Triberius' Gaming Journal

School's Out for a few months....

2013-05-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

With School out til August, its time to start back adding a few posts. I've kept up with my game play as I could and want to talk about a few patches that have been released for various games.

Star Wars: The Old Republic
We're currently at patch 2.1a which means we have the Rise of the Hutt Cartel in place, and the Cathar, Dye Packs, and Character Customization vendor operational. These additions are great, though some of the fundamental flaws in the game are yet to be addressed, especially those created by the Cartel Market.

One of these flaws are the +41 stat Color Crystals that were introduced. With a level restriction of 10 on them it lets players power through content, and while I will say I enjoy the boost in health from having (2) +41 Endurance crystals equipped, I'm finding that I manage to progress well beyond the level range of a quest. For example, I'll have a lvl 33 character on lvl 37 missions, unable to defeat the final boss, and will have blown through all the side missions available. This is partly my fault for not picking up all the "Bonus" missions that pop up, but the easy I cut through mobs makes the grind even grindier if that's a word.....

Ultima Online
Publish 81 is out, and nothing has really changed for me, while it is possible to create new suits, taking advantage of the revamp of armor and weapons, my old gear I've spent years acquiring and crafting suits me and my play style just fine. At the end of the day hardly any of the new content is doing anything for me.

Speaking of new content, should the developers be overhauling the "Legacy" Dungeons? You know the one's tied to the Virtues: Despise, Destard, Shame, Covetous, Hythloth, and Deciet. I'm not so sure. Now bear with me, it's a long shot but if they every do find a way to make this game relevant in the MMO world again, which it is only in terms of nostalgia, and attract new players where are they going to cut their teeth at? All the dungeons we, long time players, used to hone our skills, build our toons, and pad that initially empty bank box are being slowly but surely overhauled.

I have a theory, and I'm not expecting it to be confirmed, but I have a feeling with the down sizing, EA is pointing UO in the direction of maintenance mode. No aspersions for new players are on the corporate horizons, and no investment to obtain them. Let's do the math....

Overhaul of Dungeons to add difficulty to them
Overhaul of Weapon and Armor Systems
Migration to Cloud Servers which automatically scale to demand
For the first time I can recall a Major Crusade against in game Bugs.
EA's Phone Support does not Cover Ultima Online

I'm not all doom and gloom, I'm perfectly willing to accept the future of the game if I'm right or wrong, but with the small development team, and the major changes and directions that have been going on the past year its not hard to have thoughts like this creep in.

Firefall
This title will probably get the worst "Update" review which is sad since 2 months ago I was raving about this game..

The folks over at Red5 are making the same mistake almost every other MMO that separates PvP and PvE into separate spheres does. They are letting balancing one side dictate balancing on both ends. The end result so far is some of the Battleframes becoming practically worthless in PvE, and yes I'm talking about the Tier II Recon frames. Simplicity in house should never, ever, jeopardize quality and this new direction does this and so much more.

Recon fans weren't the only one's hit, most the battleframes were designed and lost some of their best or most beloved abilities. Add in more diverse and intelligent AI on the enemies, as well as completely revamped thumping and it feels like a completely different game. It went from one that felt close to being ready for the next BETA phase to a game that honestly should still be in early beta cycles.

It wasn't only battleframes themselves that were shipped off the intuitive course, but so was frame progression, and crafting. Now both feel clumsy, un-intuitive, and frustrating, especially since the resources for crafting have changed so much from earlier. Progression now requires medals earned in addition to XP, which grinds progression down to a slow painful grindfest. Red5, you guys are better than this, please go un-fuck yourselves.

FIREFALL BETA!

2013-01-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

So I've been playing the Firefall Beta... Let's just say if this is a sample of what they plan to offer, and it has to be since a minority of the game world is available then there are good things in this games future. But let me let the game speak for itself. Sorry for the screechy sounds but as you can see this game has a good bit to offer already.

Watch live video from Cronjo's MMO Life on TwitchTV

It's all about the Credits.

2013-01-02T23:45:00.001-08:00

MMO's are just like real life in many ways, one of the obvious is how the economy in games works. If we lived in a reality where there was no limit to how much money is generated, yet there was a hierarchy on scarcity of the most desirable goods (Which is a Reality often) then you would see the same effect. Prices would be outrageous for these items, and demand for more common items would dictate their value as well. In Ultima Online it's not uncommon to find items for sale for huge sums of currency.

50 million and this isn't the most expensive you'll find.

Gold sinks are important but it's also important for a person to know how to acquire Gold, Credits, or Gil depending on the game as efficiently as possible.

For Ultima Online there are three superb ways. Spawning, which will net you several 100,000 gold per trip not to mention scrolls that can sell for millions (if you are lucky). Attending Shard events held by Event Moderators and hoping for something good as a reward that will be in limited quantity, and finally what is probably the easiest; IDOCing or waiting for houses of previous subscribers to collapse (deleted from the game). When a house decays and goes "In Danger of Collapsing" the contents will be freely lootable by any and all who find them, there is no knowing what a person has collected over the years so with a little luck you might just get some high end items to sell.

Other games have different methods. SWTOR for example running dailies at level 50 to feed credits for alts is an easy method. You don't have to do all of the dailies, I recorded myself doing a portion of the Ilum dailies to show how quickly you can nab 50,000 credits.

Not bad for 18 minutes, though by far not the fastest way. I continued on to do the Black Hole dailies and weekly with some guildmates on Corellia, once it was done I'd picked up about 135,000 credits. There were still some missions available on Ilum, and plenty in the two areas on Belsavis for dailies so that number could have reached over 200,000 very easily. Of course that's about 3 hours work.

Another way in SWTOR is to spend time with crafting missions. I have plenty of materials that I'm not using, I've geared myself and I craft what I need for alts, but that doesn't mean I can't target specific high end materials for resale on the Galactic Trade Network (GTN). Items like Mandalorian Iron, and Krayt Dragon Pearls sell for a premium.

Take a few minutes to think about how you can best maximize your cash flow in games, it will make your experience much more enjoyable and easier. But also remember there is nothing that says you need to be a billionaire to enjoy the game of your choice either. Personally I don't keep any more than I need, typically I donate the majority of my surplus credits to my guild to improve everyone's gaming experience.

Well that's all for tonight, keep checking in as I'm never sure when I have time to post.

Winter Break

2013-01-02T02:56:00.000-08:00

The first semester of my college life is complete. I'm pleased with my grades and now I get some well earned time to play some of my favorite games. That of course means I get to do a bit of news on them as well..

SWTOR
Publish 1.6 hit, and with all the fear mongering about Free To Play it hasn't been as bad as people thought it would be. Of course there is still time for EA to screw the pooch as the saying goes by focusing too much on their "Cartel Market" and not enough on adding real content. With the first digital expansion on the way in the form of "Rise of the Hutt Cartel" bringing us the planet Makeb we will get to see which direction the game heads. Speaking of the expansion, I'm hearing a lot of people especially subscribers complain about the $10 early order deal. You know I'd complain if it was $40 like many MMO's release under the name of expansion but ten bucks? What are you complaining about? How about all the doomsayers wait and see what we get for the $10 and if you don't like it, don't buy it, of course if you wait and decide you want it, it will cost you $19.

The additional skill bars, and other perks like free respec for subscribers was nice, also many of the Cartel Shop items are outstanding, especially one's like the trainer Holo Statues. Carrying one of these around really makes completing a planet faster, as you aren't constantly traveling back to the first zone to visit a class trainer. Speeder Piloting 1 for Subs at lvl 15 was an additional perk, and it's dirt cheap now to boot, it's better to purchase it 5 lvls later than spend the 40k for the legacy unlock at level 10 in my opinion. Also the new color crystals are nice as well for low level characters, having +41 endurance is an excellent boost for a lowbie. My tip! Don't buy them off the GTN, I've purchased several of these form other players on Fleet for 25-80k credits and saved verses the 150k+ credit prices on the GTN. Just be patient.

Ultima Online
I'm not 100% on what's going on here, they have moved one of the servers to Amazon Web Hosting, if I'm not mistaken in a cloud based setup as well. For some reason they decided to use the most populated server for this and it backfired. They did what came out to almost a full month rollback on the server. If this is the future, it's grim. Never have I heard of this extent of damage control happening. I remember the days of regular server crashes and 20 minute roll backs but several weeks? Other than that the game is rolling along just as it has for the past 15 years! Hats off to them for that. Let's hope there are 15 more in it's life.

Well folks I'm once again out of time, I'll try to do some screen grabs from SWTOR and maybe a new video here soon.

