14 days 18 hours 47 minutes 20 seconds

14 days 18 hours 47 minutes 20 seconds. Has it really been that long? I don't regret a single minute of any of it. Many movies were watched and many podcasts listened to. It was enough time to watch Groundhog Day 200.06 times. And I watched it at least 20 times. It is truly an amazing movie. When ever I think back to my time of leveling, I will probably think of Un'Goro Crater whilst watching groundhog day. Even in my entire travels, I think that The Hinterlands is my favorite zone, followed closely by Westfall. I think Westfall only because it's got a sweet name and for nostalgia reasons. I think I watched almost every movie in my collection during my odyssey.

In case you missed it, that is my time it has taken to get me to 70 in World of Warcraft. I had doubts along the way. "Will I ever get an end-game character is any game?". My guy is level 52 out of 55 in Call of Duty 4. This was my first character to an End-game and now the game seems much bigger. When ever I'm in Azeroth, I'm sad. It's these zones that no one ever goes in, but which were once populated to the brim. Outland will soon be that way when everyone packs up and moves to Northrend. Azshara is a piece of shit zone, but it makes me sad I never see anyone there.

Well moving away from sadness and loss. Now that I have hit 70, there are a plethora of things to do. Right now, my main goal is to reach 375 fishing skill, so I can do dailies and make a fortune in conjunction with my cooking skill. I'm also doing some Battle Grounds, trying to grind for my Arena Season 2 gear, with is only honor points now. All of this before we go raiding. All of that is to help me make enough money to get my Epic Flying Mount. There is so much to do. It's almost overwhelming. I'm glad I have music I like enough to listen to for this whole time.

Playlist:

1. WoW
2. Rock Band
3. Team Fortress 2
   

I can post here now, and I'm going to do so

Everyone has a friend (or perhaps, as in my case, IS the friend) who plays the GTA games for hours, loves them, but only completes two missions the entire time the game is out and relevant. Yep, you're talking to that guy right now. I've owned every GTA game that's been released for the xbox, yet I've never gotten remotely close to finishing any of the games. Not close.

Here's why: Killing random people is the BEST part of GTA. Picking up girls and taking them places and watching the cutscenes with the blatant racism, blah, blah, blah...who cares! Kill people! Blow up cars! I try - I really do - I try to complete the missions, but I just don't care enough. It's just so hard to take freakin' Michelle bowling yet another time. It's hard to care about some stupid get-away van when you can find many perfectly not exploded vans everywhere in the game.

That's where the cheat codes come in handy. I assume a certain level of gamer readership on this site, thus, I will not deign to actually putting the codes on here. You know where to find them if you haven't already used them. As I expanded upon in my blog (shamless plug), dropping boats out of the sky onto cars over and over again is an inexplicable joy. Also you can get lots of weapons. And boats. The best part about dropping boats on people is that when they die, from the boat that just dropped on their head, no one knows that you did anything. The cops don't bug you. They just do their thing, and you can take all the money. It's a sweet deal.

Going over to my other recent obsession, Oblivion has destroyed me. I've played for close to 120 hours so far on this character, yet I cannot bring myself to do the last couple of things I need to do to complete the main quest. "Think of the gamer points!" I think to myself, yet a strong, more deeply-rooted voice tells me "Think of the side-quests!" Yes, I know you can do the side-quests after the main story has ended, but I want to be a beast when I defeat the game.

Playlist: Oblivion, Wii Sports, COD4, GTAIV

Ha

So I started playing WoW again. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not. I started a Horde Mage on the server Velen, not that anyone really cares or anything. I don't know why I even play. There is no real fun factor in it. There is that momentary feeling of achievement when you level up, but then the feeling of helplessness sets in and you remember that there are many many levels left to 70. Are we playing for a delayed reward of being a level 70? Since when did we play Video Games for reward later? If we want delayed rewards, we do well in school or read. And Video Games is neither of those. In Team Fortress 2, you kill someone and you feel good. You succesfully beat someone else. In WoW, you can beat someone but how much of that is you being good and not just how much time you put in it for gear and how lucky you got in the ambush of them? But, Team Fortress 2, my rocket, even though it has 45 hours of experience behind it, it does as much damage as Logan's who has 0 hours play time. WoW, you grinded that sword or boots and so forth. I suppose that is what makes MMOs different than FPSs, eh?

