Left 4 Dead is actually quite lively!

Yeah I know, lack of posting. I got a lot of bad shit going on right now. I'll still try and get more up here.

Anywho. A few months back I promised a good friend of mine that if he got a Xbox Live Gold subscription, I'd pick up Left 4 Dead within 24 hours of me being notified. He was enjoying Left 4 Dead offline quite a bit. A little less than 2 weeks ago he told me he had gotten a subscription, and was calling me to task. I'm not sure if I made the time limit, but nobody seemed to care.

I'm getting picky about my games these days. They really have to interest me or excel at something to make me spend my precious money and time on them. I followed Left 4 Dead's development, merely because it was in the news so often. That said, I didn't see what the fuss was about. I thought it was just another FPS. Now, I'm here to tell you that I was right, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in this case.

To make my first point, I'll reference the online play of other FPS games like Halo 3 and Gears of War 2. I love team combat, and I love a team that REALLY works together. I believe I've made that clear on many occasions in past posts. It adds an undefinable and precious quality that can't really be simulated. A bond. In Left 4 Dead, the primary mode of gameplay is team-based, and teamwork isn't just an advantage, it's mandatory. You either work as a team, or epic fail is in your future. The computer is pretty smart as well, which helps if you don't have people to play with.

The second point is an intuitive program called "The Director". Basically it's an A.I. program that monitors your stress levels, field of view and a few other factors to randomly generate events. Sounds simple, but the end result is a wild and unpredictable experience that really separates this game from its ilk.

The different kinds of rabid zombies with their specific audio queues, their massive numbers and the random nature of play that FORCES you to work and work well with your team. Achievements are also tuned to promote teamwork.

The story is more an homage to the zombie movie than anything else. You have four characters (a war vet, a black I.T. guy, a tattooed biker and a hottie college student who looks a lot like my fiance) going through four different familiar scenarios (an abandoned subway, an airport, a farm and the streets). They push the homage theme to the limit by running ending credits which display level stats at the end of each campaign.

If you haven't given it a shot, give the free demo a try. If you're looking for a good FPS to play with friends, this is certainly a great choice.

o7

Impressions - Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Sorry about the lack of posts. RL and my other blog have consumed most of my time. I'll try to post here more.

I love JRPGs (Japanese Role-Playing Games). Been dying to get into another one since I finished .hack//G.U. I purchased the latest Star Ocean game for the Xbox360. I've just recently gotten to the second DVD, so I think I've covered enough to get the general idea of where the game is going. I'll cover this in a good vs. bad format.


THE GOOD.

- Real-time combat. Some of my favorite RPGs are departures from the turn-based format most commonly known from the Final Fantasy series. I have an appreciation for turn-based, but RT just has more kick to it.

- Length. I knew it would be a lengthy affair as the case contained 3 DVDs. This filled me with hope, since I hate short RPGs. I need to be consumed by the epic, and that can't be done properly in short amount of time. That's not a rule, but a pervasive observation.


THE BAD.

- The Characters. As bland and cookie-cutter as they get. Not just that, but the script is horrible.

- Way too many cutscenes. I love cutscenes, but they have to be good. MGS4 was good, so it didn't bother me. .hack//G.U. had quite a few and they were awesome. These are long and quite boring.

- Graphical detail. This is a Square Enix game. I've seen what they're capable of and this would have been disappointing 5 years ago. bland designs, no detail and spotty movement. Total lack of commitment to quality. This is probably the most glaring and disappointing part of the game, and since there are so many long cutscenes, the player is subjected to sub-par work constantly.

- Verbose combat system. I like they RT aspect, but there's just too much here. Blindsides and bonus boards and chains and on and on. Less would have been more here.


All in all it seems like a game they put out just to have something on the market. Quantity well over quality, but the market seems to like it. It's not a horrible game and if you like JRPGs then you'll probably enjoy this to some extent.

At least it's something to keep my busy until Final Fantasy XIII comes out.

o7

Weekend writing... hopefully.

You know I'm dead-on-arrival when I'm writing about mediocre weekend plans. Sorry.

Hope to get a good amount of writing done. I've been handed an opportunity for some good RPing by Roc and I have a little planning to do on that front. Also continuing work on some submissions I plan for ENN.

I need to work on another blog I'm running. Yes I've got another blog. It's a sex blog.

I need to set up Skype on my PC.

I may jump on Live for some mindless fragging if I feel the urge.

I want to see if any of my corpmates are in empire this weekend. Group mission-running is a great way to field-test ship setups.

My lady has taken a pause from learning skills to quickly get herself into a mining barge. AFK mining in Hulm isn't all that AFK if you have to dock every two minutes. Ever seen a barge with two basic miners? You will...

Next week is Apocrypha week! Finally get to find out if my comp will be able to run the premium lite client at all. Here's hoping. At minimum I'll be happy if I can just change my skills until I build my new comp in the fall. I don't want to be paying for a game I can't play. If I can't even do that I may have to take... extreme measures.

I may go see Watchmen this weekend.

Should probably hit the gym Saturday. May end up at Carl's place again playing MGS4.

I'm being forced to take some sort of vacation from my job. They say I need time to decompress after a year. I've decided to take a 4-day weekend at the end of the month. That's the weekend I'm taking my parents to the Toronto Wine and Cheese Show.

Weekend starts tonight with the next episode of Dollhouse and BattleStar Galactica (only 3 eps left!).

I'm expecting a call between now and Wednesday from a Master Corporal Willis regarding recruitment into the 32 Brigade Armoured Recon unit.

Those are the plans. We'll see how it goes.

o7

Killzone 2 and dmy problem with FPS.

After a good workout and a burger with my friend Carl he told me he managed to rent a copy of Killzone 2, and that I should go over and check it out. It was an offer I could not refuse.

I play a lot of first-person shooter titles. I'm very familiar with the genre and I know what to expect and what to demand. Killzone 2 was not new territory.

Perhaps that is the problem.

Now, it's a great-looking game. The cinematic and production qualities were very high and I genuinely enjoyed the experience until I ran into a glitch. A door-opening NPC character went though a door and it closed before I could follow. I felt I'd gotten the gist of the game and went on to another title.

