what makes things good or bad, they pool together their money to buy in bulk, and they continue the conversation even after they receive their products via our discussion system. Every step of the way is focused on the community - something that makes the experience very unique and is very hard to find anywhere else."

A common issue I've seen from people is the long wait for delivery, is this anything that can be improved? Or is it an inherent drawback given the nature of how group buys work? 

"We're still a young company with a lot of room to grow. Shipping is something we’re continuously working to improve and it will be a focus of ours in the coming months as we invest more in operations and logistics."

Do you think at some point in the future manufacturers will be more trusting and send out products before full payment has been received in order to expedite delivery?

"It's possible, however it would likely result in higher prices for our users. The reason for this is that it creates much more work for the vendors as they would have to ship the units out on a rolling basis. Alternatively, we would have to estimate the total number of units, creating potential for unsold inventory. It's a possibility, but I think there will be other ways to reduce shipping times."

Given that you can't personally handle refunds for faulty devices that customers have bought through you, do they still have access to manufacturer warranty? Is this something that can be changed with more trust from the manufacturers that you buy from?

"Yes, when we deal with manufacturers directly, all manufacturer warranties on those products are typically upheld. Overall, we do everything possible to make sure our users are happy with the experience."

Massdrop is gaining popularity quickly, thanks to sites like Reddit, Lifehacker and GeekHack - Are you happy with the performance of the company?  How has the last year been for Massdrop?

"This last year has been the biggest year in Massdrop history by far with records being set across the board. We're ecstatic with the growth of the communities on Massdrop and are extremely excited for the year ahead."

Mechanical keyboards are picking up popularity within enthusiast PC user groups. Not just in gaming circles, either - mechanical keyboards can be a blessing to those that type for any length of time in their work or at home.

My thanks to Steve El-Hage for taking the time to answer questions from a new freelance writer.

Have you had experience with Massdrop? Let us know in the comments below!

INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMERS
Relevant information before reading this early impression article:

I was not given a review copy.

I have no affiliation nor contact with anyone at Firaxis Games.

I have played every Civilization game released on PC, however I would not consider myself a hardcore player.

Gameplay system as follows:
I7-2600K @ 4.2GHz w/ H100i balanced pre-set.
8Gb DDR3 RAM @ 1333MHz
Crucial M500 240GB SSD
ASUS Strix 970 4GB @ 1454MHz Boost Core / 3645MHz VRAM
Logitech Proteus Core g502 Mouse
Vortex KBC Poker II Mechanical Keyboard w/Cherry Reds

At the time of writing this piece, I had played for the game for 26 hours and completed three games on varying difficulty levels.

When Civilization: Beyond Earth was announced, comparisons were inevitably made to to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.  Firaxis however were keen to distance themselves from such comparisons, wanting the game to stand on its own two feet.

CIVILIZATION V TO BEYOND EARTH: WHAT'S CHANGED?
While Beyond Earth is clearly an iteration of Civilization V - the same engine, same movement and combat rules, same hex grid - there are some clear differences between the two games.  Let's take a look at the major differences;

The most obvious change is the theme.  When you start your first game of Beyond Earth, those that have played Alpha Centauri will get a serious hit of nostalgia - you choose a sponsor rather than a traditional civilisation, and you now have a semi-modular approach to your starting bonuses which make it easier to choose your play style.  You also get some control over where you place your capital, and as soon as another civilisation spawns you're given their capital's location and an introduction.

Starting a game you'll be met with a hostile planet - noxious miasma and more than a smattering of unpredictable alien life forms, which have replaced barbarians.  Some units can cause serious problems, especially siege worms which have a nasty habit of appearing where you'd like to place your next colony.  They're hard to deal with early in the game as they can one-shot most units.

Strategic resources have been given a revamp to match the theme, however some, like copper and oil, remain.  There are no resources in Beyond Earth that count as 'luxury' resources, though. 

Paranautical Activity, the anticipated blocky arcade shooter was removed from Steam almost immediately after its launch when one of the lead developers, Mike Maulbeck posted the following tweet:

INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMERS

Relevant information before reading this early impression article:

I was not given a review copy.

I have no affiliation nor contact with anyone at Warner Brothers, Monolith or Behaviour Interactive.

I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan.  I am a huge Arkham series fan.

Gameplay system as follows:

I7-2600K @ 4.2GHz w/ H100i balanced pre-set.
8Gb DDR3 RAM @ 1333MHz
Crucial M500 240GB SSD
ASUS Strix 970 4GB @ 1454MHz Boost Core / 3645MHz VRAM
Logitech Proteus Core g502 Mouse
Vortex KBC Poker II Mechanical Keyboard w/Cherry Reds

At the time of writing this piece, I had played for the game for 20 hours and completed 54% of the story.

There was a lot of trepidation around this game from fans of Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings universe when it became clear that Monolith Productions were going to be using some of the established lore, but creating an entirely new story with new characters – especially in the hands of a developer who did not receive great reviews for their work on Guardians of Middle Earth, another Lord of the Rings based game.

My reviews and early impressions will have a set structure, but it may change slightly over time if I (or you) feel it can be improved.

First, we’ll look at the technical aspects of the game – performance, controls, options and graphical fidelity.

OPTIONS & TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE
First, let’s take a look at the options. (Click the thumbnail for full size image.  Note, you should be using Imagus to show full size images when your cursor hovers over them! Get it here: http://www.reddit.com/r/imagus)

Thanks for visiting!

The point of this blog will be to discuss industry news and review PC games (maybe consoles in the future, but at the moment I have no interest in that area) - but with a clear mission statement in mind, which you'll find to the right of this post.

I will, in every article, attempt to clearly state anything that will colour, consciously or subconsciously, my views in relation to anything that I'm posting.  When posting about gaming news I'll do my best to ensure that the coverage is balanced and that details are checked to ensure accuracy.  I want the motives behind my opinions and content to be transparent.

Obviously, this is important in the current climate.  There's a lot of uncertainty about the level of ethics in certain areas of the gaming media, and they seem to be on the defensive in this regard, taking the unprecedented step of attacking their demographic.

In terms of content frequency, I'll be looking to post one or two times a week.  This is a hobby at the moment, and we'll see how it goes.   I'll be posting a review of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor first, and then probably one on Legend of Grimrock.  

So, a bit about me.  My name is Ian Wakefield, I'm 28 years old and I live in Europe.  I've been a gamer since the age of 5 - starting with Elite on the BBC Micro and the Amiga 500.  Throughout my life I have primarily been a PC gamer rather than a console gamer - and I do believe that PC is the best platform available.

Feel free to leave comments, get in touch on twitter or email.  The comments system will make use of the default Weebly platform for now - we'll see how well it works out.

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