How to shave like a man.....

2012-10-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

All right now this one is going to be another posting, not about gaming. Just as with most people my life is complex, I don't get up in the morning sit down and play games all day I have other interests as well. One of those other interests is shaving like a man. Your grand father (or possibly great-grandfater) did it, your father may have done it, but odds are you haven't. Shaving can be an almost zen like experience; it doesn't have to be something you do as quickly as possible and view as being one of those annoyances that comes with being male. You can shave your face and actually enjoy it, make it your "me" time each day. I accomplished this and I'm going to tell you how I did it.

First step.

Do some research, we're talking about classic shaving, that means no fancy 3, 4, or 6 bladed razors, those are actually really bad for your skin, they can cause the nasty irritation known as razor bumps. Even double edged razors are bad for you. Ever look at that 80 year old guy that still has the face of someone 20 years his junior? I'm almost willing to bet he doesn't have a 10 bladed razor with a laser aligned trimmer that lubricates, vibrates, illuminates, and overly complicates his life and wallet. Disposable blades are expensive, you are paying extra to ruin your skin!

So what's research have to do with this? Well you want a good shave, that's affordable, not wrecking your face, and is relaxing? Then do some research! I switched to Straight Razors. They cost a good bit upfront, but they last a lifetime. Purchasing 4-7 of these will give you all you need to actually enjoy shaving and over time they will pay for themselves. Even the old Double Edged razors, you know the one's that you twist the handle on and insert a throw away blade into, are much better for your skin and affordable than disposable blade razors over time.

Step Two:

Do more research. You've decided between either Straight or Double Edge (DE for short), now you need a razor. DE's are cheaper and more readily available. Straights on the other hand require a bit more work. Most modern Straight Razors are junk, if they have Pakistan stamped on them or the steel is made in Pakistan they usually, though not always, will not hone or hold an edge well. You'll do much better buying an antique razor. Ebay is an option, though not always the best, you get a brief description often by someone who knows little about the razors themselves. So what are your options? GOOGLE!

Straightrazorplace.com, BigEasyTools.com, Whippeddog.com.

All three of these sites carry razors, being sold by enthusiasts. But you'll need more than that, you'll need a strop for starters, it's a necessary item to keep your razor up. You may or may not wish to re-hone your razor yourself for that you'll need a set of hones and those can also be found easily enough. I'd suggest going to Whipped Dog, and ordering the poor mans strop kit, you'll get everything you need and they are fairly cheap ($23 in the US). You will probably destroy your first strop so this is a good avenue. I also recommend buying a razor from one of these places as they will come "Shave Ready" meaning you won't need to sharpen your new razor first.

Step Three:

You've got the razor, strop, brush, soap... wait Brush and Soap? You don't think I'm going to let you shave with that blue goop in a can do you? That stuff really doesn't work as well as good old fashioned shaving soap when it comes to DE's and Straight Razors. While you can't find the razors down at your local drug store, I bet you can get shaving soap, the same is true for your supermarket, or local big box retailer. You can also check at some retailers for the brushes but you'll most likely find it at barber supply store.

You have all that stuff right? Good then it's time to start. Work up a good lather with your brush and apply it... work it in to the whiskers, take your time and do it right. Next step is to take your time if it doesn't feel right stop. You don't want to cut yourself, do it right and take your time. You don't even have to finish the entire shave with the new razor. Just do what you are comfortable with until you get the hang of it. Splash on your favorite aftershave and BAM!

You're learning to shave like a man.

There are other advantages to straight razors. For starters they just look cool. Imagine taking your new girl over to your place and she sees

asks what it is and you tell her, "Oh that's what I shave with..." how bad ass will that sound? She'll feel like she's dating a real man and when you make mama happy she makes daddy happy...

Balance

2012-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yes once again it's been a bit since my last post; life has a way to creep in and disrupt all our plans. College has started, and while I'm finding time to play my favorite games, writing about them is more difficult. But here goes.

Ultima Online: Recently celebrated it's 15th anniversary! The good folks over at Bioware-Mythic in Fairfax Virginia have resurrected one of the classic personages in the games fiction. Lord Blackthorn is back from the seeming dead and had taken on the mantle of kingship of Britannia. I'm not certain if this is a good or bad move, increasingly classic characters who have been brought back from parts unknown have had a short lifespan. Most recently Dawn was killed off. Is EA purposely killing off these characters in order to make a transition into a new game easier? Ultima Forever is right around the corner so stay tuned. I also have to wonder if this is the first step in gearing down this title in the franchise. By killing off all the classic persona and tying up he lose ends they can insert any fiction they want. Only time will tell.

SWTOR: Updates 1.3 and 1.4 have hit, bringing some new Operations (Terror from Beyond), and a group finder and new gearing sets. Bug unfortunately have popped up with these publishes, and thankfully they are working to squash them in each weeks maintenance patches. Some balancing changes targeted at PvP were also introduced; unfortunately is seems conditional programming isn't taught to game developers because as always these changes effect PvE as well. To be fair this is the case with every MMO I've played; you'd think by now I'd be used to it.

Diablo III: The game is finally catching it's stride, many of the "issues" with the game have been corrected, and while you'll still be engaging in mindless repetition as you progress from Normal to Inferno difficulties chasing the Lords of Hell, you'll find item balancing has been tuned in, and drop rates altered to make good items readily available while not flooding the market with them. Character class tweaks have been made and more are on the way as the trend is to play the Flavor of the Week. With luck all classes will be balanced enough to be viable so player can simply play what they like, not what works best.

That's all I have time for at the moment, be sure to follow me on Google + as you'll get notified as new posts go up.

With Best Regards,

Trib.

The EA Rumor Mill is turning again.

2012-07-17T22:49:00.003-07:00

The EA Rumor mill is turning again and this time it might be the current CEO that gets ground in it's turning. If the rumors are proven true, then John Riccitiello might be on the way out to be replaced by Peter Moore. Two reasons were cited for this possible change.

Falling stock prices
"Tension" between the current CEO and the various studios.

Lets touch on both of these and see how I think Peter Moore might be a good fit.

Faling Stock Prices

It's true, EA is taking a huge hit in income, for various reasons. Lets start with SWTOR, the $200 million gorilla in the room. EA's stuck with it, they financed it and the game has launched. This bill is coming due, and while the game launched strong with 1.7 million subscriptions reported in January, in April that had dropped to 1.3 million. More troubling than that is Bioware has announced they are merging 87% of the servers. Now this isn't as dire as it sounds, but it's still a shock, almost every patch has included "Server Stability" updates. Now I remember around launch the heavier populated servers would "Flutter" here and there causing disconnects and on occasion crash. Caps on population were put in that were fairly restrictive. As subs have dropped and those stability issues have been corrected having or 100 servers simply doesn't make sense anymore. This action though doesn't look good to the public and there have been plenty of cries of DOOOOOOOOM! among the player base, even while updates to the game such as expanded legacy system, and group finders have been fairly well reviewed by critics.

Another area EA has taken a hit is in the social gaming arena, they simply haven't "clicked" yet in an area that new start ups like Zynga are dominating. Zynga founded in 2007 focus' stongly on Social games and turned a profit about 1/4th of what EA did last year, with decades less experience to build on. Social Gaming is the next frontier in gaming, and EA is showing up late to the party. Their "Big Announcement" in this area at the San Diego Comi-Con was a F2P title based on a neglected franchise in the form of Ultima Forever, but more on this in a moment.

Lastly EA hasn't joined the "Freemium" or "F2P" bandwagon for major titles, and surprisingly they have maintained a staunch opposition towards moving towards this for older titles that are in their twilight days. A good example of this is the Grand-Daddy of all Modern MMO's Ultima Online. UO has been stripped down to just a handful of developers working out of a small studio space in Virgina which they share with the developers of DAoC. This isn't speculation, I've been there, I've spent a wonderful evening chatting with many of the developers and some of which are no longer with EA, and honestly I was surprised at how few of them there are. A move to a Freemium or Hybrid Free to Play platform for this aging gaming would help them with it's greatest weakness, competition. UO has been emulated more than any other MMO, it has a Emulation Community that is active, and larger than it's legit player base. Give these people who are enjoying the Emulated servers a reason to come back and they might. They pay for the content they want and pick up bits and pieces over time, and UO increases it's profits. A server framework designed to support many more people than it currently does, will be used to closer it's potential, and honestly it won't cost EA much more to maintain.

