The Hills are alive…

Quick post about the new music I’m listening to these days.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been going on a music buying spree. Normally, I listen to either talk radio or several podcasts on the way to and from work. But for some reason, I’ve been listening to more and more music, so I bought a few cd’s that I’d like to recommend.

First, I purchased, Death Cab for Cutie’s cd “Plans”. This one has been out for a while now, but since I have been absent from the music listening scene for about a year, it was an interesting purchase for me. All the songs are very dark and either about death or hopelessness. Normally, I wouldn’t be into this sort of genre, but for some reason the melodies just struck a cord with me. I pride myself on the fact that I can listen to just about anything, making this group a good addiction to my collection.

I then picked up, Snow Patrol’s CD Eyes Open. Another good album, if you can call them that these days. A bit more uplifting than Death Cab.  I’ve not had a chance to listen in depth to all the songs, but the ones I have listened to are awesome. Chasing Cars is my favorite so far, which makes sense cause its been on the charts and featured in Grey’s Anatomy, a show I regret I can’t get into. It took me a long while to figure out the show is named after a book. lol

I picked up some James Blunt. Due to it being over played on most radio stations and video shows, I got really annoyed with his first hit, “You’re Beautiful” . I actually like the parody that Weird Al did much better. But his second disc, “All The Lost Souls” is very good. The song that got me hooked was “Same Mistake“. All the songs pretty much sound the same except for maybe one or two, but its still I would still recommend it.

Now, after getting all of those discs, for some reason I just couldn’t stop buying stuff. lol So, I ended up getting Tristan Prettyman’s new CD, “Hello…X“. I haven’t gotten the chance to listen to the CD yet, as you can see above I have several new discs I need to get thru first. But I wanted to pick up her cd because I really do enjoy her song, “Madly“. Its a bit pop esq, which soots me just fine considering the other choices I’ve made recently. I’m a child of the 80’s so Pop is part of what I was raised on and its always good to listen to something lite and airy every now and then. We can’t listen to death metal all the time, where would the world be if we did?

If I had to place blame for my recent purchases, I would have to point my finger at two things, VH1 and Itunes. I have a habit of getting up on Saturday mornings and do a few early dailies on WoW. I’m on a Central time PVP server, so its always good to get up before the horde and do some questing on Taco Island, as I call it. So, to keep me company, I’ll set the television to VH1 and listen to “Jump Start”, which is usually followed the show “Fresh New Music“, which is a show featuring new artists, which is where I found Duffy, but thats another story. Then, after listening to something on either show that strikes a cord with me musically, I’ll hit the Itunes store and listen to a few more songs. If I like what I hear, I’ll take a look at the section that shows what other people have bought besides this artist. It is strange how people seem to have the same tastes.

I ended up finding Augustana this way. Another good purchase I made in the last couple of weeks. You can find some interesting things just surfing itunes.

Well, thats it for this week. I hope you find my musical choices interesting and will maybe give them a bit of a listen.

I’ll post more gaming news later today I hope. I waiting to see if there are any AoC reviews out. I’m still on the fence about this one. Its hard to make a decision, on one hand I have friends that are trying to talk me into it, and on the other, I see all the bad open beta reviews. But I want to wait and see how the released client works and behaves before I cross it off my list.

That’s one BIG, SCARY, bear.

Everquest was, in my opinion, the first very, very successful MMO’s.  In it’s day, it was fondly referred to as EverCrack.  I remember sales people in stores tell customers they weren’t going to be able to sleep or eat with this game on their computers, it was so addictive.  But when the new breed of MMO came out, they weren’t called “EQ-like” or “EQ-Killers”.  They were just the next thing.  The New Generation of MMO’s.  The next stop on the evolutionary chain.  

When exactly in the gaming culture did World of Warcraft become the measuring stick?  I’m not saying it shouldn’t be the the candle we hold all other MMO’s up to, but when did this transformation happen?  I understand that having over 8 million customers is impressive, but I don’t hear people referring to other cable systems as being “Time Warner-like” or that  Dish network might be the “Direct TV-Killer”.

