BK's Log - helloBK.com

Two good money saving tips

2012-01-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

These tips really do work, I use them:

1. When buying something large tell the sales person that you saw it online for X dollars (believably cheaper then it's being sold for). Tell them you will buy it right now if they will match that price.

2. When shopping online, at check out, you often seen a coupon code box (to enter a coupon), do a quick web search for the company you are buying from name and the words 'coupon code'. I promise you that you will save at least 10% immediately, from the codes you locate, but often its a lot more.

Welcome to the Faith my friends!

Microsoft to drop MS points

2012-01-24T12:05:00.003-05:00

While its just a rumor, it's a rumor that I believe to be true. At some point this year Microsoft will discontinue points transaction in favor of real currency pricing.

About damn time.

The Power of Morgan Freeman's Voice

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Truth!

Paula Deen diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes

2012-01-18T10:38:00.001-05:00

That's got to be a blow to her show. Everything she cooks is seeped in unhealthy, yet oh so good.

Wonder if she is going to change her show or keep right on truck'n as if nothing happened.

Kinect Mass Effect 3

2012-01-18T10:36:00.001-05:00

This might be a good idea: Just use the voice features of Kinect and not the motion parts. Give orders to people with, switch weapons, etc - just by saying it. That's kinda cool. As long as I'm not doing the sugar plum fairy dance to play a game...

Tip to get around Wikipedia blackout

2012-01-18T10:29:00.001-05:00

If you need to get around the blackout: Search for a term in Google, click the double grey arrows, press the cached link.

Boom, done.

DnD 5E announced

2012-01-15T01:39:00.000-05:00

They haven't given it a name yet but everyone is referring to it as 5E (I guess Wizards is calling it DnD Next lol DnD NT). According to what they are saying here, they plan to make this an open development process. Where in everyone can see and contribute to the development of the new game system. Sorta like an Web 2.0 process where the masses actually build the end result.

This could be a very neat idea and it also has the advantage, from a business perspective, of costing a whole lot less to make as a lot of the work has been outsourced to the player community for free.

They don't have any real dates to speak of yet so its quite early in this process. The only solid date is the process is going to begin this spring.

I'm glad they starting to gear up to make this move. I didn't really care for the 4.5E aka Player Essentials move that they made in the last year. The game was fairly easy as it was and the Player Essentials goal of making things even easier was unneeded and unpopular. They had to make a break at this point to correct what most feel was a mistake. A new edition is really the only way to do this cleanly.

There's a lot I like about 4E but it could better. I plan to continue to use it till 5E comes to us, when ever that may happen.

Things I like about 4E:

I love how easy 4E is to make a character and start playing.
4E system of powers has always impressed me with how easy it is to add a power and know what it does at a glance. Few powers were overly complicated.
I like how many rules that slowed the game down were done away with.
I like how it scales with levels so smoothly no other DnD edition has been good at that.
I like how it's so simple that people rarely mistakenly cheat because they don't understand the rules. While it still happens I don't feel like I need to be a cop most of the time.
I like how its mostly balanced. I don't have to make house rules to overcome something I find lacking in the rules.
The plan to make it more online centric was a good one (though they failed to deliver on that completely).
I didn't have to learn about every character class like I always had to before. The simplification of grouping classes into roles (defender, striker, controller, etc) was much easier on DMs.

Things I didn't like about 4E:

It's so combat focused that it has never seemed to handle situations outside of combat very well. That's hard to explain...you either understand what I'm saying or your don't.
Part of the above problem is the simplification of Skills. I miss the skills from 3.5e.
Everything is so much more level dependent then it has even been. Monsters didn't used to have actual levels and in some ways that was better (though not having this would kill positive point above about smooth scaling of levels).
It's almost impossible to kill a party of experienced players if you follow the guide lines for encounters. If you stray from the guide lines then its too easy to kill the players. Which goes back to the level dependency- its a boon and a curse all together. I am getting a little better at striking this balance the more I play but it's not an easy thing and I have to ignore some of the guide lines to do so.
Combat is often too long still. Despite being stripped down in many ways from 3.5, its still long as hell. You know in 1st and 2nd editions rarely was even high level combat this lengthy of an affair. Though it should be noted that 1st-2nd edition combat at high level was won or lost in the first couple of turns.
Because encounter are so long I have noticed that published Wizards adventures are very linear affairs, you go from point A to B and there is rarely a chance to consume the adventure in a random way. Very scripted. In previous editions exploring was actually something you do....in my games I add exploring elements to the game but all that does is make people spend more time in one area...a lot more time. And with encounter often being more complex then 6 zombies in the room, you don't really want to see encounters skipped. So exploring is often a detriment. (based on the 5E announcement I get the feeling wizards is recognizing that they screwed up in this area).

I enjoy DnD no matter the edition. Its more about the people you play with then anything else but I do hope that the next edition takes what we have learned yet returns it to something closer to old school DnD. You have to admit that 4th edition was a large departure from the rest of the former rules. 3.5 felt more like DnD then 4E ever has. I think its possible to get somewhere in between the two.

Exciting news none-the-less.