The fact that I was pleased with the title, yet turned down the opportunity to play longer was a red flag for me. The quality of this game SHOULD have had me playing longer, but I declined. During the long ride home, I think I came up with a reason why.

I play A LOT of FPS games. Perhaps I've reached a saturation point. Killzone 2 was a great game, but there was nothing truly original about it. Perhaps I've come to a point where I need a dash of innovation to go with one of my favorite game genres.

It shouldn't be this way. I should be able to fully appreciate a game like Killzone 2.

Perhaps this is something akin to MMO burnout. If you're inundated with a certain game you could start to crave something else. It's conceivable that such an effect could extend to a whole genre.

Perhaps that's why I like Mass Effect and Gears of War so much. These titles are FPS-like but with key differences that change up the tried-and-true rhythms. Games like Halo, Killzone and Call of Duty are great, but rely on methods that have been used, reused and perhaps overused.

I'm having a similar problem with anime and manga. I can't seem to watch a show that plays on horribly over-used formulas. BUT I still appreciate cheesy mecha shows, shounens like Bleach, etc...

I think I should give Killzone 2 more of my time when I get the opportunity. Not for any sense of dedication to the genre or series. I need to find out if I'm getting picky, bored or jaded. The first one can be a good thing, the second one can be fixed easily, but the third one has me worried since it could keep me from enjoying quality titles.

o7

BS Angel's Blog Banter: My Lady and Gaming.

Welcome, welcome to Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza headed by bs angel! Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deeply insightful to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

And the topic is : Gaming with your significant other!

I game. I game a lot. When I first met my lady many years ago she led me to believe she was just as hardcore a gamer as I was, but since she was shy I didn't press the issue, instead taking her word for it.

Later, when we began living together, I realized the extent of her noobness. Her prowess extended to JRPGs, the Harvest Moon series and little else. This didn't bother me per-se, but I do believe it came to bother her. She saw how much enjoyment I took out of more varied and challenging games, as well as my inclusion into gaming culture and wanted more and more to be a part of it. I took the role of encourager, companion, trainer and opponent.

A few years now into her journey, she's made some progress. We play Castle Crashers on and off, she owns a PSP and is slowly growing her collection of games for it, and peeking over my shoulder to perhaps gleam some interesting in other titles.

She's tried FPS games but they don't seem to pull her interest enough for her to continue training. Every few months I get her to try again and see if the genre can put some hooks into her. She has started playing EVE-Online, which is arguably the most hardcore video games ever made. She watched me play for a little under a year before she allowed me to pull her in as well. She's just starting and I'm documenting her progress here on this blog.

We wanted to start playing D&D, but it's been impossible to find a group to play with. That search continues. We tried getting into CCGs with YuGiOh. I've been a Magic: The Gathering player since 4th Edition and was stoked to start playing something again, but games like that are so much better when you have more than one opponent to choose from. It got old and we didn't continue.

She still plays JRPGs, but so do I. Really looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII. Also need to get a copy of Star Ocean 4.

We talk about games often, watch each other play and play together when the opportunity presents itself.

Gaming, like life and love, is a journey. We continue together upon it.

o7


Other participants!
Gaming with my wife, You could be doubling alone, Next Gen Killed Our Gaming Relationship, Forced Perspective, Playing With My Toys, From Gaming Geek to Heroes Freak, My Lady and Gaming, Gaming with your significant other, Gaming Together, Maybe?, Girl Gamers = Hawt, Gaming with my significant other, Move Over Hott Boy, I Want to Play, Valentine's Day is for Gamers, Frag the Girlfriend!!, 'Til Mongoose Do Us Part

Mass Effect 2: Teh Teasing Begins.

Go HERE. Come back to my blog when you're done drooling.

I'll go over what we can gleam from this flash site point-by-point.

1) At some point, we see Sheperd "die".
2) We can expect a few returning characters. I'm also guessing we'll see a point in the game where the player takes direct control of characters other than Sheperd. They did this in KOTOR2.
3) The Geth are evolving. This could be due to adapting Reaver tech to themselves.
4) We may see a slightly improved graphics engine.
5) Cerberus will be a major antagonist.

Did I miss anything?

Other than the short teaser, we get to see two pieces of setting concept art, which looks great.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that Mass Effect is probably my favorite non-EVE game of all time. I've been waiting some something to sink my teeth into for some time now, and now I can't wait for more!

If you have a 360 and have not played it, it's a pretty easy game to find and you get a great amount of replayability, especially for an RPG. It's unique in its execution and gorgeous in its presentation. What's more, you'll be able to transfer character data from the first game to the second, so anyone looking at getting into the series is best served grabbing the first game before 2010. Lastly, it's a planned trilogy, so investing in the story now gets you in on a well-constructed epic.

I was hoping for more DLC for the first game, but there are big indicators that there will be much more DLC for the sequel.

PC players have Mass Effect as well, and I'm betting on a simultaneous release for the 360 and PC this time around. Also, don't rule out a PS3 version at some point.

o7

Death Tank: Like Worms but faster.

I downloaded the trial for Death Tank, merely on the fact that I've seen some people talking about it. I didn't actually learn anything about the game, but the fact that the community was talking about it got my interested.

I've played Worms before on several platforms and through several iterations, the latest one being on the Nintendo DS. I liked it as a simple, time-based source of fun. There's something to be said about the causal fun of a time-based game.

This is like Worms... sorta.

Death Tank is not casual, in fact is seems to make every effort to make your playtime as frantic as possible. That's not a gripe, but an observation. It's real-time, and with up to 8 players in tanks on the field it gets pretty insane. What's more, after about 1 minute a random bombardment from above begins, blowing away those unlucky enough to have lasted that long until there's one left.

There's a money system which allows you to rack up cash for kills to buy upgrades and weapons over the course of 20 matches. There's not a huge amount of available items, but I guess there could be more on the way at some future date.

It's fun, but I think the price of the full game (1200 points) is a little steep. Give it a shot with the demo and tell me what you think.

Resident Evil 5 Demo and The Maw

Double review!