Now, everyone is comparing all other MMO’s to WoW.  LOTRO is “WoW” with a different interface, the questing in Vanguard is “WoW-like” and how about, Tabula Rasa has instancing similar to “WoW”.  It’s just strange that World of Warcraft is now an adjective, used to describe other MMO’s.  Even MMO’s that are coming out are being scrutinized as being possible “WoW-killers“.

Are we so caught up in the hype that is WoW that we now have to use it when talking about other games as well?  I’m just not sure when this started happening, but it seems a little strange.

 

 

The Replacement Killers!

Is this the year that World of Warcraft and Bliz get knocked off the top?  Will AoC and WAR really pull enough people away from WoW to cripple it?  Or, will it pull people away from Tabula Rasa, Vanguard and EQ2 to finally put them on life support? 

When I read posts about the new MMO’s coming out this year, it always strikes me as funny that people try to guess if its the killer replacement for WoW, rather than considering how much the new MMO’s will impact the smaller. less populated games like LOTRO or Vanguard.

 Who are these replacement killers really gunning for? 

 Is it WoW they have in their cross hairs or is it someone else that’s going to get caught in the crossfire?

I, like many, have a subscription to WoW and another MMO, my new addiction currently is LOTRO by the way. If AoC does preform well once released, I’m not going to be able to pay for three games a month, so something has to give.  LOTRO is a very nice diversion, but I’m not about to stop playing WoW.  Why you ask? Because I have a kick ass 70 Mage, that frankly, I’ve spent too much freaking time on, to just turn my back and walk away.  (yes, I do know that you can keep your character on the server after you unsubscribe and until they do a server wipe, but you see it was just a metaphor.)

So, how many people with two subs are going to stop WoW to play AoC as opposed to their other alt game?  Hence, the problem.  A lot of people just assume there is going to be a mass canceling of WoW subs and I’m thinking that it will be the other games people start dumping first.  

There are some games that won’t get impacted too much, like EVE Online or even Tabula Rasa, only because they are different from the fantasy game settings.  People play those games to get away from fantasy world based games, if anything they will pick up AoC and try it for 30 days, then leave.

Players have to remember that what impacts WoW will also impact the other MMO’s as well when a new game appears, which could be devastating.  WoW has over 8 Million players, none can boast those numbers.  Blizzard could even stand to lose a few people when the ”Killer Replacements” start to get released, especially on some of the more congested servers. Honestly, I would think that the impact on games like POTBS or Vanguard would result in a more subtle thinning of the slowly growing MMO herd, by causing servers to merge and others to possibly shut down.

The wonderful thing about WoW is that because of its cartoon graphics, it should be able to still compete with other games for years to come.  The only issue that I see would be if the new game designers find a better way to execute the end game aspect, then it would be over for WoW.  Until then, nothing is really going to damage the game.  Course, this is my opinion, but I’ve seen people who blog how bad WoW is and then not more than 6 months to a year later they jump back in. (You know who you are!)  The game must have some redeaming qualities, I mean, over 8 million people think its fun and easy to play, apparently they can’t all be wrong.

The problem is going to be all the collateral damage that the new games bring with them.  WoW might take a small hit, but the gun fire may damage a lot of smaller ones to the point where they might just have to come off of life support, and finally be allowed to die.

 

It’s Getting Better All the Time!

Well that’s what the Beatles believed.  Right?

I believe they were right and here is why.

This week, I managed to get my mage into a very good guild.  To start with, I need to stress that I am not a leader type person, I’m a follower, so basically, followed the players that got the raw deal in my “Closing the Door” blog to the guild they had migrated too.  I have to say that so far, I’m very impressed.  They are very well organized, they have rules and information posted on their website that spells out just about everything you might expect to have a question about.  Ah, to be in the land of sanity and reason again.

 I also figured out a very scientific new test to see whether a guild might be a good fit for me.  Seeing as how I’m pretty picky about guilds and the people in them. 

First you have to login pretty early in the morning and hang out till just a few guild members are logged in, maybe 2 or 3.  Then say “hello” in guild chat.  If they say something right away, it means that they are pretty friendly, especially if its a monday morning.  Now if the chat goes beyond the cordial series of greetings and works up into an actually conversation, then you know you have a pretty decent group of people.  With this new guild, I had to break off the 30 minute conversation I was having so I wouldn’t be late for work. lol

Every time I would log in to my last guild be it morning noon or night, I would always say “hello” to the guild.  It usually took them around 20 minutes for someone to say hello back, and that’s if they even noticed.  Busy people with their own busy little lives.