The "Tension" issue.
It seems every title EA has released that requires maintenance it seems that as soon as there is a down tick in profits from that area EA cuts support. It's happening to SWTOR, as members of Bioware Austin are being laid off, a studio created strictly to work on SWTOR. Other studios are taking cuts as well, and yes I understand if profit drops you have to do something to compensate, but removing talented, creative minds doesn't seem to be the answer. Where do you go when all you have left are the grunts? If EA had embraced and rode the flow of the market and adopted some of the changes in the market sooner, and in a larger scope then they might now be in the situation they are in now. Ultimately these decisions fall on the CEO, there is no excuse he/she is in charge and the over all health of the company is set firmly on his shoulder. It seems the repeated trend of cutting staff has created "Tension" in the work place at various studios, possibly in the form of a "Fear of Failure". This is never good in an industry that thrives on entertainment and creativity, while it's ok to fear having a bad showing, when it comes to the point of being oppressive then there is a serious problem. It damping creativity and imagination the essence of the industry.

Why Peter Moore might be a good fit.
Well first off he recognizes the potential of Social Gaming. Secondly and possibly more importantly he's a proponent of the Hybrid Free to Play (Freemium) and Free to Play concepts. He knows this is the direction the market is headed and he's willing to head in that direction. Going this route if he steers EA in this direction could increase profits in existing titles, but also help revitalize older titles expanding their value.

Secondly he's a fresh face that is respected and from all the interviews I've seen he seems more "down to earth" and friendly than the current CEO. This can't hurt, and hopefully he'll be able to gain the trust and ease the tension in the studios so they can get back to doing what they do best.

How to Tell if you are a Lame Ass Poser

2012-07-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

No gaming info in this one, just some humorous observations.

How to tell if you are a Lame Ass Poser in 10 easy steps

If you consider any of the following to be true about yourself you are probably a Lame Ass Poser

You drive a $600 car with $1200 Rims and a $1000 stereo system.
You pay an individual (not a rescue or shelter) $200 for a dog with a worse pedigree than your own.
You think a wall clock is a Fashion Accessory.
If it was 1974 the amount of gold in your teeth would have been illegal (in 1974 they lifted the ban on an individual owning more than $100 worth of gold).
You have a 30 inch waist but you buy 40 inch pants.
You can't pronounce the word "Ask" properly.
When you get upset with your Mother/Sister/Wife/Girlfriend, you think to yourself "Bitches be trippin'." phrased that way.
If you can't understand the difference between "De-Criminalized" and "Legalized".
If you think Food Stamps are a form of currency.
If you have more "Babby-Mamma's" or "Babby-Daddies" than you do teeth.
If you think an Honest Days Work involves making deals on a street corner.
If you actually think the people on Jersey Shore are "cool".
You've appeared on no less than 3 different Reality TV shows, preferably Dog the Bounty Hunter, Cops, and Operation Repo.
Viva La Raza is your battle cry.
You hold a pistol sideways because that's how it was laying in the box.
You actually enjoyed Twilight.
You've ever shown up on the News crying "They had no right!" after a family member was shot by police for pulling a gun on them.
You love to give speeches about politics but don't vote.
If you follow a Religion based on Love, Compassion, and Understanding but everyone else's Religion that is based on Love, Compassion and Understanding is wrong and they must be converted.
If you make more money working for a "Charity" than the charity spends doing actual charity work.
If you hold anyone and everyone else to a higher standard than you do yourself.
If you have ever uttered the phrase "This shit's legit".
If you actually try and emulate the life Hip Hop stars promote in their music, they don't live it why should you.
You've ever entered a contest that involves chicken wings and 40's.
You go to college for 4 years and can't spell the principle topic you studied.

Now I will say this there are Lame Ass Posers in every walk of life, and every ethnic group. You see them around you all the time, and there are a few truths about them.

Most wouldn't accept a hand up if it was offered, they'd consider improving themselves "Selling Out".
The rest don't actually believe the bullshit they are promoting.
Those few that don't are probably politicians.

Games through History, then and Now.

2012-05-30T22:17:00.002-07:00

Games are important to our culture as people, think of how many iconic images there are that involve games. When you think of the early half of the 20th century many of us will picture one of those quaint little towns with the white picket fences and some kids rolling a barrel hoop down a dusty street. Other images that are well known are the paintings by C.M. Coolidge of dogs playing poker from the early 1900's. Face it games are an important part of our culture and have been for a long time. So here's a few examples of games that have either been around longer than you probably suspect or have a special importance. This list isn't in any order of import or chronology, it's simply a list and I'm quite sure many games are missing.

Draughts - Those of us in the US probably know the variation known as checkers. This game has been around for at least 3000 years. Plato mentioned a variation of the game in his writings, as did Homer.
Chess - Chess originated in India sometime around the 6th Century. It was in Europe though it became known as the "Game of Kings". Chess was used to teach war strategy all through out it's history. In India the pieces were called infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry instead of pawns, knights, bishops, and rooks. These represented the 4 basic military divisions of the time.
The Leaf Game - This is the earliest known "Card Game" dating from 868 AD in China. The Chinese invented the playing card and we owe all our favorite card games from Poker to Solitaire to them.
Monopoly - This is a much more recent game, yet has an important secret history. During World War II, allied POW's were allowed care packages. Special editions of the popular board game contained hidden maps, money, documents, compass' and other tools to help POW's escape. Monopoly is also responsible for creating the first millionaire in the game industry in the name of Charles Darrow due to royalties after he sold the game to Parker Brothers.
Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device - Dating back to 1947 this is the earliest known "Video Game" it was a missile simulator based on Radar equipment. While you didn't find this in peoples homes, it proved plausibility of and established the concept of a market for Video Games in the future.
Zork - While not the first MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) this is one of the first (1977) of many extremely popular ones. Many of today's MMOs such as WoW, UO, LoTRO, and stand alone RPGs such as the Final Fantasy, and Breath of Fire games can trace their roots directly back to Multi-User Dungeons like Zork and Colossal Cave Adventures. Find some pictures of the game Akalabeth: World of Doom, which helped give rise to the Ultima Franchise of Richard Garriot, and contributed to the success of the Apple II for evidence!
Ultima Online - While not the first modern MMO, that crown goes to Neverwinter Nights on the AOL network, Ultima Online was without doubt the first commercially successful one. Boasting what at the time was a staggering 250,000 plus subscribers this game proved MMO's not only could make money but could make it in large quantities. This game is still active and running, just think about that for a moment. Ultima Online was released in 1997 and is nearing it's 15th anniversary, it's quite possible some of you reading this couldn't even read, or possibly weren't even born yet while others of you were making your first excisions through Sosaria visiting Dungeon Covetous, or Despise.
Dungeons and Dragons - No other game has influenced modern RPGs and MMOs as much, combine this games influences and imagery with MUDs like Zork and one of the most popular sections of the Video Game industry is laid out in front of you, that is the Fantasy RPG/MMO genre. This game is still alive and well, and popular in many circles. I remember many long nights while crossing the Atlantic on the USS Enterprise being spent exploring the Forgotten Realms, battling Goblins, Orcs, or simply trying to uncover a mystery. The limits on this game are only those imposed by the imagination of the player, the creativeness of the Game Master and the luck of the dice rolls.
Shadow Run - Shadow Run in many ways is the other third of the modern RPG/MMO world. Where D&D introduced Fantasy Shadow Run brought in science and technology. Cybernetics and Magic mixed and the game was a huge success. Why do you think characters like Barrett from Final Fantasy VII didn't seem strange? Think about that a man with a Gatling gun for a hand and we just accept it.
Everquest - While Ultima Online proved MMO's could be commercially successful, EQ learned from many of what many view as Design Concept flaws in UO and launched to praise. Still running EQ has recently gone to a Hybrid Free to Play model, so get out there explore Norrath already. Almost every MMO that has launched since Everquest has used it's base model as the foundation their game was built upon. World of Warcraft borrowed heavily from it and though many people classify new MMO's that borrow from WoW as "WoW Clones", the reality is WoW is an EQ Clone.

That's all for tonight, I hope you enjoy this list and learned a few things, please feel free to chime in with a comment for any games you wish to add to this list. I'm sure there are many that are worthy I missed or have no first hand experience with.

Going out on a limb here...

2012-05-11T20:51:00.001-07:00

Ok this one isn't going to be about PC's or Technology, quite the opposite. This posting will be more political in alignment and used to show just how backwards far too many people are. While I know it's off topic for this Blog, it's too important an issue to simply ignore and this is as good a place as any for me to vent.

Those of you who read the paper or view the news here in the US are obviously aware of two recent events.