Playlist:

1. Team Fortress 2
2. WoW
3. Sins of a Solar Empire

PS, Radon, if you want to write here, just ask.

Episode 2

In this episode we discuss the podcast names, Trials 2 Second Edition, COD 4, piracy and facebook stuff. Breifly of course.
Episode 2
Playlist:

Podcast?

Lol so Here is a test that I am putting up. It's a podcast about. nothing.
Episode Uno

1. 
   

Team Fortress MORE?!?!!?

ohmgee, I play a lot of Team Fortress 2. More and more, I've been experimenting with other classes and it has been pretty fun. I am trying out spy more and more and its been pretty fun for the most part. If I ever get more than 2 kills in thirty seconds, I literally laugh out loud becuase it is always some retarded people being retarded. One of the things that makes this game so amazing is that playing as a spy is almost completly different game from when you play as soldier. Same as when you play as Engineer. That is why this game has longevity and attraction. If you get bored with a certain class, you can switch to scout and play as some fast boston baseball fan.  

Also, I started playing Sins of a Solar Empire again. That game is sooo different if you play without just spamming units.


Playlist:

1. Team Fortress 2
   
2. Sins of a Solar Empire
3. Grand Theft Auto 4

Presentation

I gave a sweet presentation today on Team Fortress 2. I didn't explain it a lot because I didn't want to lose the class's attention. Radon marked me down for it. But anyway, I keep playing TF2 it continues to be fun. I'm not sure if it will keep being as fun. Im pretty sure that solider is my good class.

Playlist:

1. Team Fortress 2
2. Grand Theft Auto 4

Drinking for the Well of TF2

How did I even get title? I guess it just came to me. Anyway, to address the prompt. I started playing Team Fortress 2 again and again, wow. That's all I can really say. That game is just so good. I mean you can just play for hours and hours and hours. Every map has a much different feel to it that changing maps is almost like changing games. It's a true testament to the design of Valve. Every class plays so differently and yet so well. And every class works with every map.

Anyway, to the point of this whole blog. I read an article by Super Intern Norman Chan that I really agreed with. He puts forward that one thing that makes TF2 and UT3 and even Halo 3 so attractive is the lack of difference between the best players and the epic N00bZ. Norman Chan's rocket from the soldier does as much damage as someone who has started 5 minutes. The only advantage he has is that he knows where to shoot them. This is in contrast to a game like Call of Duty 4 or Battlefield 2, where the more experienced players are rewarded with better guns. This might encourage play to get those guns, but after you obtain them, where do you go? The game stops being fun. In Team Fortress's case, you have played for 100+ hours because you love the game. With the new achievements and unlockables coming out, I'm not sure that initial fun will stay.

First, it will the night of 1000 medics. Everyone's going to want to get their Uber-saw and we won't have anyone to heal or Uber. Second, we reward the talented medics by giving them better things to heal with? If anything, we should give the bad players an advantage, for they clearly need it more. This can be seen in true form in Super Smash Brother's Brawl. If someone is doing bad enough, they get a sympathy smash ball. This allows them to attempt to alleviate their losses. Third, after you get those achievements, will anyone want to continue to be medic?

My proposition is that you simply give the weapons to everyone. If people must work for them, it discourages new people from joining the game. If the weapons are initially unlockables, but then just given, there runs the risk of offending your loyal player base. The achievements are a fun enough meta-game to stand by them selves. No reward for achievements. When I was on my stint with my 360, I wanted to play to get the Achievement Points. I sat through Prey to get the 500+ points. Games stopped being fun, only something to be done to get those points. At one point, I had even asked myself, "Why would someone play any games on any other systems where there are no achievement points?". It wasn't a good thing, to say the least.
Playlist:

1. Team Fortress 2

And a year later

It's not all I have been doing, but I find it ironic that I'm still playing Oblivion. Granted, this time its for the best system out there, PC, but its still a two year old game. And it still holds up. With graphics ramped all the way up, I get 60 FPS and it looks gorgeous. Now, I'm gonna describe my character, because I'm lame. I'm a mage/theif. I have recently run into the problem of not being able to to get through any gates, for my unlock spell just goes right through them. And even with a large area spell, it doesn't unlock them. It's bullshit.

And Super Smash Bros Brawl is still a favorite. I have a feeling that it will be for many many years to come. My characters are (in order from best with to not): Pikachu, Toon Link, Captain Falcon, Kirby, Ice Climbers.