I was never a fan of the Resident Evil series. I've tried all of them and It's never struck me as an innovative or entertaining franchise. True to my "benefit of the doubt" approach to it, I downloaded the RE5 demo for my 360 and gave it an hour of my time.

It's definitely the prettiest RE game thus far, but that has to be expected considering how far other games are pushing the software. Visuals and audio are not surprising, but pleasing.

One of my biggest gripes about RE games is that the controls always seem needlessly stiff. If compared to Dead Space, it was difficult to maneuver and get from point A to B smoothly. Being able to evade is a key aspect of a game like this, and I was constantly fighting the controls in an effort to save my life.

An interesting development is the use of a partner, who can be controlled by another player locally or over the Live service. You can help your partner get to different places and assist each other in ways other that shooting, but that's nothing really new. The computer control of your partner was adequate, but just barely.

Honestly, I don't think I'll be getting this, but if you've liked the RE series thus far, you'll love this installment.

Now to switch gears completely, an XBLA exclusive, The Maw.

First seen at PAX '08 and winning a few awards for originality in an independent title, your character travels with a little purple eating machine called Maw. Maw is part weapon, part companion and part vehicle. He grows as he eats and takes on new powers as he goes. The entire game is very simple and cute, from the controls to the music.

It's a cheap game and worth your time if you're a casual gamer or a hardcore 1337 machine. DLC has already been announced, and even adding the cost of that into it, you get some pretty decent bang for your buck with this title. Get it, and support the indie game community.

o7

2008: Year in Review.

2008: Year in Review.

2008 was definitely a great year for geekdom, and being an uber-geek, I flourished in it.

Firstly, I returned to EVE. I did a lot of research into what I did wrong during my first jaunt and vowed not to rush into stupid decisions. My goals were to find a group to Role-Play with, and to become proficient in PvP. I managed to join the famous Ushra'Khan alliance, and was placed into the corporation COGNet SpaceSystems Ltd. They turned out to be a very supporting group, but the RP was a little lacking, so I decided to write a multi-chapter story and see where that would take me.

I still have an Xbox 360, but my game library grew at a scary pace. I have games that I bought months ago that I haven't had more that 10 minutes with, triple-A titles though they may be. Games like Gears of War 2, Dead Space, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fable 2, Fallout 3 and more. I haven't gotten around to buying a PS3, but it's in the pipe for '09. My comp isn't where in needs to be hardware-wise for the EVE premium client graphics or for the newer PC games, but I'll get around to building a gaming rig at some point. I bought a netbook. Asus EeePC1001. Sweet little machine that navigates the series of tubes with ease.

I started a blog. I wanted a place to write about myself and publish any work I may write. Others have told me that I should have a separate blogs for separate subjects, but that won't be happening. This blog is about me, not EVE. EVE players may read it, but I'm not here to cater to them at my own expense. This isn't journalism. I've done journalism (a 40,000 copy weekly circulation and a national roundtable conference), and that's not my goal here. If you're interested and entertained by my blog, I thank you for your interest.

In comics, Marvel gave us a series of huge events that tied one into another and brought new life to old and new characters alike. DC gave me a reason (finally) to read Green Lantern, and I finally started to read indie comics like Atomic Robo. I met Matt Fraction and actually learned something. We lost Michael Turner to a long battle with bone cancer. We got some good movie adaptations, and some horrible ones.

In anime, things were a little light this year, which is probably a boon to my bank account. Gurren-Lagann showed us that nothing is impossible. Haruhi Susumiya showed if we think nothing odd is happening, we're not looking hard enough. In Japan the industry began a painful change away from cookie-cutter shows and physical formats.

I bought a new TV (LG Scarlet 37") and canceled my cable TV to cut costs. Most shows I'll just buy on DVD, but I'm still going to miss Battlestar Galactica. That said, I canceled the service 3 months ago and they have yet to actually disconnect it. Sweet.

Didn't go to the movie cinema much this year, though Dark Knight is now my all-time favorite Hollywood film. Too bad The Spirit flopped.

Didn't read many novels, though Empyrean Age was pretty good. I plan to start buying novels in bulk from Amazon.

I began listening to a lot more Epic Metal and Nerdcore rap. Alt rock is still pretty prevalent but getting indie stuff is a little tricky. No concerts. Maybe in '09.

I realized the local big convention (FanExpo) is not worth by time anymore, so the decision was made to try getting to PAX, NYCC, SDCC and EVE FanFest in the next few years.

I took a huge chunk out of my debt, and I hope to have a lot more financial freedom in '09 to actually further my career.

Politics and economies were... fucked almost everywhere in the world. Good thing Obama is in though...

Cheers to '09, and to you, good reader.

o7

The Nyx just crashed into Malkalen station.

I spent most of my workday reading. At about 3/4 through the 520-page small-print book, I'm very impressed. It's Tony Gonzales' first novel, and I can see that he has a lot of talent, and perhaps a bright future as a novelist. Full review soon, but expect it to be glowing.

A reminder that there's a poll up, so if you haven't voted yet, PLEASE DO!

I know a lot of people couldn't care less about the fictional news of New Eden, but THIS IS BIG!

I'll probably put in a good number of hours into missioning this weekend. Barry wants to borrow Dead Space, so I need to finish that sometime soon.

Asked for a Fedora for Christmas, and actually got one. I think it's the first time I actually got what I asked for.

Got back late last night and didn't have a chance to update my skill list, but I'll have a full overview for you Monday.

I have My brother-in-law coming over tonight for games. He has a Wii but he's very interested in less-casual titles, and yes, I'm going to show him EVE. I'm going to blow his mind. Pray he gets hooked.

Back to the book.

o7

Something funny...

07

Comic Impressions - To infinity and beyond.

Warning: This post contains extensive use of the word "douche" and its tangents. You may have an adverse reaction to this post if you are, in fact, a douche. If you experience a reaction, stop reading. If problems persist, consult your physician about getting an acid enema, the removal of that embedded stick or implantation of a spine.

NEW POLL SO VOTE!