North Carolina's amendment banning same sex marriage
President Obama coming out in support of same sex marriage

I was born and raised in North Carolina, the majority of my family still lives in North Carolina. I have strong ties there, but I have to say I am throughly ashamed of the passing of this amendment to the state constitution. I had hopes that by this point in history, the majority of the states citizens would act more mature, thoughtful, and logical, and less like a bunch of superstitious rednecks. And even though this amendment does not and could not effect me directly, it still angers me to see good, honest people treated like this.

Now I know why the religious crowd is up in arms, especially the Christian majority, they view homosexuality as a sin, and want to curb it's spread. But I have this to say, It's not your job to play police officer in some one's bedroom. It is not your job to force religious ideology on anyone here in The United States. The United States is not and has never been a Christian Nation, in fact in 1796 The United States signed a treaty with Tripoli where it is specifically stated in Article XI that The United States is not founded on Christian Ideology.

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Many of our founding fathers, were not Christian. They were Deists, which do not believe in organized religion they believe, the creator rarely, if ever, either intervenes in human affairs or suspends the natural laws of the universe. Basically God made everything then sits back and lets it run free. Think of it as if everything in existence as we know it, is nothing more than a giant ant farm.

This was the belief of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, and this philosophy influenced Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other members of the Continental Congress. Why do you think an amendment protecting the rights to free religion exists? If they were all Christian, it would probably have not even been thought of.

My next point is for all the people up in arms about how the Government is removing our freedoms one at a time, look at what you just voted on. You are basically telling a percentage of the population they are nothing more than Second Class Citizens. Do we really need to go through this mess again? Hello, 1912 and 1950 are wanting to conference call with you, they want to be assured you'll never leave them and will forever dedicate yourself to their way of thinking.

Next week the signs will say "Straight" and "Homosexual".

     Seriously, is there going to be an amendment voted on next week keeping women from being able to vote in North Carolina, and requiring non-whites to sit on the back of the bus? Or are they simply going to round up all the non-heterosexuals and place them in internment camps like we did the German and Japanese American's during WWII? It's the same bigoted slop being pumped out under a different label. The people this amendment effects are just that, people, they don't live the same way you do, but they are people and deserve the respect and same rights as individuals as anyone else. If you don't like it, you don't have to, just ignore it. Keep your noses out of your neighbors bedroom and focus on your own life, something quite a few politicians need to learn.

     As for President Obama, looking at the alternatives, I hope he wins re-election. We have a choice to make in November.   On one side we have a President that quite honestly has looked to both sides of the fence, the Republican and Democratic parties side for the best options available. He's proven to be a better "Reganite" than most of the GOP, while maintaining many of the core values of the Democratic party. It's a good blend, and if he wins re-election he'll probably get to pick another Supreme Court Justice, who with luck will be the deciding factor on the up coming case over California's Proposition 8, and declare it Unconstitutional, meaning states can not outlaw same sex marriage. The quicker we deal with the issue and set down a basis for it, then the faster we can all move on with our lives.

     On the other hand we have Mitt Romney, who's honestly has changed course so much on what he's done vs what he says, it's starting to look like he's simply treading water. I don't know what his views are because he hasn't shown any conviction to any view. Of course there is Ron Paul, he's got some good ideas, but the total package is lacking.   Some of his ideas would be catastrophic to the Nation such as reverting to the Gold Standard. There would be a lot of people angry at that since the last time we were on the Gold Standard it was illegal to possess more than $100 worth of gold in any form, something that didn't change until 1974 and could be re-enacted at any time since the original 1933 act wasn't repealed. I've seen quite a few people who could face a $10,000 fine or 10 years in prison just for their dental work.

That's my 2¢ worth, take it or leave it.

Why Linux can be good!

2012-05-10T23:01:00.002-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I work in a thrift store. The pay isn't the greatest but there are other things that compensate. One thing I hate seeing come in is a 2-3 year old computer someone has ditched thanks to an upgrade being purchased. Sure we take them, but we don't sell them, we have a contract with a major manufacturer to have them recycled. Yea it's not a bad thing, but there are much better uses for those oldish PC's that won't cost you a red cent and can also get you that tax deduction you are looking for.

Key to this is Linux, it's free, always has been and always will be. It's not that difficult to use, and I'm sure if you do a bit of digging you can find a local charity that will be happy to take a PC which you've formatted the hard drive and installed a current Linux distribution on only to give it to a needy family to help their children with their studies. Now comes the question, Why Linux?.

No Licensing of the Software
Runs adequate software for normal use such as web browsing, and word processing.
Todays Linux Distros are simply to use and don't require extensive CLI knowledge.

Look if you are going to give away your old PC to a charity so they can in turn donate it to a needy family or other organization,it shouldn't be something these people will fill full of games and use for entertainment. Yes most Linux Distributions will either include or have a simple means to get the codecs to play DvD's, MP3's, and other non-free formats. But what the average computer user won't be able to do with a Linux Distro is install World of Warcraft on it and then veg out for who knows how long. Working with WINE is a much more complex operation than simply clicking install on occasion, and not something a computer viewed as an educational aid should be targeted with.

So here are a few Do's and Do Not's when donating an old Computer or printer to a Charity, that is if you want something to happen to it other than being sent to a recycling center.

Don't strip down the PC. Removing a Video or Sound Card is one thing, delivering an empty tower and a box of various boards, fans, and a power supply is another.
Make sure you ask for a receipt this is your proof of donation needed for a tax deduction.
Include any manuals or information that you may have on various upgrades etc. include it with your donation and make sure to List everything you donate including upgrades for your records.
Wipe your Hard Drive. If this means getting a Linux Live CD and using it to format the Hard Drive, do it. I'm a firm believer that everyone should keep a Live CD of Gparted or a full blow Linux Distro laying around more on that in a bit. But the reason for a format is they don't want those kinky pics from your honeymoon, and you probably forgot they were on there.
If they do re-donate these machines ask what OS they stick on them if any. If it's a Linux Distribution and you feel comfortable to install it do so if you want, you are only going to make their life easier. Just make sure you give them the Super-User information, name and password.
Make sure you include all the cables. Nothing sucks more than checking over a PC and finding out they brought the tower, monitor, keyboard, and mouse and no power, or monitor cables. For Printers this is different not all printers come with the print cable.
Most importantly if it doesn't work let them know! They won't be embarrassed or upset many also have contracts to have really old or damaged PC's recycled they'll get a few bucks for them. Don't waste their time by letting them set up a system only to find out it won't boot.

Now I mentioned above I feel everyone should have a Live CD of Gparted or a Linux Distribution like Linux Mint or Ubuntu laying around. Here's why, imagine if you would you have a major issue happens and you are going to be forced to format your hard drive. You've got 5 years of baby pictures saved on your hard drive and no way to back them up since the system won't boot to Windows. Well with a Live CD this is no issue as long as the file structure is still there and the hard drive hasn't failed. You see they make these wonderful gadgets called flash drives that can be purchased with a 32gb capacity at a rather affordable price. Now you slap the Live CD in your disk drive, and have your PC set to boot from the CD drive first. You'll get a Live Session of what ever Linux Distribution is on the disk and you'll be able to browse your corrupted hard drive and move those priceless images to your flash drive! See I told you Linux can be good, even for non-Linux users.

What ever happened to the imagination?

2012-05-09T22:09:00.002-07:00

I was thinking about this earlier today, what ever happened to the imagination? Now I know I don't pre-date the video game industry, I grew up with it. Home gaming consoles were just starting out in their 2nd generation when I was a child, I remember fondly the Atari 2600 and games like Space Invaders etc. I can also remember Tabletop games being popular, sure there are still people and lots of them playing D&D but what about other games? Rifts, Star Wars: The Role Playing Game, TMNT, Shadow Run, and even the short lived The Wheel of Time role playing game? These games required much more of the player in my opinion, interaction was a must, but so was imagination. You simply could not become immersed in the game without imagination.

In a day when there are so many "WoW Clones", which I find ironic since WoW borrowed heavily from Everquest, I have to wonder if there is a connection between lack of originality in new games hitting the market and the lack of interest in Table Top games in younger generations. I kind of get it though, the companies putting out product want to go for the sure money, after all they are in the business of making money, but are we all suffering from their awful habits of pumping out clones? When was the last time any game came out with a spark of originality? Something you haven't seen before. It's not a trend limited to gaming, it's happening in the film industry as well. Re-boots are rampant, and pointless squeals that never live up to the original installment. The Spiderman series of films is and example with the upcoming reboot, how about the re-make of True Grit, the Hulk films, Tron: Legacy? Should I continue.