Added: ENWorld has some more info and apparently actually played the first rough draft. They have confirmed that it has an old school feel to it.

The epic saga of the new house has completed

2012-01-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

My powers of prediction called it perfectly today... as I closed on my new property winter began for real. Now I can only hope my second prediction will be wrong: There will be no more good days to move until spring.

Chinese tree sap prevents getting drunk

2012-01-12T09:14:00.003-05:00

Extracts of a Chinese variety of the oriental raisin tree (Hovenia dulcis) could be the answer. The extracts have been used for 500 years to treat hangovers in China. Now dihydromyricetin (DHM), a component of the extract, has proved its worth as an intoxication blocker in a series of experiments on boozing rats. It works by preventing alcohol from having its usual intoxicating effects on the brain, however much is in blood.

I'm not sure I'm buying into this. There's a lot of scientific fraud over in China right now so any breakthroughs need to be confirmed by others in my opinion.

I wouldn't mind testing the hangover cure part though.

ID lays people off

2012-01-12T09:01:00.001-05:00

In the post I made just yesterday I said:

Rage. It just wasn't great. Hell, it wasn't even really good. Seems hard to make a shooter so damn dull but ID Software took a big leap in irrelevant with this release.

Today I find:

FYI, just to make people feel safe: I do not believe the world will end in December of this year. You can count on my powers of prediction!

2011 BK Game of the Year Award

2012-01-11T23:49:00.001-05:00

These years scream by so fast now I feel like I just finished typing the 2010 BK GOTY award post. How many more do I have in me? I hope many. And I hope you, fair reader, have many more years as well.

Welcome to the 5th BK Game of the Year Award!

As tradition holds, we always first give a shout out to the glorious past winners of this most coveted award:

2010 GOTY: Dawn of Discovery Venice
2009 GOTY: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

2008 GOTY: Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows expansion

2007 GOTY: Rock Band

2006 GOTY: Battlefield 2142

Silence please....the envelop containing the 5th BK GOTY has now been opened!

2011 BK GAME OF THE YEAR: Battlefield 3

Turns out it was an easy pick. Battlefield 3 has advanced the FPS genre forward in a massive leap. It looks good, it plays great, and its a very entertaining way to spend an evening (or many). I should also note that it was unexpected, I didn't think DICE had another solid hit in them as Bad Company series never really stuck with me. But taking a few good things from Bad Company, polishing them up, add very well done destructible environments...all in the Battlefield traditional mix of infantry and vehicular combat and we have a fantastic game.

2011 Honorable Mentions

Dark Souls - For being some darn hard! What a nice change over the 'button mash your way to victory' game play of recent years.

Anno 2070 - An excellent addition to the Anno family with some great new features that impress me every time I play the game. And for finally getting combat right in an Anno game.

Magicka - Nice to see an Indie title break the mold and deliver something highly entertaining and so memorable.

Dungeon Defenders - What a great mix of puzzle, strategy, and role playing. Looking forward to more out of the folks that made this hit.

2011 FAIL LIST

Avert your eyes! Its the biggest losers in gaming!

Heroes of Might and Magic 6 has to top the list of FAIL. Why? Because it sucks and it's not going to get any better. Talk about ruining a usually great series...if not great then at least worth a few weeks of entertainment. HOMM 6 wasn't even worth the few hours I gave it. For shame!

Sword of the Stars 2, while I still believe its going to shine in a very near future... we all know it was a historic, likely company breaking bad release. They went broke and needed funding to finish. I am very sad to have such a title grace the list of FAIL. Who could imagine a past BK GOTY award winning game company to ever grace the list of awful?

Rage. It just wasn't great. Hell, it wasn't even really good. Seems hard to make a shooter so damn dull but ID Software took a big leap in irrelevant with this release.

The Final Words....

In 2010's Final Words, I said 2011 wasn't projected to be great and it wasn't. Three years (maybe four) of bad economics has gutted the diversity of games. However, we did see more break out Indie games this year then I think we ever did in the past. I also have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a little bit brighter. I don't have any data to back up this claim, its just my gut feeling and I trust my gut. Its by no means going to be another golden era of gamage but better then it has been (which isn't hard).

Happy gaming!

802.11ac later this year

2012-01-05T13:34:00.000-05:00

I see a WiFi update later this year to 802.11ac. Course I don't really expect to get 1.3GBps (those max wireless rates only happen in a lab) but half that is still very good and great if you don't want to run wires.

Broadcom 5G WiFi 802.11ac Chipset Family
Chipset	Manufacturing Process	Interface	Spatial Streams	Max PHY Rate
BCM4360	40nm	PCIe 2.0 x1	3	1.3Gbps
BCM4352	40nm	PCIe 2.0 x1	2	866Mbps
BCM43526	40nm	USB 2.0	2	866Mbps
BCM43516	40nm	USB 2.0	1	433Mbps

Party in a can

2012-01-03T13:23:00.001-05:00

Soon to be sold in America, caned Scotch Whiskey! 12 oz or roughly 8 shots of the high test all in one covenant can! At 8 shots you should only need to bring one can for the night... at least that's all I'd likely need.