I like where Guardians of the Galaxy is going. A few "shocks" and "twists" here and there - mostly for cliffhanger effect - but it's mostly a well-written classic space romp with some great characters and a minimum of existentialism. The last story arc ended with the team fragmenting and going off in smaller groups to pursue their own personal quests. It's an easy and fun read with good quality, but mostly it's trying to be what it is and not what it's not, which is a problem a lot of comics fall into.

Nova continues to grow the relationship between Rider and the Overmind, while putting them both into interesting situations. Richard's emotional state and his duty as Nova Prime has come front and centre as the Overmind begins to rebuild the corp without Richard's consent or consultation. Both are right in their actions, but both are wrong at the same time. I'm interested in where this will go in the next few issues. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to write a good comparison between the Nova Corps and the various DC Lantern Corps, though at the moment there's not enough info. One thing I wish they'd done before starting the reformation of the Novas... change those gods-aweful uniforms.

I'm usually a big fan of the X-titles (even though I cut in and out when the writing gets weak), and I'm really loving X-Force right now, but one thing that's never been right with me is the Cyclops character. Simply put, he's a douche. He used to be a bigger douchebag because he was trying to live in the shadow of Professor X, a truly massive douche-nozzle in his own right. Now Xavier is gone to regain all his douchy memories and Scott is stuck with (what he thinks) is sole custodianship of mutantkind. One would think he's stop being such a douchelord with Xavier gone, but he's douche potentials have only gone up. Compared to his, Emma Frost (TEH HOTNESS!) and even some of the bigger villains come off as people you'd rather have a beer with. That being said, I've always liked Magneto, who I know is going to up to some awesome shit when he returns to the fore. Problem is it'll only make Cyclops that much more of a douche.

I haven't been paying much attention to the Secret Invasion event, and that's to say I'm not paying as much attention as I should. I'm not adverse to large events, but when there are so many titles affected I'd rather just wait for the trades to come out and save myself the hassle. It's not a lack of interest. It's a lack of time and money. I'm sure I'll get around to it. From what I've heard though, it's a really complicated event... perhaps too complicated.

WHAT COMICS ARE YOU READING? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN A FAN OF COMICS? WHAT DID YOU LIKE/NOT LIKE ABOOUT THEM?

Not sure what the weekend brings. EVE-wise, Mechanic V finishes in a little under 14 hours from now and I'll start another base skill right away. I'll probably be running missions if I have any gaming time. Taking a break from Fable 2 and Fallout 3 while I wait for patches. I've been neglecting EVE for a while and I should really get back. Got the wife to read over chapter 10 and it's met her approval. All I need to do is take a final look at it for flow. Maybe a little Gears 2.

I want to post something about the current political situation here in Canada this weekend as well. May take the first steps towards designing the blog's new look, assuming the wife has time. Ordering a few books from Amazon, including the Empyrean Age hardcover and a few Dune hardcovers. I'll post my list of purchases. I like buying from Amazon in large orders because you save on shipping.

Ja.

Fable 2: My Return to Albion

I had the first Fable, and like many of my gaming fellows I was disappointed with the experiencce. It was far too short and not nearly as engaging as a half-decent RPG should be. I had no motivation to advance.

Peter Molyneux really talked up the first game, which blew up in his face. When he started doing the same for the sequel I reacted with disdain. Why should I be listening to him now? His answer: a dog.

Fable 2 is much like Fable 1, but a few small differences has made it a little more palatable. The story and characters are more engaging now and to some degree that makes you want to progress. Production values have improved in accordance to the current generation's standards, and the dumbness of the first game's mechanics have gotten a little better balanced, though not any deeper.

The dog acts as an interesting companion and can help you in treasure-hunting, missions and combat, but definitely does not induce the kind of heart-swelling that Peter hoped it would. I find it cute when you run and it scampers to keep up though...

The voice of Zoe Wanamaker as Theresa was pretty good, and the rest was decent, though if you can't stand heavy English accents, you will be put off.

All that said, it's a glitchy release, with slowdowns and malfunctioning events almost common (though a patch is supposedly in its final phases).

The combat is extremely simple and not very intuitive. You have 3 paths to combat, Strength (melee, also controls HP), Skill (ranged, controls speed and evasion), and Will (magic, boring because there are far too many spells that do exactly the same thing). Any decent RPGer could figure out how to min-max a character in 5 minutes of reviewing the numbers and getting into a few fights. There's very little in the way of weaknesses and resistences, and what you wear has no armour effect.

There are things like renown (how popular you are), purity (good or evil) and fatness, but while they're all core elements they don't seem to demand your attention at all. Social aspects are front-and-centre, and you can marry, have sex, build a family, own property and busniesses, which is all fine. What I didn't like is how everyone seemed to be bisexual, even when their profiles said otherwise. Trying to seduce the girl in front of me usually had some random male NPC behind me becoming enamored at the same time. Annoying.

Unlike the first game, the style the game world takes this time is very much like the European pioneer eras, complete with flintlocks being the ranged weapon of choice. My problem was that (IMHO) fashion and items were really ugly back then. I would have either stayed fantasy or gone steampunk.

The game is still brutally short, and you can probably completely wreck this game in under 40 hours, which is pathetic for an RPG.

All-in-all it's not a game I'd recommend unless you're a VERY casual gamer, and taking that into account such a gamer would be better off playing something else. RPG-wise, try the .hack//G.U. series.

Unless Fable 3 makes some serious changes, I won't even give it a look.

Ja.

From Albion to Apocolypse, and everything in between.

I was a bad boy again...

I was downtown with Barry and he drifted into a crowded HMV. My stomach began to turn. I could have just told him I'd wait outside but that would have been rude, so I took a deep breath and went in. He browsed and bought nothing. I took the opportunity to keep a promise and grabbed a copy of Fable 2 for the wifey-wife.

I would have stopped then and there but I glimpsed a special edition of Fallout 3, which comes with a bobblehead, artbook and making-of DVD, all in an awesome metal lunchbox. Well worth the extra $10 for a collector of geekdom like me. I also saw the CE for Fable 2, which for the same extra cash comes only with a making-of DVD.