There are rumors of long dead franchises in gaming getting a fresh title, take the Legacy of Kain series. You know Blood Omen, Soul Reaver , Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2, and Defiance, there are rumors of a new Legacy of Kain game in the works. While I'd love to see it, I just don't know why a series without an installment for almost a decade is getting picked back up. The Tomb Raider series of games is getting a reboot this year, and of all the titles Kid Icarus rose from a 20 year slumber this year.

If the game studios out there want a list of more or less defunct or degraded franchises to be "Rebooted" I could easily generate one for them.

Lost Vikings - Very Underrated title, loved the puzzles.
Battle Toads - Bring back the Bike Stage Nightmares.
Suikoden - 108 Stars of Destiny = 108 possible party members (6 at time though).
Altered Beast - I'd love to Rise from the grave and rescue Zeus' daughter again, with modern graphics
Star Fox - Everyone wants to see more of Fox and company, well until Slippy gets mouthy.
Final Fantasy - Sorry but the newer titles Blow, starting with VII, I'd love to see a reboot to it's roots.
Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross great games worthy of an update.
Contra - I'd want this as long as we still get to use the Konami Code!
The Neverhood Chronicles - A reboot of The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys! Yes Please.
Ultima - Sure there is Ultima Online (which I still subscribe to), but a reboot of the franchise would be great.

Seriously that's my list, I mean if they are going to rehash old titles, at least make it a rehash of great titles.

I'm not out to encourage the reboot mentality, but if I can't fight it, at least I can throw my suggestions into the hat. I don't have to like it, but with a little luck it may be tolerable.

So what titles or series would you like to see get a reboot? Stick it in the comments below.

Nexon to Buy EA? What if?

2012-04-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Most of us have heard the rumor by now that Nexon has offered to buyout Electronic Arts. My vote? Don't count on it any time soon. While Nexon is technically worth more than EA, and may have the leverage to purchase them, I simply do not see EA handing over the reigns to anyone one else. But what if? That's what I want to explore here, the "What If" factor.

How would a buyout effect current EA MMO's?

This could be scary in some ways, Nexon is big into F2P MMO's something they are good at, yet typically have so many annoying "Catches" that I don't know if the current player base of EA's current offering of online games would stick around if Nexon A) Purchased EA, and B) Started transitioning EA Titles to F2P.

While I do see some merit in a transition Pay to Play to another system for some of EA's older titles, such as Ultima Online, and Dark Ages of Camelot, I don't see Free to Play (F2P) being the answer. These games still have a paying subscriber base, and for these titles I'd say a Hybrid model would be better. Moderately restrictive F2P with tiered account levels up to and including Pay to Play. Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons and Dragons online have seen some success with this type of model, and Everquest recently followed suit. Maybe EA should jump on the "Freemium" band wagon.

For games like Warhammer, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, I simply do not see a reason that a change in subscription model this early in their life is warranted, would be beneficial, or would be accepted by their player bases.

How could this effect future titles?

Well for starters Nexon isn't really known as a "Console" title publisher. If they purchased EA it could have sever effects on many of EA's better franchises. Would they let EA continue it's standalone operations with a business as usual approach treating EA as a subsidiary that focus' on a different market while absorbing their online titles under their branding? Or is it possible Nexon would focus on spinning the standalone franchises towards being more PSN and XBox Live oriented? We don't know and this is where the harm factor comes in if you ask me. One of the great benefits of stand alone titles is you don't have to hook up with either a friend or random stranger to enjoy them. Is this something Nexon can manage or is it something they would fail miserably at? We simply don't know.

Best case is they let EA go about business as usual with one exception. They establish a "Battle.net" like system for many of the titles that they can add their own brand of "Pay to Win" perks too. For Example when playing Madden 2015 years from now, and Madden 2016 is just around the corner, instead of having to pick up a new title, you "Purchase" draft picks to continually expand the game, along with graphical updates new systems etc. When Madden 2016 is released, those players are already included with the updates. The biggest flaw with this type of system is these games would pretty much require you to eat a huge chunk of your Hard drive space up for Art and changes from what's on the disk, unless they adopted a static system that only added and removed players from rosters as the depth charts of various NFL teams changed year to year.

Worst case? They shut down EA's console power house to focus on Online titles entirely.

My Final Word

I hope EA doesn't actually consider this, I really don't, unless they work out a contract where they are given some leverage in how the operations still go. EA isn't a great company, it's not even really a good company in some aspects such as customer service. But it does pump out some great games, games we all play, have played, and enjoy. Nexon is based around a different cultures ethics, which in many regards is superior to what we are currently dealing with from EA, in it's entirety isn't something I feel will sit well with most American and European gamers. A good blend of Nexon's values with EA's and we'd have a good deal going but the risks simply may be something neither us or EA can stomach.

Desktop Evolution

2012-04-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Wow not a post about gaming! Yes this one is going to be about Desktop environments, love them hate them confused or not I'm going to talk about my favorite one's. Lets get down to business shall we?

Window 7

I use Windows 7 the majority of the time (I multi-boot), though at the moment I'm typing this from a Linux Mint 12 install. I like the Windows 7 it's a much better OS than Vista in many regards, though it's by no means perfect. My major complain with Windows 7 is pretty much the same as the complaints I've had for every single version of Windows to date. It's pretty difficult for an average user to make his or her desktop "feel" the way they want. Sure I can change the icons around, swap the wall paper but that's it unless I want to go through a pretty rough process that may or may not involve changing registry keys depending on how "custom" I want it to be.

Gnome 2.x

Low and behold a desktop that's almost had it right. It has great flexibility, in terms of how much you can customise it thanks to a few nifty add-ons such as Compiz and Emerald. You can have multiple desktops as well and swapping through them was a breeze. I came late into the Linux world and didn't get to enjoy this wonderful desktop nearly as much as I should have.

Gnome 3.x with Gnome-Shell

Gnome 2.x is on the way out for most distributions, and 3.x is replacing it. I like Gnome 3 with the Gnome-Shell. It's flexible, has a good deal of customisability thanks to Gnome-Shell extensions, and best of all it is designed not to "clutter". Open windows can have their own desktop which is a great feature if you multi-task. Scoot my mouse pointer to the top left of the screen and I get a list of all open windows, and an application's menu at the same time. I can't complain about this at all! It's a great desktop that with future development and time will be a major contender in the Desktop world.

KDE 4

I really want to like KDE 4, it looks fantastic, and honestly it's not KDE's fault but the software that underpins KDE systems to me lacks a ton of features that bring the "me" factor down. Dolphin isn't as user friendly as Nautilus as a file browser, the plasma Widgets can be annoying, and due to it's "Stock" accompaniments of software I've had more issues with hardware compatibility with KDE than Gnome, LXDE, Enlightenment, or about any other Desktop you can think of. To me KDE feels like someone wanted to make a GUI that felt, well "Windows like" while being able to not call it Windows. It looks good, and when I can get it to play nicely it works well, just it's not quite right for me.

OSX

This is another I kind of want to like, but thanks to Apples rigorous grip on anything with a Apple Logo on it, I just can't come to grips with getting it set up in a manner that feels right to me. I'm not Apple fan (with the exception of the iPod), so call me biased or what ever, but I still find it amusing that the majority of the Desktop Environments have the Hide/Min-Max/Close buttons on the Right while Apple firmly holds them on the left hand of the top window border. Even Ubuntu which switched to Left Handed Buttons gave you the option to swap them over to the opposite side.

Windows 8?

I've not had a hands on with Windows 8 but from the screen shots I'm a bit worried. It appears they are trying to pack 2 Desktop environments into one OS release. It has one desktop that makes everyone think of a Tablet OS, then a traditional "Windows" desktop that looks very similar to that of Windows 7. I get the idea, one OS that fits every need unlike Apples approach with OSX and iOS. At the same time I have to wonder how much bloat is this adding? In an age where Small and Fast is how the game is played, is a OS that requires 16-20 GB (32bit/64bit)of hard drive space the way to go? 1-2GB of RAM minimum depending on if it's 32 bit or 64 bit? These numbers aren't pulled out of my backside by the way, they are listed as the minimal requirements for the Windows 8 Consumer Review, sort of a open beta for people to try Windows 8 out for themselves, and with a release currently expected later this year I can't see this changing much.

Well there you have it, my thoughts on Desktop environments. Hope you enjoyed the read, and I hope you take time to explore some of these Desktop environments for yourself. It's totally worth seeing what else is out there besides Windows and Apple.