Anyway, I feel that I have finally found a good guild. Currently, because I am a new member, I’m in a probationary period that will last two weeks.  During this time, I won’t be eligible for loot on any of the 25 man raids, unless no one wants anything.  But that doesn’t bother me, because they have a pretty decent loot system.

Instead of DKP, you have to get classified as “Hard Core”.  ”Hard Core” status allows you rolls on loot first or you can pass.  To achieve this status, you have to get points by running raids.  So, if I run Kara, which is 1 point and then I run a 25 man raid, which is another 2 points, I will have 3 points for the week.  Three points gets me classified as ”Hard Core” which means the next week, I get to roll on gear thats for my class. Once the “Hard Core” players decide if they want it or pass.  If they pass, then it goes down to the “Casual” players, then the Alts and last the guild newbies.  It seems like a pretty good and fair system.  It encourages weekly participation without making it a system where you can fall behind.  If I take a week off cause of work, I only have to work 1 week of raiding and I’m back to “Hard Core” status.  

The great thing about this system is it only applies to the 25 man raids,because all of the current 10 man raids are on farm status, so, If I run Karazhan, then I still get to roll normally if I need the gear. 

Speaking of Karazhan, I managed to run one last week with a bunch of players from my new guild, before I had actually joined and got all the way to Prince for the first time.  It was pretty sweet and we downed him on the first try.  I collected a bunch of Badges of Justice.   I also ended up with two new pieces of gear, Trial-Fire Trousers and Collar of the Aldor, which is my T4 head piece.  I then preceded to get them socketed and plastered with glyphs, so now I’m very broke. lol

It was really nice to find a group of players to hang out with, even if it was till the wee hours of a work week, that now happen to be my new guild mates.  Isn’t that extra special?   

I will say this, I was pretty lonely when I wasn’t in a guild.  Not sure why I felt that way, because in my old guild, I didn’t really have anyone that I hung out with or chatted with.  I still have friends outside of the guild that would be on and we would chat, but I guess there is something about seeing the guild chat race by as people are arguing or discussing the next raid that seems comforting.   Or it could be just me. lol

I’ve also managed to get in a little bit of CoD 4.  Its a very good first person shooter that I would highly recommend.  I think it’s better than the Battlefield series, but don’t tell Scott I said that. If you have a 8800 GT card it just looks fantastic.  The single player game had me before the credits even started at the beginning, but it was the multiplayer aspect that really captured my attention.  By far, it is probably the best part of the game due to its originality.  Its this kind of “outside the box” thinking that MMOs need to use when designing end game content.

When you start playing online, you get a bunch of generic kits, submachine gunner, demolitionist, sniper, etc.  As you participate, you gain experience.  This earned XP works towards raising your characters rank.  As you go up in rank, the game unlocks more weapon options and special abilities.  Ever wanted to be able to get in a last shot once you knew you were dead, now you can, its an ability you can earn. lol

Pick up the game, you will like it.

Thats about it for now.  Never fear, I am still playing LOTRO.  I’ve managed to get my little Lore Master to 14, and still having fun.  I managed to pick up the new fishing hobby and work that in when I can. A friend and I still managed to group up on the Landrovel server.  We play once a week so we don’t get burned out.  Somehow he managed to become leader of an almost extinct guild, but we aren’t actively recruiting till its needed.

He also managed to get a Minstrel up to 20 without dying. Course he did it without grouping with me, but once he does, he’ll really start to die. lol

Well, thats it for now. (Didn’t I say that already?)  I have another blog sitting in my draft box that I haven’t found the time to work on yet.  I have it pretty much written, just need to create some art for it.  For some reason, having a little picture at the top of the page seems to make my blogs look a bit better, even if they aren’t the best pics.  At the least it distracts from my bad grammar and spelling.  I had my wife read a blog of mine recently and she had to stop, because my bad sentence structure was driving her mad. lol  Well, if my new hero Stephen King can get away with it, why can’t I?