To bad I dislike Scotch.... and I somewhat doubt a real Scotch elitist would put their lips to a Scotch that's only aged 3 years as this is. The Bud of the Scotch world.

LGs 4k 84-inch TV

2011-12-30T19:17:00.001-05:00

Being shown at CES 2012 LG has dubbed the twice the resolution of 1080p as 'ultra definition' so if that sticks the TVs we're are going to start seeing popping up late next year will be called UD TVs.

While there isn't a ton of 4k content out there yet...it will come but mostly this is useful right now for passive 3D technology which tends to lower the resolution below 1080p when used. This will ensure its at least 1080p quality when used in 3D passive mode.

What excites me about UD? It's going to be the thing that finally drives PCs advancement forward again from its current plodding pace. People are going to want machines that can smoothly play 3840x2160. No price point released yet but rest assured its going to be pricey for a few years to come.

Skyrim LARP

2011-12-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

Oh, this is very very entertaining. I think I want to be a Pro-LARPer when I grow up.

SOTS2 wishes us a Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T01:45:00.000-05:00

Cute....I guess they aren't entirely focused on bug fixes after all.

Speaking of which, the game is really shaping up. Couple of little bugs left but definitely playable and enjoyable now. The latest patch, on a two patch day, was a massive improvement. About time.

Still some missing features still but nothing show stopping anymore.

True Blood: A gift for almost anyone

2011-12-22T15:45:00.002-05:00

This got a snicker out of me...

Civ 5 finally fixes its MP issues

2011-12-21T12:11:00.000-05:00

I might be ready for another game of this.... here's the MP fix list fixed. The patch was almost entirely focused on MP exclusively. Wonder why it took this long to get their act together?

[MULTIPLAYER]
- Significant improvements to general multiplayer stability.
- Significant improvements to Hot-Join stability.
- Multiplayer now using the same AI move caching as single player, improving turn-times significantly.
- Lobby improvements: We now display game details in the lobby list (players in each game, map size, map type, DLC required, etc.).
- Host can now kick players from the staging room when loading a save (if a player cannot return to a game, the game can now be continued by the rest of the players).
- Found and corrected additional causes of Out-of-Sync.
- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to auto-heal it.
- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to generate endless City Strikes.
- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed a player to “lag” the UI to gain multiple free techs.

Next Star Trek movie bits

2011-12-21T12:08:00.000-05:00

JJ Abrams says:

Next movie is going to be post converted to 3D. :(

Next movie is not going to be Kahn re-make. :( {I thought that would have been neat.}

Seasonal Google Easter Egg

2011-12-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

Google gets seasonal with the latest Easter egg. Type 'let it snow' into the Google or just click this link. It piles up after a while if you let it go.

Siri learns Steve Jobs is dead

2011-12-15T07:58:00.001-05:00

Not real yet very funny.

Diablo 3 closed beta

2011-12-13T09:37:00.001-05:00

LOL Had I checked my spam email box, I could have been playing Diablo 3 eight days ago.

I guess I will check it out.

Monday drive-by news

2011-12-12T12:20:00.000-05:00

Valve is doing an ARG to reveal Half Life 3 is finally going to be released (VIDEO). I guess they figured now that Duke Nukem Forever was out they had better kick it into high gear as the vapor ware cloud around them was starting to grow.

Cat hair in an HP product will not be warrantied as its a biological hazard. You cat lovers better do something about that! OWS HP!!!!!!

Intel cuts sales outlook cause they don't feel there will be enough hard drives to support the sales of processors.

Activities that make people fat

2011-12-12T12:09:00.001-05:00

TV, video games, or Internet: Which activity makes teenagers fat?

I feel the need to update this articles title by adding a few things.

First, I'd like to change teenagers to read EVERYONE.

Second, I'd like to expand this list to include: BOOKS, SITTING ALL DAY AT SCHOOL OR WORK, or most importantly... SITTING DOWN TO EAT MCDONALDS.

Everyone of these "health reports" (that I am sure got funded by someone suspect) always miss these key items...

That is all. Thank you.

Generals 2

2011-12-12T11:50:00.001-05:00

It may just be wishful thinking but my gut tells me this is going to kick ass. Reasons:

BioWare means quality but more importantly it doesn't have anything to do with any of those other studios that wrecked all the other CnC games.
Frostbite 2 engine. It may have been for an FPS originally but its makes everything look good and it runs really well. Looks awesome + runs great = WIN.
If nothing else, the combination of the above two factors HAS to mean the end out the out of sync BS that plagued every title EA that was built in the old engine (including the Lord of the Rings RTS).
PC only. Thank god for not allowing the consoles to screw it up for everyone. RTS and consoles don't go together, finally someone sees it.
Jon Van Caneghem is on the J.O.B., leading this team to Victory. You may remember him from Might and Magic. (HOMM 3 and Xeen, two hall of fame classics)

All you people out there yearning for Diablo 3.... that's how I feel about Generals 2. Course I might be unhappy simply because I want nothing changed about Generals 1, just updated graphics and hack fixes.

They got actual screen shots already on the site yet its not coming out till 2013? I guess that means it should be quality.

This IGN interview with JVC re-enforced my gut feeling.