Diablo III Open Beta Weekend

2012-04-22T19:37:00.001-07:00

Yea it's a stress test, but more than that it's a TEASE. For all of you who know and love the older Diablo titles you'll be pleased to know that Diablo III feels like, well like a Diablo game. That's a good thing, though there are a few changes from it's predecessors that players should take note of. After playing this open beta weekend, with the Monk class let me take a moment and share a few findings (oh and will anyone hate me for thanking Blizzard for doing away with the NDA during betas?).

Skill Trees
Skill trees are gone! Now you gain skills as you progress through levels. You also are able to swap skills around without having to re-roll a character more on that below.

Less Key Binds

Yes you read that right, there are less key binds in place. This is because skills work different in Diablo III. Skills are set into categories, and as you level you unlock variations on those skills, but can only have 1 of each category active at a time. The good news is you can swap between skills in a category any time you wish.

New Classes

The only class to be carried straight over from Diablo II was the Barbarian. The new classes are the Monk, Demon Hunter, Witch Doctor, and Wizard. These new classes fill traditional roles with some new twists. The Demon Hunter for example is a ranged weapon user, similar to the Amazon/Rogue from previous titles, yet they also take on similar roles as the Assassin from Diablo II with the use of tricks and traps. Monks fills the Warrior/Paladin role, the Witch Doctor takes on some of the Druid/Necromancer type roles, while the Wizard take the place of the Sorcerer from previous titles.

There are a few things I miss though, as we should all remember Tristam was burnt to the ground during the events of Diablo II, and appears as ruins in Diablo III. Instead, Diablo III starts off in the town of "New Tristam", where there are no familiar faces left. Gone are familiar citizens, such as Griswold, and Wirt as they both died in Diablo II (Griswold became a Zombie). In this game we find that Adria has pass away as well, though her daughter Leah will be (it appears anyways) a factor in the new game. Deckard Cain is present as always, which begs the question "What is this crazy old man drinking?" in order to stay alive so long?

All in all though Diablo III is looking like it will be a polished worthy addition to the Diablo franchise.

New Thoughts on Gaming.

2012-04-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

I've come to realize I'm moving into the "Casual" category of game over time. To me it's not a big issue, I pay my subs play when I want as much as I want and that's that. But for many folks it's not that simple. These folks look at casual players as a threat to their gaming experience and I do understand why, even though their arguments don't really hold up.

Here's my Top Argument from Non-Casuals.

Developers pander to the Casuals making things too easy, by dumbing down the game!

This argument is claiming that challenge is removed (Gear progressions, Skill Nerfs etc.) so Casuals can keep up. Trust me the casuals don't care, they want to just do their thing, when they want. Are developers catering to casuals? Sorta, they do dial back some thing especially on the PvP side so casuals aren't at such a disadvantage. But I'd consider it a fair trade off considering PvP is a sport of hunting people, you know illegal pretty much everywhere outside the virtual realms.

Let me clue you guys in on something, my $14.99 carries equal weight as yours, it has the same impression on the share holders report. Now granted I do feel if you spend 500 hours a month playing you deserve something. I'm not sure if that's a special item in game or a "I love me Jacket", but you do deserve something. What I don't believe is that your 500 hours a month entitles you to anything that gives you an edge in any type of game play. I know gear progressions is a factor in Theme park games, I get it, but if it takes me 4 months to do what you do in 2 weeks? How often do you think expansions happen?, new high level content? It's quite possible before new content comes out a casual will catch up to you in terms of equipment anyways.

In the end all these games are nothing. They aren't important, they aren't real, they aren't life or death for any of us. What they are meant to be is entertainment, nothing more or less. If you can't enjoy a title look for another one, there are plenty out there.

In all honesty I really do wish there were more Sandbox games out there, there is little challenge to any Theme park game. Everything is rinse and repeat, while in a Sandbox it's up to the creativity of the player to make the game really "Go!". With a good Sandbox environment and some creative players, you can wind up with a great game. Look at Ultima Online, for all it's faults it's still kicking almost 15 years after launch, and why? Because players make the game what it is, for better or worse it truly is a sum of it's parts.

That's all for tonight, I hope to write more in the next couple of days.

See you then.

As Promised some Legacy related Video.

2012-04-15T10:49:00.002-07:00

I said I'd upload some video showing some of the features of Legacy Patch 1.2 so here it is.

What you'll see in this video are some of the new features introduced at the most basic level. I'm only showing the menus for legacy additions because I want you to go out and experience Patch 1.2 yourself.

Free Game time? Yes Please..

2012-04-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you playing SWTOR, you probably, like myself received an E-mail from Bioware letting you know you'll be receiving 30 days of free game time, as well as an in game pet. As long as you meet certain criteria.

From SWTOR.com (With all links still in place thank you very much!)

» Click to show News from SWTOR.com - click again to hide... «

Game Update 1.2: Legacy is finally here, bringing a wide range of new game features and playable content to Star Wars™: The Old Republic™! With Legacy, you can now create your very own Legacy family tree, sharing the skills mastered by one character with everyone in your family tree. You will also be able to experience new adventures, including the new Operation, Explosive Conflict, the Novare Coast PvP Warzone, and much, much more!
We appreciate the support of our community throughout the development of the Legacy game update. As a ‘Thank You’ gift, we are giving all active subscribers (as of April 12, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT or April 21, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT) the in-game Legacy reward: the Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet*, sure to be your new best friend!

In order to make sure that you receive your in-game Legacy Tauntaun Ram, your account must meet the following criteria by April 12, 2012 ,12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT or April 21, 2012, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT:

You must have purchased the game and redeemed an official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.
You must have signed up for a recurring subscription using a valid payment method OR redeemed a Game Time Code.
Your account must not be banned.

Not an active subscriber? Purchase the game and activate your account on or before April 21st at 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT and you will receive the Legacy Tauntuan Ram pet*!

A SPECIAL GIFT FOR OUR LEVEL 50 PLAYERS – 30 DAYS OF PLAY TIME ON US!

As a thanks for being one of our most valued players, every active account with a Level 50 character as of April 12th, 2012 at 12:00PM CDT / 5:00PM GMT, will receive thirty (30) days of game time** in appreciation for your support and loyalty.
In order to receive your thirty (30) days of game time, you must meet the following requirements by April 12th, 2012, at 12:00PM CDT / 5:00PM GMT:

You must have purchased the game and redeemed an official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.
You must have signed up for a recurring subscription using a valid payment method OR redeemed a Game Time Code.
You must have at least one level 50 character.
Your account must not be banned.

FORMER PLAYERS COME BACK AND PLAY NOW ON US: APRIL 13 – APRIL 19

In honor of Game Update 1.2: Legacy, we are offering former subscribers the chance to come back and play on us.
Starting on April 13th, 2012 at 12:01AM CDT / 5:01AM GMT through April 19th, 2012 at 11:59PM CDT / April 20th, 2012 at 4:59AM GMT, former subscribers will be able to log-in to their accounts without having to re-subscribe!
In order to qualify for the seven (7) days of free*** gameplay, you must meet the following requirements:

You must have purchased the game and redeemed an official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.
You must have previously signed up for a recurring subscription using a valid payment method OR redeemed a Game Time Code. (This includes players in their first thirty (30) days of game time included with purchase of the game.)
You must currently have an inactive subscription.
You cannot have left the game in a banned status.

Plus, if you reactivate your former account on or before April 21st, 2012 at 12:00PM CDT / 5:00PM GMT, you qualify for our Legacy reward: the Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet*!
For more information on these programs, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com/legacypromotion.
Don’t forget to check out www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com regularly to keep up with the latest news and information about the game, and you can also join our community on Facebook and Twitter.

* FOR ACTIVE SUBSCRIBERS OF STAR WARS™: THE OLD REPUBLIC™ (“SWTOR”) AS OF APRIL 12, 2012 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT OR APRIL 21, 2012, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT . OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. VALID WHEREVER SWTOR IS SOLD. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. VIRTUAL ITEM ONLY. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER ACCOUNT. ITEM WILL BE APPLIED IN-GAME TO ALL CHARACTERS UNDER THE USERS’S ACCOUNT.
** 30 DAYS GAME TIME STARTS AT THE END OF YOUR CURRENT BILLING PERIOD. OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. VALID WHEREVER SWTOR IS SOLD. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER ACCOUNT.
PLEASE NOTE, WHEN YOUR 30 DAYS OF GAME TIME EXPIRES, YOUR REGULAR, PAID SUBSCRIPTION WILL RESUME AND EA WILL CONTINUE TO AUTOMATICALLY CHARGE THE THEN-CURRENT RENEWAL SUBSCRIPTION FEE TO YOUR PAYMENT METHOD WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL ACTION BY YOU. ONCE YOUR REGULAR, PAID SUBSCRIPTION HAS RESUMED, YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL CONTINUE TO AUTOMATICALLY RENEW UNTIL CANCELLED. YOU MAY CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AT ANY TIME FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED AT WWW.SWTOR.COM/SUPPORT/HELPCENTER/1876, OR BY CONTACTING CUSTOMER SUPPORT AT WWW.SWTOR.COM/SUPPORT. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO PLAY UNTIL THE END OF THE SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD.
*** OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 19, 2012 11:59PM CDT / APRIL 20, 2012 4:59AM GMT. OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. VALID WHEREVER SWTOR IS SOLD. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER ACCOUNT.