 

 

 

Iron Man

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was a huge comic book fan when I was in college.  I think I had 14 long boxes full of comics by the time I got married, which is over 2000 comics easy.  While reading thru all these hero books,  I would often wonder if they would ever be able to reproduce what was written and drawn on paper for the big screen? Would they be able to make you feel like you were actually watching a comic book and seeing its characters coming to life on the screen?

There have been some successes, like “Batman Begins”, “Superman Returns” and the “Spider-man” series, all of which managed to take the characters off the page and do them and their creators a great justice, although “Spider-man 3″ wasn’t as good as the other 2 in the series.  Then you have the “just ok” super hero movies like “Fantastic Four”, “X-Men”, “Dare-Devil”and “The Punisher”.  Not great movies by a long shot, but still a bit entertaining, even if they were produced only to scam a few bucks out of the public, who is always expecting a good super hero movie.

Course the flops like “The Hulk”, “Elektra”  and “Cat Woman” where the producers and people involved should be sentence to read comic books their eyes pop out and they get it.  Apparently they don’t take the time to understand the comic book or its hero before they decide to butcher them up on the big screen and cheat you out of your hard earned cash.

So, the reason I state all this is because, as I have stated, there truly has only been a few really good super hero movies, but nothing that is a spectacular as “Iron Man”.

“Iron Man” is the movie they should have done “First”.  It is by far the best comic book movie I have seen to date.  The story is well done.  It places a lot of lore in the movie that the average view might miss, but gives any comic book fan the sense that the producers of the film have actually managed to take a favorite super hero character straight out of a comic book and placed him on the screen without losing anything in translation.  I have never felt that they were true to any of the heroes in other movies, but this time, they got it right.  

I was riveted the whole time, which meant, I never sensed any areas that dragged on too long.  The music was pretty good and the casting was just superb.  Like I said, it was like watching a comic book up on the screen.  These people really got it.

I would not change a thing and I’m really hoping to get the chance to see it again, just incase I missed some background stuff.

Please see this movie, you won’t be disappointed.  Also, as a side note, make sure you stay thru the credits, especially if your a true comic book fan.

Drive By Posting!

Sorry for the limited postings (None actually in a week I think) lately, work and having nothing really important to say has been the cause of a lot of it. Not that i don’t have “something” to say, but I usually just come up with very silly ideas, like this one I’m about to post in my drive by.

Do people on an RP server (Role Playing) just stay in character in game or do they do it on Vent and Teamspeak as well? Do some of them even dress up while they are playing the game? How hardcore are these people? I mean aren’t they just a little off their rockers? Or could they be the best thing a game has going for it?

Never having played on an RP server, I wouldn’t know. I did play AD&D a lot when I was in college and at times, I could really get into the role playing aspect of the game. I preferred a game where the DM created the whole world, all the encounters and made all the mobs have personalities, rather than one where people ran it all out of a store bought module. Less mechanics more role play I would say. I personally was happy if they never rolled the dice and we just talked our ways out of encounters.

All this is funny, because in the gaming world, I want less story and more dice rolling. Why is that? Have we been spoiled by more mechanics in a game and less story that we just want to kill stuff and could care less if the guy we are killing razed an entire village with his orc army? Does anyone know what the story behind the destruction of Norrath happens to be or do they even care? Does anyone know the story behind Black Temple or would they just rather know how to kill the mobs and get the loot?

I bet the players on an RP server know. They help give credence to the designers that build the world, create the history and make the quests that all tie together. In my opinion, they help persevere the integrity of the game, while the rest of us PVP, grind monsters and do crafting.

Things to think about.

Close the Door!

I finally managed to leave the guild.  There was no monumental reasoning behind it, I just typed “/gquit” and that was it.  