Playlist:

1. Oblivion
   
2. Super Smash Brothers Brawl
3. Guitar Hero

It makes me want to fight my freinds

Childhood conjures lots of pleasent memories: fresh cookies, Tag on the playground, naivity. But none of these are as current as Super Smash Brothers. You would sit down and have a good romp with your friends with your favorite nintendo and other cartoon characters. Then Melee came out, which was a fast departure from Original, adding lots more characters and a much faster pace. Now, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is upon us and it does not dissapoint. MY character is Picachu. He was joke that I played for one of the stages in story mode and I was good with him. Its ridiculous. Words can not describe the awesomeness of this game.

Playlist:

1. Super Smash Brothers Brawl
   
2. Geometry Wars

Geometry Wars

The need for my 360 has finally been quenched. I was able to procure Geometry Wars for the computer. This is also really gives validation to my purchase of the 360 controller receiver for my computer. I am using my controller more than ever. That game is basically an intense acid trip were you fly around and kill shapes. It's a trip.

I have also been playing a lot of Call of Duty 4 recently as well. I am currently level 48 and counting. I have all the guns to look foward to: the P90 and the M14. Well, I'm still waiting on the Barret .50 Cal Sniper rifle, but that's not as anticipated for. So now, I'm just going for M14 headshots. I am almost convinced that I like the red dot scope more than the ACOG. But, I'm going to play more and then we will see. I think it's because I can see more when I'm scoped with the red dot. I hated the iron sights for the M14. It drove me insane. When I hit level 55, I think I might just vagugly attempt to get all the achievments, you know, unlock all skins for all weapons and do all the challenges. But, not activly and not just for that. Otherwise, it would be boring. I have a couple hated maps: Bog, Overgrown and Downpour. I dislike Bloc and Wetwork, but there is not hatred there.
Playlist:

Nerdorgy

Whenever you talk or play about Sins of a Solar Empire, make there are no attractive, normal females around. Because, the quantity of the Nerdergy will be catastroophic. It is seriously that bad. But, if you can be nerdy, you can play this game. And what a game it is. Scalewise, everyhting is completly epic. I today just finished a five hour game that I have been playing for about 3 days. Yesterday, I stayed up untill midnight playing. I want to sleep now. I'll post later about it. To say something about it, its cool. Ships fly around and you blow up other ships. Economies are neccasary
but I feel that military teching does not produce a lot of benefit.
Playlist:

1. Sins of a Solar Empire (further to be referenced as SOASE)
   
2. WoW

How epic can one game be?

Sins of a Solar Empire is my latest addiction. Already it has sucked almost as much time as the entire single player campaign of COD4. It is too much fun and epic on a scale that it can only be compared with The Lord of the Rings and Jesus himself.
Playlist: Sins

The Real Modern Warfare

Is battling for time to really play Call of Duty 4. It's my recent addiction. Getting good is nice. I think that you really get into the game when you can have some influence on the game. Seeing your name at the top of the kill list is extremly satisfying. I'm level 39 (I think) and really feeling good about the game. I know that a silencer in theroy reduces your range, but if you are any good, you can easily extend your range by crouching and shooting in bursts. Speaking of not being good at games, Marc cheats. If he can't get the achievments then he makes a LAN game and kills mike. What the fuck. really. Hardcore is the best, for it is the most real feeling experience. It is a war when all you have is your sight and your gun in front of you. And, I turned the graphics up and it looks amazing and I am still getting 70 FPS.

In WoW I am level 66, putting in hours here and there. I recently starting playing Warcraft 3 again and I don't know why I never really got into it. It is a great game with a lot of different factions and with the RPG elements with the hero. And I really can't wait for Sins of a Solar Empire. It is Civ 4 in space. Huge planets that have distinct traits, and large intergalactic battles. I can not wait. It is like 45% done I hope.

Playlist:

1. COD 4
2. Warcraft 3
3. WoW

When a man loves a women

They defineatly do not play WoW. Thats probably why I am playing so much lately. I'm level 65 with my Paladin Akoris. I'm on the march to 70! I'm done with Zangermarsh. 
Finished! I already miss Terrokar Forest. I shouldn't though. Anyway, My dwarf hunter, my side
protoge is 15, just slowly creeping, I've reserved his play time for morning before school. A little, here, a little there, its's workin for me. I'm liking My boar that I tamed, with the charge and all. Witht he three people that read this, they are not hunters, so There are not any suggestions for any other good pets to tame. But, I'm looking towards some sort of DPS animal. I also set up a bank account. 200g bought me 11 neather weave bags and all teh slots in the bank. His name is Labanque and he is a half naked gnome warrior in Ironforge. 
I simply send all my want to be autcioned stuff to him, and he runs and does it. Saves time for having to go to major cities. Just saying. My goal is to be 70 and decently geared to go on the 
Tram (cross my fingers) to northrend. Dual screen really promotes Thottbot and Wowwiki searches.