A good indicator if even that could be worth the price is to look at how prominently it's advertised on the packaging. In this case it was almost tucked away, which told be it was not worth it. I'll usually grab a CE just because it's a CE, these days I'm starting to demand more. And no, I never got a chance to buy the Mass Effect CE, and it haunts me to this day.

I've been playing both as much as I could on the weekend, and you'll have my thoughts on them when I've had a few more hours with each. I didn't get to play much EVE, mostly because I was not home much and I had some new games to drool over. I did get some good skill-training done though, and Mechanic V is set to be done a little before midnight Friday night, which should open up a lot for me.

I explained to the wife that I need to get all my "base skills" V'ed out. What i mean by that is all the skills that act as a base within that skill group. I'm sure there's another name for them, but that's what I call them. You know, like the Mechanic skill in the Mechanic section, and Gunnery under Gunnery.

Big shout-out and congrats to Black Claw, who managed to get himself into the vaunted CK Blog Pack. I hope to join him at some point, though I'm worried that since my blog isn't 100% about EVE, I may never make it. I do hope that everyone who's following my blog that also have their own have a link to my blog on their page via that "blogs I'm following" gadget or some other function. I display all the blogs I'm following in an effort to spread the love as best I can.

Tomorrow is the next chapter of Last Son of Prano, and I'm going to ask the wife to read over my draft of chapter 10 and let me know what she thinks. As a non-EVEer but someone loosely familiar with the mythos, she's perfect for keeping this story grounded in solid story-telling.

I was unable to get Intron Depot 3 back from Kurtis because I was too strapped for time, but I managed to pull up some scans on the net for her to start with. She's already grabbing some new Photoshop tools.

Finished the Gears of War novel. GREAT book. Reads like a World War story. I enjoyed it so much I'm writing an e-mail to the author today. I think people are being a little hard on the script in Gears 2, but these are soldiers, not poets. They're hard and tired, and it should show. It could have been a lot better, but I don't think it was terrible in general. Reading the book really helps to fill in a lot of the blanks and adds MANY layers to the characters. I look forward to more. I'll give you my full impressions Wednesday, and some comic book thoughts Thursday. Thoughts on Fable 2 and Fallout 3 on Friday. Also need to figure a new poll topic.

Ja.

My life in Eve - Part 8

just before bed I asked my wife if she read my blog today. She constantly and needlessly hesitates leaving comments (no matter how much I poke and prod) so I have to ask. She had not, and I played surprised.

"Really?" I said, looking shocked, "I made a big announcement today." That peaked her interest. I climbed into bed to indicate that I was not about to spoil it for her and she went to read it. 10 minutes later she climbs into bed and pokes me to check if I was still away. "Well? I didn't hear any typing so I know you didn't comment."

"I'm just shocked. I didn't know what to say to that. It sounds like a huge project. Are you sure you can handle it?" She said, cuddling in.

"Yes, but I won't be alone. I know the community has my back." I said. I explained to her about all the great writers and other talents in the EVE community that constantly ban together to accomplish huge projects. EVEers are extremely closely-knit. If I had to do this alone, I don't think I could.

I think I'll try to brainstorm some names for the project. Mynxee suggested "Stories from New Eden", which definitely makes the short-list. Suggest some if anything comes to mind. I use the poll to help me sort through some possibilities... so VOTE!

Minmatar Industrial IV finishes this afternoon. so tonight I'll be moving all my holdings to Abudban (pronounced by humming while vibrating your index finger between your lips) and beginning another lengthy stint in mission running for the Brutor at lvl.3-4.

I want to talk about ship names for a second. CCP does a great job of naming their ship models along certain themes, and I'm sad when I see people not taking advantage of their ability to give their ship its own name. Some corps even ask you to add a prefix acronym to signify your allegiance. Thinking up a name for my coming Maelstrom made me think about how I've named my ships in the past and how I'll do it in the future. So far I've named:

Stabber - CTF Lawn Dart (I mean... look at the thing...)
Hurricane - CTF Hyboria (it looks like a hyborian barge)
Mammoth - CTF Convoy (The nippon name for Optimus Prime)

CTF stands for COGNet Tactical Forces. I should be COGTF, but I'm not in a position to argue.

I think I'll be naming my Maelstrom Ryūmon Hōzukimaru (龍紋鬼灯丸; Dragon Crest Demon Light). To those who know Bleach it sort of fits, and the Maelstrom screams Katana to me. I could conceivably carry the Bleach Zanpakutou and Kidou theme to many other ships, and I very well may.

What have you named your ships and why?

The weekend holds an outing with my boss (Barry) and my friend (Carl). Carl needs to get his mind of his father's passing, and Barry a lonely pathetic prick with no friends and no gaming skillz. Completely devoid of 1337, uber and micro. And yes, he reads this blog. To his credit, he's an experienced chef who's giving a hobbyist foody like me lessons and tips, which I'm grateful for, so I guess that makes him pro at cooking. He warns me he's a real drill-Sargent when it comes to serious lessons, but I'm cool with that. he says his specialty is soup, so I'm going to push for lunch at the Original Soup Man and see what he thinks. Personally I think it's great stuff.

Sunday I'll be getting cozy in Abudban and using some of my newly-acquired skillbooks. probably run some missions and take stock of my standings and skills training plans. I'll probably jump on Gears 2 and see if this new patch works as well as it's supposed to. I'll find something interesting to post about. Of course I may not get the chance, since I'm purchasing Fable 2 for the wife (And Fallout 3 if I can find a used copy). I was going to buy Mirror's Edge, but I think I'll wait for the price to drop, which I'm betting it will considerably in 6 months.

Last thing: I know I promised a new look for the blog, but the wife has been busy looking for better job and that needs to take priority. I'll see what the near future holds. I'm not going with an EVE theme, since there's more to this blog than that. Right now we're mulling over a Shirow Masamune-inspired design.

Wave 50 and bringing sound to the EVE void.

Found quite a few good Gears 2 players online in my friends list so I joined them in horde. They brought me into a private match and we started from wave 47 and ended up beating 50. This was a big moment for me, not because I got the achievement (because I didn't) but it made me think that the players showing off on YouTube are mostly posers.