So what does this mean? Well for those of us who have been paying our reoccurring fees even though we may find some fault in the game, we're getting rewarded. EA (yes the same EA Consumerist declared "Worst Company in America") is obviously trying to bolster their image a bit and are giving everyone who meets the criteria a little perk for sticking with SWTOR as it goes through it's growing pains.

Why is this good news? Well first off it shows EA/Bioware actually cares about the success of SW:TOR and are willing to do what they can to please the consumer base. If you don't believe me think of how much money is being lost for that 1 month. The latest figures on subscriptions had it around 1.7 million, even with some atrophy it's launch in new markets would keep that number close to if not stable, if not an increase. So do the math. $14.99 x 1,500,000 = $22,485,000. Now add in the pets they are giving out, the Little Tauntan rams. Blizzard sells non-mount pets for about $10, so go ahead and add another $15,000,000 in potential earnings via micro-transactions to the total (if 1.5 million people coughed up $10 for one) for a possible loss of $37,485,000. Not a small sum by any measure.

Patch 1.2 didn't go off without a hitch though and emergency maintenance was necessary with the servers being brought back down for hours, so guess what we're all getting 1 day worth of game time credit to compensate. That alone equates to $749,500 in revenue! I'm glad to see the folks at EA/Bioware doing whats right for the company and not just what's right for their earnings report.

With that I'll say adieu until next time.

SWTOR Patch 1.2 coming Thursday....My opinion.

2012-04-10T19:59:00.002-07:00

Ok well patch 1.2 is coming Thursday, and I'm happy to see it. Not only is it going to remove some of the restrictions that made no sense (non-tradable crafting materials anyone), but a lot of work is going into balancing the game. Best of all, at least in my opinion is the Legacy System that is being introduced.

Before we get to that let me copy/paste the massive patch notes below, or read them here. These notes are copied directly from the Bioware SWTOR Site so please by all means acknowledge this as their work and as is mentioned this info is still subject to change between now and April 12th.

» The Patch Notes are Massive. Click Here to Read, Click Here Again to Hide... «

Now on to the good part, my opinions. SW:TOR has suffered, not from as many believe being an unfinished game but more so at the hands of impatient, demanding, and egocentric subscribers who have a poor concept of MMO evolution. They expected a game that would be as feature and content rich as SWG, or WoW right out of the box from day one. To these people I say this, "Please stop playing MMO's, you don't understand the concept of a persistent evolving game world.". Seriously I mean it cancel your sub, get off my interwebs, and quick clogging the forums with your endless whining. You simply do not deserve to be heard by the developers working on this title or any other for that matter. Your poor understanding of MMO development, mindless drivel, and 3rd grade reading ability, combined with the unfortunate knowledge of how to click "Post" on a forum has lowered the communal IQ by 25 points. It took hominids 1.7 million years to go from mastering fire to developing a tool that took them from scavengers to the top spot on the food chain (the Atlatl). Please quit trying to stupidify us back to living in caves.

So that may not be what you consider a "Good Part", though it did make me feel good... So here's some more opinions. I like the concept of the Legacy System, it binds all your characters into one family and lets you get benefits from actually playing the game beyond simply credits, skills, and equipment. It introduces a new element into MMO's where being a player is more evolved. This system will remove one of the major gripes found in many MMO's, Class/Race restrictions for starters, it brings another element of freedom virtually no other game has. Also going away is the Cross Faction mailing restriction something I will be looking forward to as this allows me to fully utilize my crafters.

Also 1.2 will bring us UI customization, while I am looking forward to this, I would love for player Skinning to be introduced in the future as we are still stuck with the stock UI. At least now we can re-arrange it as we see fit and have a more traditional MMO layout we can pick as our default. We are also seeing the return of Unifying Colors, a feature removed late in the beta testing much to the disappointment of the testers. This will allow you to have all your gear match the chest piece you are wearing, or specific pieces as you choose.

The New content is pretty good with a new Warzone, more daily mssions, and other goodies thrown in, it should help the "lack of content" whiners calm down a bit (Seriously folks with all the classes there is tons of content enjoy it!). The big losers in this content update are the Open PvP fanboys, Ilum is still Ilum and not likely to change in the near future.

Class changes are looking pretty good as well, currently there is an over abundance of some classes and the alterations to skill trees and skills may make other classes more appealing to some players, as well as some of the lesser used skill trees. Be sure to spend some time checking out these changes, there is no shame in re-specing.

That's all for now folks, I'll be posting more on 1.2 this weekend once I get some hands on with the Live version of it, and hopefully I'll have some video for you as well.

My Gaming life in review....

2012-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

By now you guys know that I'm big into gaming, I write it about it most of the time. But where do my credentials come in? What makes me feel I'm a valid person to talk about gaming in general? Well I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and list a bit of my gamer background.

The early 1980's really introduced me to gaming, I was young yet I can still remember playing Pong back when Pong was one of the few games in town. It wasn't long before an Atari 2600 was introduced to the house and after that the 7800. Many a day was spent playing F1 Pole Position and Pacman, not to mention tons of other games like Space Invaders, Breakout, Missile Command and Donkey Kong. I was hooked at a young age and it's a lust that's never worn out.

In the Mid 80's the NES hit the market, and my love affair with "The Legend of Zelda", Metroid and Kid Icarus began. Contra, and Battletoads where there as well, as was that other evil game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (remember the Dam level?). I never was a major Mario fan, and I'm still not but I will say Super Mario Bros. 2 was my favorite of the series and still is. No hopping through pipes to find out your princess is in another castle.

As the decade closed out I found new games to capture my attention, I still don't know how many quarters I dropped into that old Altered Beast cabinet at the local arcade, or any of the countless other machines that crossed my path.

Into the 90's and the introduction of the SNES, I can't count how many titles I enjoyed on this system. And don't forget the quality Arcade systems that came around the same time. Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and what I feel is the golden age of the Final Fantasy series.

The real big game changer for my Gaming experience happened in 1998 when I was introduced to Ultima Online. A buddy of mine was playing it and I asked him what it was, since I was due to make a deployment soon I waited until after my discharge to acquire a copy and in 1999 I began my online adventures. I haven't looked back, since 1999 I've mainly invested my time in PC gaming. And while my resume isn't as long as some PC Gamers it is full of quality.

From 1999 to present for the PC I can name numerous titles. Diablo, UO, EQ, Diablo II, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights (1 and 2), Atlantica Online, SWTOR, Civilization, The Sims and many, many others. PC games offer an experience unlike most console games, where a Console isn't upgradable I can upgrade my PC every few years, or build a new one and keep up with cutting edge technology, and here's the difference, PC Games almost always have no issues with backwards compatibility. I can play Diablo II today just like I did the day it was released, go ahead slap a PSX disk in your PS3 see how well that works for ya. Sure some of the older games like Dark Sun: Shattered Lands or Menzobarranzan have issues, but DOSBox quickly handles them.

In 2011 I purchased a Nintendo Wii, I use it mainly for streaming Netflix, but there are a few titles I really enjoy. Most of the "Lego" games like Lego Indiana Jones, and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, as well as new additions to long lasting franchises like the Legend of Zelda titles released for the Wii. But for me PC gaming is still much more fun and economical than consoles, and for the future I can't see that changing.

As we continue to catch up with the future, I'll continue playing games, and I'll continue looking to broaden my experiences in both Online and Standalone titles. I hope everyone reading this does the same.

Adding a new feature to the Blog

2012-04-02T22:28:00.003-07:00

Just a quick message, I'm adding a new item on the Left Side Bar called "My Linkage". What I'll be placing here over time are links I find useful as I go about my business on the interwebz. To start it off I've provided a link to the .deb installer for Adobe Air, which is no longer supported or available from the Adobe site. So for all of you using 64-bit Debian based Linux distrobutions (Ubuntu, Mint etc.) feel free to download a copy. You'll need it for software such as Destroy Twitter which is far superior to Gwibber as a Twitter client.