I've been playing Call of Duty 4 multiplayer a bit too. I'm really liking the level ups, but it is not as big of a goal for as level 70 is. But, Just some time into it, makes the difference. I like the MP5 but nothing is as overpowered as the M4 Carbine.

Big TF2 news, however, huge new DL content coming out. Hopefully it comes out after I hit 70, because then I will be able to experience it with 
everyone else. But, the link the the new updates are here Here. I think that they might be taking cues from COD4, with the unlockable weapons. Also, i'm playing Track mania every so often and I'm sorta getting excited about Sins of the Solar Empire. Looks, interesting.

Playlist:

1. WoW
   
2. COD4
3. Team Fortres 2
4. TrackMania Nations

Dual Moniter Support

I set up Dual monitors for my computer. It's so sick. I play WoW in Windowed mode, maximized,
so I can instantly go to thottbot and WoWpro.

O, and I added Daniel and Marc to be authors to this blog, so it will be pretty more full, but probably not.
Playlist:

1. WoW
   

WoW: Blizzard Finally Showing a Firm Hand?

So I've been playing World of Warcraft for awhile now. Blizzard has always been a touch-and-go type of administration. They don't ever really seem to show any resolve or whatever. However, I was shocked to discover that Blizzard is going to implement an additional system to reporting afk players-deductions. Once a player is confirmed afk, if he or she does not show they are participating in the game, they will lose anything from honor removal, loss of marks of honor, or even destruction of currently held honor items/ compiled honor. Blizzard states that it is
wrong to have people take advantage of other players, and that hundreds of thousands of accounts or being monitored. In addition to the above, Blizzard will issue a one time Ultimatum warning: Once a player is reported afk multiple times, or finds a way to exploit this new system, tht player will be suspened for a period of one week, or banned from the game. Yikes, Blizzard's ugly side...

WoW

I'm playing WoW alot. I started a Horde on server kaegclos. It's a hunter. I have to say, I am really enjoying the pet thing again. I liked the lock who has a pet, but I got bored of it. In retro spect, I
probably get bored of this too. But anyways. I am playing that and Call of Duty 4. It's really addicting, the whole level and ranking up system. I enjoy just having to get that next level. I also like unlocking some new guns and new addons. Track mania also is taking up some time, just playing and stuff.

Playlist:

1. Wow
   
2. Call of Duty 4

What I like in Video Games

The major thing I am liking in video games right now is innovation and fun design. It really doesn't matter to me how great the game looks, as long as it is fun to play and keeps me interested. For instance, I really disliked Crysis, no matter how amazing it looked, it was a bad game. At the same time, Super Mario Galaxy was amazing because of the fun way it is played. Thats just my two cents on the way video games should be made.

Playlist:
1. TF2
2. WoW
3. Mario Kart 64
4. Guitar Hero 3

Guess what I have been playing

What the heck? My margins screw up, but then I erase everything and It goes back to normal? Intersting. Anyway, I have been playing Track Mania, World of Lolcraft and Team Frotress. They are the only good games that I see fit to play. Well, that and an occsional song or two on Guitar Hero 3. Speaking of which, on computer, Guitar hero is a crying shame. Well, maybe not, but it sucks. So, Latley, I have not been too interested in games. I have been more interested in like the computer programmig side. Like, for instance, got Linux to run on a virtual machine on this computer. There go my margins. what the heck? Well, wait, after saving as a draft and reopening, they work again. But I might just write in OpenOffice and publish from there. Continuing on my computer science rant, I enjoy just the part of discovering what I can do with the computer. I want to but my C++,Java programming to use, maybe build a good program that I can show off to companies that MAY want to hire me. But, I'm at a loss of what to build. No one said computer science required imagination.

Well, I installed UBUNTU, and don't know what to do with it. Probably build something.

Playlist:

1. World of Warcraft
   
2. Team Fortress 2
3. Track Mania Nation