If there was a “thing” as they say or a final straw that moved me in that direction, it had to be their lack of commitment to others in the guild.  Apparently, tonight was Gruul’s lair, I was told, but never saw a message that invites were going out. In truth, if they had tried harder to get guild members to go, they wouldn’t have had to PuG 5 people for a 25 person raid.  I only saw one message go out, and it was “DPS Message me for invites” and that was from the guild leader.  Apparently, by the defender of the guild that asked me why I left, they had sent out tons of messages for invites to Gruul’s.  Its a shame my text log doesn’t go back 4 hours or I might have seen it. lol

This wasn’t the real reason for leaving, but it was “a” reason for leaving.  If you have to PuG any percentage of your 25 person raid, there is a problem.  And how do you explain to the PuG-ed people that guild members get first dibs at loot?  I mean, you have to let them know thats the rule, especially if you won’t let guild members bring in alts to fill spaces and let them have chances at loot, right?

Anyway, the response to my “Loot Whore” blog was awesome.  Just about every response I got validated the fact that the guild was being managed poorly and that I should leave as fast as humanly, or in this case, Dwarfinly possible.  Which, as already stated, I happily did. (Break these chains!)

The real problem is that the situation I described is the reason why most people either stop raiding or quit MMO’s altogether.  

It really doesn’t matter if your hardcore or casual, at some point, after reaching the top level attainable in any MMO, as a player you have to face the truth.  If you want to move forward, you have to become a raider. (Not the one’s out in L.A with the really bad record.)

Raiding is the end of the line and you have to either get with it, or bail.  If you move to some other MMO, its only a temporary fix, because you will have to face the problem again. Developers have to find a solution to this and fast.  They need to give players more options at the “End Game.”  Funneling all the players down to a predestined style of play is only going to frustrate them and turn them off as is evident by a lot of blogs I read.

I have no answers or suggestions.  I do know that if a company can successfully close the door to “End Game” raiding, and open up new, exciting and casual doors for players, they would truly be able to yell “DING”.

 

Video Games vs. the Law!

Stephen King, author of such works as “The Stand“, “Misery” and “Salem’s Lot”, writes articles for Entertainment Weekly from time to time.  Recently he discussed a bill pending in the Massachusetts state legislature known as HB 1423.  This bill basically wants to restrict the sale of video games with violent content to minors.  This is what Mr. King had to write on the subject:

HB 1423 would restrict or outright ban the sale of violent videogames to anyone under the age of 18. Which means, by the way, that a 17-year-old who can get in to see Hostel: Part II would be forbidden by law from buying (or renting, one supposes) the violent but less graphic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

They (our elected officials) want the ban because video game violence is “pornographic and has no redeeming social merit.” These types of games are sold to youngsters in order for them to experience the “vicarious thrill of killing”.  Stephen Kings also writes, “when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to mention undemocratic.”

I have to say, Stephen King is now my hero.  Why?  Well, frankly, parenting is what parents should be doing, not a governmental body.  Parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing, by being involved in their lives daily and to make sure they are learning how to make the right choices.  It’s not the job of the government to clean up the mess of poor parenting.

Several years ago, a co-worker told me a story about how his 9 yr old neighbor was playing a new crazy game he just got called “Grand Theft Auto 2″.  The little neighbor told him all about the game. After hearing about being able to run people over in cars and being able to violently beat people to death on the street, he made sure to tell the parent what kind of game their son was playing.  Being a parent himself, he felt obligated.  But apparently, the adults had bought the game for their child, not knowing what it was or how violent.

 How can this be?  I’m sure the game was very well labeled with a rating sticker.  So what is the answer?  What would a ban have done?  Parents didn’t hesitate to buy the game, even with a “Mature” rating on it.  Are we going a little to far in throwing the word “Ban” around?  Parents aren’t getting the job done now, how will passing a law and banning the sale make things better? 

Honestly, as a former kid, I know that they will find ways around laws.  ”R” rated movies are for people over 18, but I’m sure everyone has made their way into a horror movie when they were 16 or 17.  I’m sure people in college under the age of 21 have had a beer or two.  If their is a rating system for video games now, changing it so you can arrest people isn’t going to change the fact that people will get their hands on it.  It’s not the job of elected officials to be as King writes, “surrogate parents“. 

Next thing you know, we’ll be banning books with questionable content, or even thoughts.  Once they start down that road, will we ever come back?

 

 

Loot Whore

I have been aware of the term “Loot Whore” since the inception of Everquest.  As defined on the web a Loot Whore is:

A greedy person, typically of an mmo, who believes that all loots belong to him and him only. No one else matters and the loot whore will rarely consider others when practicing the ways of the loot whore. Attempts are frequently made to reverse the loot whore’s way of thinking, but sadly it is an irreversible condition.