Going into my unlocked waves, I noticed 47-50 were unlocked but 35-46 were not. The reason being that I have not beaten those waves yet. I intend to soon though. I could post a vid online showing me beating wave 50, but I was able to just because a friend of mine had it unlocked an passed it on to his friends. Wave 50 disseminated in this fashion quite quickly, I'd imagine. Want to spot them, when a vid states its difficulty level, it's phony. Any Gear worth his ammo knows Horde from wave 1 sets its own difficulty levels from casual to insane.

When Dude Huge openly challenged players to beat all 50 waves of Horde, he could not have meant for it to be done in this fashion.

Want to show your worth? Post a vid of you beating ALL 50 WAVES IN A ROW. If I had my comp hooked up to my TV I'd do it myself, recording every time I played just in case. Maybe that's something I need to look into.

The quest continues...

EVE breeds bloggers, and EVE bloggers breeds fanfiction writers. It's a harsh gauntlet to conquer, much like the agoge of ancient Sparda. We comprise as a group - arguably - the best fanfiction writers the world has to offer. We are so skilled that our work is prominently displayed both electronically and in print. The EVE player however, is a fickle creature, often making its nest out of veldspar and frozen corpses. They often do not have the time to enjoy the richer literary entries, and because of that the writer often withers and dies due to malnutrition, its foodstuffs being that of critical and vital feedback. On the other hand, engaging sound in space is rare thing for a capsuleer, and it's in this niche that the writer may yet thrive.

To this effect, I've decided to look into creating a podcast. In effect taking EVE fanfictions and making them into audio dramas, much like what you can still find on the radio here on Terra. I will need equipment (both hardware and software), a small staff for a necessary variety of voicework. and time. I think the best way to go about it is to wait for the latest interconnectivity initiatives to take hold, as a central forum from which to base operations and procure works is critical. EVE-Bloggers would be perfect, if it ever gets off the ground.

I'm not saying I'm going to do this tomorrow or even next month. It will be something I'm planning for during the next 6 months at least. If you have any interest in helping me in this noble and challenging endeavor, drop me an e-mail explaining what you want to help with, why you want to help (remember fame and fortune may await you) and your qualifications (if any).

If you're wondering what my qualifications are, I have radio and voicework training via Humber College and high school drama, as well as audio directing and editing experience. I have passion for the written word and the spoken word. I have a growing desire to be a voice in the dark, like CK and YoMma and the other podcasters, but I want to bring something unique to the table from which we all gorge ourselves. One voice to represent the writing community and lead them into the spotlight.

Ja.

EVE Blog Banter #2: All I Ever Wanted To Be Was A Capsuleer.

This month's EVE Blog Banter comes to us from Brinelan over at The Shard (http://www.theshard.org). He asks: What drew us into EVE, what keeps us playing the game and what brought us back if we've ever left?

I was 4 years old when my mom and I went to visit my grandparents. I was bored out of my head as usual and was channel-surfing. My mom came to sit beside me and grabbed the remote. She'd heard of a show called Star Trek: The Next Generation and thought I should give it a look. She found it for me and left after a bit to take care of something, but that one hour changed my life forever, and I can NEVER thank her enough (Love you mommy!).

From that point on I absorbed any sci-fi I could get my hands on. Books, TV, movies, games, comics, anime... all stemmed from that mediocre first ep of TNG. Even my love of writing was conceived that day.

Fast forward to 2005 and gaming was feeling a little shallow for me. I'd played Earth and Beyond for a bit but was unimpressed. I was weary of getting into another MMO because I didn't want to spend 6 months grinding towards an imposed goal like a level cap. Research became key, and months of it led me to a trial of EVE. The tutorial filled me with fear and loathing, but once I was in open space I started to really enjoy it. After a few months I looked for a corporation and found myself in the "PvP Training Corp" of the ASCN. Turns out it was a big scam to turn noobs into disposable slave labour, and I got shafted for opening my mouth. Disappointed, I quit EVE and refocused on comics and shooters.

Looking back, it was a good thing and bad thing to quit. Bad because I would be BAD-FUCKING-ASS right now if I'd kept at it since '05, but good because it let me step back and grasp the depth of the game and how I would approach it long-term. I kept and eagle-eye on all developments and almost 8 months ago decided exactly how I'd jump back in. I was much better prepared to handle the challenges a capsuleer faces all the time.

EVE grabbed me by the brass because of its sandbox design and single-server universe, but what really drew me and kept me was the fiction. All that pseudo-science is an irresistible draw to someone like me, who tries endlessly to explain super-robot science in hard science terms. There was just too much to EVE to let it go... or for it to let go of me, depending on how you look at it. CCP never fails to impress me as a game company with vision and drive. Even through hard times and mistakes they've always done right by the gamers IMHO.

I knew I wanted to roleplay, and I joined the Ushra'Khan because that's what was promised. I'm a little underwhelmed with the RPing being done at the moment, but there's always room for improvement and I've made a lot of great friends.

The EVE-meets are a unique creature. I've been to conventions but this was a 15-20 person affair. Much more intimate then 40000 split-second faces passing you by. In the end I'd recommend EVE-meets to anyone passionate about the game and community. They're great fun and add yet another dimension to the EVE experience.

For those who want an EVE-meet on boosters, +5 faction implants and beer, there's EVE Fanfest. The party at the top of the world. It's a great event that rivals any single-game event I've ever heard of. They even have the Sisters of EVE program for those unsung heroes of EVE, the friends and family who train our skills when we're not home.

EVE has become a great source of blogging fodder because it's so vast and there's so many experiences to be had. EVE may not have the largest playerbase, but every hardcore capsuleer is with 100 WOWtards. I predict by next Fanfest the EVE blogosphere will get some major recognition.

Now almost 8 months down the road, I'm just finishing up my first major EVE fanfiction to (apparently) good reviews, I've been from 1.0 (missioning) to 0.0 (PvP) and back again, starting lvl.4 missions soon, eye-balling my first battleship and jump-clone, constantly drooling over headlines and expansions, a (hopefully) good member of the wonderful EVE blogging community.

