On the First Week of Christmas My Mother Gave to Me.....

.... improved crosshairs in War Rock.

Signs of the times. You now can't drag your parents like the last time you wanted those shiny Ravage and Frenzy Hasbro action figures. It's the reverse now; you are older --- YOU will be the one to buy them gifts after all those years of dragging them across supercenters mewling about how you have to have that blue-gray-and-flesh-toned Man-e-faces toy. Hence, this December, over a dinner with my wife and my mother I blurted out "Ma, Christmas gift ko; 50 pesos lang, pangbili ng one month na War Rock crosshairs." My wife pinched me, my mother laughed and poof! Off I went to the nearest store that had Load Central posters plastered all over its glass doors.

Hmm. No torn blouse sleeves, force exerted, and mewling. After decades of plying the trade, I must have gotten good at this.

This was the first time I rented crosshairs so I must admit, I got really pleased with what I paid for:

Before:



After:

It's more visible this time; perfect for those maps that make it hard for you to see the default crosshairs. (Nerbil's perpetual snow for instance.) What really surprised me was the reticule's behavior when you hit someone. Running still lowers your accuracy and the crosshairs reflect this by moving away from the center dot.

Nothing new with that.

However when you hit someone:

... it reddens. This is very useful because you can retreat back to the nearest cover if your crosshairs don't redden --- a sure sign you're hitting only air. Before, it wasn't so clear if your bullets were finding your mark, particularly if your target was so far away; you could have stood there pumping lead without hitting anything. Now, you can take cover, reload and shoot again --- and hope that the next time you can quickly cap the enemy soldier.

Thanks ma! One of the best gifts ever!