 Loot Whore and Ninja Looter are pretty much interchangeable at times.  Ninja looters, most of the time, pop up in PuG’s, where they can’t hid very well and once uncovered are usually dealt with pretty quickly, but the Loot Whore tends to rearer their ugly head more in raiding guilds.  They are usually thwarted by observant Guild leadership, spoken with in private, suggestions of changing their evil ways are discussed and if they don’t respond, they get the infamous “/gkick”.

I bring all this up, because a very conscientious player was labeled a Loot Whore by our so called guild leadership.  Not only was he labeled as one, but anyone that associated with him or took his position in his disagreement with “Leadership” would also pretty much be branded a Loot Whore and the leadership would no longer consider them for loot in the future raids. 

How was all this found out?  One would think that anything this disruptive would be handled privately among all parties and if an amicable solution wasn’t found, the offending player would be asked politely to leave or in a worse case scenario, just “/gkick” -ed.  But instead, the Guild leader posted the situation on the website, replacing all the players involved with the terms “Player A, Player B , and Player C”, then laid out only his side of the discussion, referring to some of those involved as “Loot Whores”, informing all other players who associated with “Player B & C” they would get no chance at loot in raids and then locked off the thread so there wouldn’t be any healthy discussion.  Maturity at its finest!

Here is a summary:

What’s Happening?

I wanted to take a minute and talk about some interesting things I’ve been getting into lately.

First, I managed to play a bit of LOTRO, as you can see from my other posting today.  The game is worth a try, and you can pick it up at Circuit City for $20.00.  I also played a bit of WoW as well.  I worked my poor neglected Paladin to level 53 last night.  Sadly, I’ve only managed to take Gwion, my level 70 mage, to the new area only once since it was released, but due to the fact that I’m on a PvP server, its pretty hairy out in that zone right now from what I hear and if your not traveling in a pack, you’ll get eaten alive by horde.

 Also, over this past weekend, I was able to get into a little bit of Lost Odyssey on the Xbox 360.  It’s an RPG similar to Final Fantasy series.  I’ve only managed to beat the first Boss, but the game is pretty great.  I don’t have an HD Tv yet, but the game looks and plays really great.  If your looking for something different and your tired of waiting for the next FF game, try Lost Odyssey.  The load times aren’t as bad as some reviewers have said, and if that is all thats keeping it from getting a 10 on their scale, then I say buy the game.

Also, on my list of new purchases is my new 4 x 6 writing tablet, by Wacom.  I’ve only been able to dabble with it a bit, but its pretty sweet.  I purchased it on the believe that one day I would be able to do an internet comic like Scott Johnson and Woody Hearn.  Don’t worry, I didn’t forget, Penny Arcade.  But so far, I’ve only managed two different drawings and neither of them is a comic, I don’t think. lol

The second one isn’t finished yet, so I’m really not sure what its suppose to be.  When  I’m away doing shows out of town, I tend to doodle a lot.  I realized that some of these little doodles aren’t half bad, and I should save them, which is the reason I bought the tablet. This way, I can be creative at home as well as away and I can preserve all the silly drawings I make, and torture my readers as well.

That is about it for new stuff.  One last thing, I’m not sure I like the new wordpress interface.  Apparently, while I was out, they changed a few things, and for some reason, my foxfire browser was having a hard time uploading pictures.   Lucky for me, I decided to try the new Safari browser by Apple.  When I say new, I mean new to windows and me, not new to the world of mac users.  I’ve managed to do two postings using it and its working like a champ.  No problems getting it to upload images or any other kind of strange and crazy stuff.  I haven’t decided if i want to use it as my default browser, but I will definitely us it for my blog postings while at home.

I do want to thank everyone for dropping by.  I’m like a little kid on Christmas day when I check my blog stats or check to see if anyone has posted anything, good or bad.  Again, I promise to post a bunch this week.  I’ve got some thoughts on an article that Stephen King wrote for EW a few weeks ago about passing laws concerning video games and children, so stay tuned, you never know what I might say.