Who knows what I'll be up to by the one year mark. I may have a capital ship, I may have my own corp within the U'K or tried my hand at Factional Warfare. I may have (finally) managed to build up my miner alt and pass control of it on to my wife. My future in EVE is as bright as the stars. Maybe I'll have upgraded my comp so I could use the premium graphics.

Ja.


Participants:

• CrazyKinux's Musing: EVE Blog Banter #2: Space, the Final Frontier...
• Ombeve: OOC Blog Banter 2
• The Wandering Druid of Tranquility: Internet Spaceships is Serious Business
• Semper EVE: The Allure of EVE
• A Merry Life and a Short One: EVE Blog Banter #2 - This Is My Time
• Life in Low Sec: Blog Banter #2: EVE's Enduring Allure
• Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah: Eve Blog Banter - What Drew Me Into Eve?
• Roc's Rambling: Blog Banter #2: Staying Power
• Sahirs Journey: Why am I sitting in an internet spaceship?
• Diving into PsychDiver's Psyche: EVE Blog Banter #2: All I Ever Wanted To Be Was A Capsuleer
• Achernar: Just gathering intel
• Sweet Little Bad Girl: Blog Banter #2
• The Ralpha Dogs: The Appeal of the Never-Ending Story
• A Mule in EVE: Mule Psychology : EvE Style
• A Misguided Adventure: Blog Banter - Enduring Allure
• One Man and His Spaceship: Blog Banter 2 - November 2008 Edition
• Letrange's EVE Blog: That Banter Thing
• Diary of a Space Jokey: EVE Blog Banter: How'd I get here ?!
• I May Find Peace Within The Emptiness…: EVE Blog Banter #2: New Eden Bearhug…
  

Did I step on a butterfly or something?

My karma's been in the dumps for the past few days.

My friend's dad dropped dead Friday night, and there's a lot of unresolved issues with that relationship. I don't even know the specifics, but the family isn't exactly capable of supporting itself and once the shock subsides there's going to be hell to pay, literally and figuratively. Please take a second to send a good wave their way.

it makes me think a lot about my grandmother's death a few years ago. She was taken from us by pancreatic cancer and it was very painful for everyone. Now things are very strained between my grandfather and the rest of the family. He's always angry and pushes everyone away, even when he's seemingly asking for attention. Apparently he was always this way but my grandmother held him in check. Now she's gone and nobody knows what to do. I guess after 51 years of marriage he has a right to be angry, but it's not healthy for him to be at the grave almost every day for 3 years, and nobody wants to do anything to stop him.

On my way in to work this morning I hear on the radio that my old high school nearly burned down. and once I start my shift I find out that my staff (of which I'm allotted no control but responsible for and paid the same as they are) royally fucked up on the weekend. We're talking PROPERTY DAMAGE due to security's negligence. I'm a security guard/concierge at a downtown condo in Toronto, and I'm about to pull my hair out over $10/hour.

I've gotta counter these bad vibes. Gaming might work but not looking for any death and destruction at my own hands. Presense IV finishes tonight at 7ish, which officially finishes my Learning skill training. My next bit of business is to get my Minmatar Industrial up to III so I can use a Mammoth to move myself to Abudban. Then it's all about mission running got isk and standings while fixing up my skills in every other category.

Maybe a movie would be better. I'm sure I have something uplifting somewhere.

It's a bad thing to start a week this depressed, so if I don't act on it now I'll ruin everything up to Friday, and maybe beyond.

Tomorrow is the next chapter of Last Son of Prano. I'm running into a bit of writing block on the final chapter, but I've really got to jump on it and work through it.

Maybe I need a good wave sent my way as well. It's important for me to be happy for my wife's sake. She's easily depressed and I can't let her get down on our situations. I have to bare it. She was not able to work on the blog's look last week because her job at the bakery was finally giving her some decent hours, which is a good thing. The blog will change when she has the time.

26th brings us to the next Blog Banter, brought to us by CrazyKinux. I'll be giving my thoughts on the king of the EVE blogosphere this week. The Banter blog entry will be out in the evening, so no entry in the morning like usual for that day.

Ja.

Mass Effect 2: How would I make the sequel better?

While I really love the ME, I do have a few suggestions for the sequel.

1) Garrus returns as your Spectre apprentice. He said he was going to go back to C-Sec and re-apply for Spectre training, so let's see where that goes.

2) I'm pretty sure the Asari Consort is a Shadow Broker, so have a nice long side-quest for that.

3) Shepard should split from the alliance to more fully embrace his Spectre duties. He should be given an honourary C-Sec rank (Executor sounds nice) and the crew of the Normandy should be made up of plenty of other races.

4) Now that Shepard isn't with the Alliance anymore (assuming you go with suggestion #3) and probably doesn't have to look so polished, you could probably have a lot more variation in the character creator/modify an existing model with new options. One could conceivably go nuts with colours of eyes and hair (consider cosmetic genetic manipulation would make thinks like red eyes and silver hair possible, or even heterochromia iridium).

5) Ditch the Mako. Instead have some small mecha (Arm-slaves from Full Metal Panic come to mind as a good starting point because their "lambda driver" could give the thought of biotics an a mecha scale and the tech is definitely not beyond what is present in the ME universe). Three small mecha could slide out of the Normandy's doors just like the Mako does now. There are plenty of customization options there.

6) We need an A.I. party member to add another dimension to what should definitely be happening with the Geth, just like Wrex added something to Virmire. How about a ship-board A.I. named Aegis. She could also have an engineer avatar robot for missions. It's a good character to pivot some stories on concerning the Geth. I'll have to outline my thoughts on this option later in more detail, but there's a logic to it.

7) Biotics should have a little more offensive capability. Warp should evolve into some sort of projectile pulse, maybe like a Hadouken or a quigong strike from the manga Tenjhou Tenge.