Non-mainstream OS development.....

2012-04-01T17:39:00.001-07:00

The Apple fanatics have raised their heads on the SWTOR forums lately, and while there are some good reasons being presented for OSX native support, there is also a ton of false information floating around. So to start off let me dispel the two big myths floating around out there.

Myth: OSX is more secure than Windows
Truth: Yes and no, while the Super User account (admin) gives you an extra layer of protection some of the components of OSX and those used by many OSX users are actually less secure. For example Safari is less secure than IE or Firefox. The real truth is any OS is only as secure as the habits of the user, and the protections they put in place allow it to be.

Myth: There are no Virus' / Maleware that effect OSX.
Truth: Anyone remember Macdefender? This brought the "No Virus" campaign to a screeching halt. They are out there and as OSX picks up points in market share the risks will only increase.

Now back to the topic at hand.

I'm all for non-Windows native support for games, I get why people want it. But you also have to question if it's a good idea for the game companies. Lets look at OSX since it was already mentioned, Apple always wants their slice, they want to control what can and will run on their hardware, they are the last of the Proprietary Hardware fanatics, and they want a bit of the profits if you make compatible software. What software company wants to have their profit cut just to support fraction of the users? What do I mean by that, well a company would either have to increase the price of a game for OSX so Apple can take the difference as their cut, or make less on it than they would on a Windows machine. Apple was also a bit late to the game, they are going to have to do better and open up a bit to get the backing of 3rd party developers at least the big guns like Activision and EA. Around 89% of the market is dominated by Windows machines with OSX having ~10% and Linux around ~1%. Until Apple gets a significant market share they need to do something to get native support for major titles, right now Apple isn't doing it.

Linux support? I like the idea but in the case of Linux, it's the multitude of flavors available. Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Slackware, Arch, and Gentoo based systems for starters, that are the major hurdles. I'm leaving out the minimalistic Distros like Puppy since they aren't suited for graphically intense gaming. You also have so many desktop environments: Gnome 2.x & 3.x, KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Unity, and Cinnamon for example. How do you shift resources to support half a dozen file structures, desktop configurations, libraries etc on top of needing to release 4-5 different installer packages to support them all. You have .deb .run, .rpm, and lesser known one's like SuperDeb, LZM and PISI.

I'm a big supporter of Linux myself, I like the idea of open source operating systems. I like the freedom to customize, and the encouragement of technology open source represents. But I've also always been a big supporter of a universal installer format that in my vision of the future of Linux, all the major players would adopt and work together to develop and support. This would go a long way to making development from commercial parties a reality on Linux systems.

So I was chatting in Skype and a "Carebear" snuck in....

2012-03-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

A Carebear! What... in my MMO? Seriously they are not who you think they are.

Before a post a clip from the chat, let me set the stage for you....You see I do some work for a Gaming Community site as a volunteer. On this site I go by two names: Triberius, and Nexus one name for each game I'm associated with, it made it simpler to keep my privileges in each section of the forums separate.

[9:35:40 PM] kelmo Siege: Why do PvP folk seem to feel threatened all of a sudden?
[9:36:04 PM] Nexus: Cause everyone else is starting to catch on they are more Carebear than any other group of MMO players.
[9:36:28 PM] Nexus: They are only happy when things are stacked in their favor.
[9:36:34 PM] STORM: yeh kelmo what nexus said

I really do believe this is actually true, I'm involved in the communities for many different games: Ultima Online, LotRO, SW:TOR, and I dip into EQ a bit as well. UO and SW:TOR both have very vocal PvP Communities and they are the biggest bunch of whiners I have ever seen. If it's not one template giving an advantage over others, it's this set of gear giving an edge. Seriously how do they expect a game to actually get balanced, when they will go out to take every advantage possible, or if they can't cry to get it nerfed into oblivion. PvE players well they get stuck dealing with the results of PvP oriented balancing changes, they adapt and alter tactics and carry on, with hardly a peep in comparison.

The groups that really should complain are verbally abused by everyone and no one winds up completely happy, let me give you an example of this.

In Ultima Online years ago there was a type of character known as the "Thief", they still exist in small numbers, and unlike many games they didn't get just a back stab bonus and stealth.. They have stealth true, but they can and did have the ability to view another players inventory, select an item then "Steal" it from the other player. These days though that style of game play is almost, though not quite, non-existent. Why?, because everyone is now afraid to lost that uber 1337 piece of pixel crack that had droped from a boss. So in came "Item Insurance" and now the once feared thief is the bane of Bandage and Potions stacks everywhere. It didn't matter that after a theft a thief is freely attack-able by the person they stole from if they fail a check to be noticed, and all those in the area that notice them stealing, or that a thief typically have no offensive and very little defensive ability. They are Snatch and Run the majority of the time, but players whined and they were tossed from the top of the Nerf Stick tree hitting every branch on the way down. The end result divided the community, old school PvP thieves, and those that followed the gratuitous alternative dished up as a peace offering in being able to use the stealing skill to acquire randomly spawning items from certain dungeons and monsters.

Now what does this have to do with PvPer's and Carebears? Just this, the same is starting to happen to the PvP Community, it is getting divided between the vocal minority that want challenging PvP, where skill outweighs equipment, and the vocal majority, that want to whine and complain when every advantage they can eek out of a template, piece of gear, or combination of buffs, is threatened. These people are not the real PvPer's they are Carebears Cousins, they are a little bit wilder than the Carebears we all know and love, but they want their savannah to be a safe place for them and only them and to be able to circumvent the concept of Survival of the Fittest.

Election Time is coming....

2012-03-24T19:56:00.001-07:00

Wait a political posting? On a gaming blog?.....

Well sorta, with the elections coming this November and the candidates starting their rounds we all need to ask ourselves, "How does this guy effect my life?". SOPA and PIPA are on the back burner but they aren't gone and we need to ask how will this effect gaming in the future?

With today's access to video capture, sound recording, screen capture etc. made so simple, do we really want to be able to enjoy, and share information concerning games openly and publicly as we do now without the risk of lawsuits? That's the risk they acts present, they could kill mediums like Youtube, Twitch.tv, Ustream etc. by making it actionable for us to stream content.

I'm sure you may be thinking, "But it's free advertising for their games why would they?", but think of all the angry videos of people criticizing games you see....

What's new with "The Old Republic"

2012-03-21T18:42:00.003-07:00

As I mentioned a bit ago I've been getting lost in the Star Wars: The Old Republic. The question is, With all of the cloned MMO's out there what makes SWTOR worth playing?

The Answer is: The Story.

Bioware actually broke the mold on this one and made a story driven MMO. On the upside it gives a level of immersion rarely seen in MMO's and via a medium no major MMO has tackled. Cinematic cut-scenes guide you from Mission to Mission as you travel through the Old Republic universe. Each character Class has it's own unique story shared between their two advanced classes, and none of these stories feel dry and drawn out.

Crafting in the Old Republic is handled by Companions. NPC's you have limited control over (you can turn on and off abilities), who follow you around (1 at a time and hot swappable out of combat) and assist you as you progress through the game. As you travel you can gather resources which non-active Companions can transform into items. Currently there are issues with Crafting that need to be addressed. Currently most Top Tier craftables are inferior to easily obtainable Mid Tier Raid gear, they are very much in need of being rebalanced for the long term good of the game establishing a player driven economy.

In reality there are only 4 character classes, each class has a Mirror class in the opposite faction. Sith Warriors are more or less equivalent to Jedi Knights, Bounty Hunters to Troopers, Imperial Agents to Smugglars, etc. While there are minor differences they are mainly in damage types, damage application (instant vs animation triggered), and animation types. Sith Inquisitors for example gain Force Lighting, while their mirror the Jedi Consular gains Force Project (a hail of stones). All these differences are minor in first regards but can lead to quite a difference in overall effectiveness and tactics. Unfortunately currently the favor seems to lead towards Empire Faction characters leading to a large imbalance of Republic to Imperial characters on most servers.

Advance Classes are mirrored as well, if you don't know what advance classes are let me explain. At lvl 10 you get to choose between 2 paths for a character. Jedi Knights can choose between Jedi Guardian and Jedi Sentinel, each has different strengths, weaknesses, and roles. Guardians for example are Tank Classes for the most part, while Sentinels are Melee DPS.

I will have to say SWTOR is a very enjoyable game, and worth the time to check out. It's still a very immature game as it has only been live for a few months, so don't go into it expecting everything to be flawless.