8 ) Limit the amount of returning characters. Liara should commit her life to researching everything on Ilos. Tali should go back to the Quarian fleet and spend the next few years decoding those files you gave her. Wrex should only be around if you have a cure for the genophage, which he can use to unite his people. I doubt Kaiden or Ashley really have much more story to tell, so we can brush them aside easily. Priesly should go, but Chakwas and Joker should stay. All that said, it would be cool to have the old removed characters get nice cameos. Bring in one of those Salarian commandos to replace Ashley, and a HOT freelancer human from the Terminus to round out the attitude spectrum on the Normandy. I've actually come up with some good stories for these new characters.

9) A quest to cure the genophage should be an option at some point. Also, keep running with the Cerberus story.

10) The look of armours and weapons should be more varied. Nothing crazy, just cool. Bungie had a nice design thing going with their Halo 3 multiplayer armour permutations, but I'm sure you guys could blow them out of the water.

11) A higher level cap then 60. Ideally (but it's probably not really doable), have the chance to have every skill on one character and max them all out.

12) Spectres should have access to some cool (but not wierd) genetic mods/cybernetic enhancements. I'm thinking a little Ghost in The Shell here. I'm aware there are laws prohibiting certain genetic augmentations, but since Spectres are above the law...

13) My wife wanted this really badly, but female Shepards should be able to romance Garrus. Don't ask me why, but she thinks Turians are super-hot!

14) I'd like to see some good examples of design differences in the technology of different races. At some point I should be able to clearly differentiate design doctrines, look at a random piece or tech and instantly know who made it.

15) Squad control should allow you to command members separately, as well as together.

16) All the issues with graphics, A.I., sound and everything else are fixable. Make us drool for it while you really polish your work. Keep us occupied with podcasts, pics, vids, blogs and everything else you can think of to make a fan squeal, but don't rush on our account. We will appreciate you all the more that way. Make sure to use the HDD install ability of the NXE.

17) More mini-games with more variety. There's an old Star Trek FPS that had a cool system bypass mini-game, so maybe something like that.

18) Grenades were odd. I'd like them to have different settings. The standard setting would be the same as it is now, but you could also set it to sticky proximity and maybe add a very slight homing option to the primary option. Bend it like you would a frisbee or soccerball.

19) I'm not screaming "brink back lightsaber melee combat!" like some deranged Star Wars fan (no hate brothers, its all love), but maybe a re-examination of the melee options in ME is advisable. Military vibro-knives, bayonets and some martial arts action COULD be pretty cool.

20) The Codex should have vids connected to some of its entries, and there should be a master codex viewable from the game selection screen (in extras maybe), because even though each time I start a new character it clears the in-game codex, I'd still like access to the entries I've already unlocked.

21) Seth Green could be asked to colour a little of the more humourous script. Not that the current team isn't doing a fantastic job (because they ARE), but Seth is a master of comedy and might be able to add one or two things. He's already on as Joker (wonderful job on all the voice acting BTW), why not.

22) Normandy should get an overhaul. Change it a little in 2 and again a little in 3.

I took these from a post I made on the Mass Effect offical boards. Check the link for other suggestions and responses from other players. I managed to get 4 pages of good discussion going. I did remove some of my suggestions and change a few others slightly for this post becaause I've had quite some time to think them over. Let me know what you all think!

Ja.

WAVE 35!

I'm not one to get excited easily when playing online. I get more easily excited when playing a game with a good story-telling, and when I say excited I mean screaming and jumping and humping my monitor. EVE gets me focused, but rarely have I gone wacko in my signature way that sacre the cat and makes the wife want me (don't deny it babe).

Last night on Gears 2 Horde was a definite exception.

I played 2 rounds. The first took 10 minutes to find a game and I ended up with a bunch of noob losers. I almost went to bed afterwards because I was so pissed but I tried one more time. Quickly connected and we voted on the Day One map. Anyone who's familiar with it during a Horde game knows what the deal is. It's an intersection on a ruined street with a huge crater in the center. Locust can come from all 4 directions, there's 2 ammo boxes near the north and south sides of the crater, 2 outcroppings to snipe from, and a Hammer of Dawn in one of them.

The key is for two players with good skills with the Hammer and mortars to hold the outcroppings and support the rest of the squad as the run fast and coordinated at ground level. Support means good communication and direction, as well as covering fire. Communication is always key in multiplayer, and horde is no different. Silent squads who don't work together, die divided.

So, I say hi at the beginning, no response, Damn. Someone gets killed on wave 2, double-damn. I see one Wretch left being chased by everyone and I say "Whoever kills the Wretch gets a gold star!" Laughs all around. We rip a bit into the slacker who died in wave 2 and almost every wave after that, "Slim Tugger" being clearly out of his element. Suddenly we come together as a squad. I mean MAN UP! BUCKLE DOWN! BALLS TO THE WALLS! I lay out my plans and they come together like a real squad should.

There were are few waves were it was one guy left going Rambo and saving the match, and we'd shower him with praise. Wave 17 comes around, which was my previous limit. I pipe up with, "If we make it past this wave, you all make my friends list!" which prompted yays and laughs all around. In the end we made it to wave 35, and would have gotten further if Slim Tugger was not such a waste of virtual space. Sure enough I sent friend requests to everyone (expect ST). These guys are exactly the type of player you want to play with again. Guaranteed good times.

I really wanted to keep going with these guys, but I was already cutting into some much-needed sleep-time. I was so pumped that it took me a while to come down.

Will I ever get that wave 50 achievement? I don't know. I think it'll be a real rarity among the playerbase. Only held by real pros. It'll be something I and many others aspire to.

My weekend? I'll blow through the rest of the Gears book and give you my impressions on Monday. Hopefully I'll be able to work on Prano and hopefully my friend will come through with that copy of R6V2. Other then that, Empathy V finishes @8ish and presense IV will be the last Learning skill to train for me. Finally I can get back to skills that have a direct effect on my abilities. My post on the weekend will be about another near-perfect 360 game: Mass Effect.

I'd like to point out the poll is up but hasn't been getting much attention. It's a pretty simple question: What are you? Also, feel free to send me a friend request on Live, but be sure you identify yourself in the request and be ready to play online at least occasionally. I've added the Gamertag gadget to make me easily findable.

One last thing. I found this link that gives you a transparent .png of you Live avatar. Here's me and the wife.





Ja