Diary of an (Ex?) WoW Addict

Trading up my gamer thumb for a green thumb.

2012-05-28T12:24:00.000-04:00

I was leafing around some Serenata flowers reviews over the weekend. See, after my sort of controlled spend thriftyness, I had decided on starting (no seriously this time) staring a garden. I mean, I as a gamer can't just have that as my only hobby. I mean I write too but they also lean towards gamer topics.

I discuss, I joke, but they all are gaming related! I never realized how one track minded I was till this idea came up. I also feel a tad burned out on just thinking video games all the time. That and I hear it is healthy for both the mind, but the body. Gardening allows one to 'get back to nature' in a controlled way – without controllers heheh. And this place needs something green, and air recycling anyway.

Course watch. I'll make a planter garden and end up inserting video game planting steaks in the pots. Just watch.

Internet Musings

2012-05-26T13:59:00.002-04:00

So far, the net service hear has been working fine for us. I thought that Cox were simply terrible at things, but it appears that it wasn't necessarily them, but the age of the house and the neighborhood. See internet service where I last lived was at times sporadic. If a huge rainstorm happened kiss it good by. It was too a point you knew to just save your work and shut down everything. Not a hurricane level storm but a sheet of rain storm. If the temperature fluctuates – power and internet was out.

Then the house itself would fluctuate in power causing the poor electronics to power spike and yet...kills the cable and other things (am surprised my pc survived living in that hot inferno of a place). But back then I thought it was Cox being the culprit. I mean they had a habit almost every weekend at late hours to cut service to 'fix disruptions'. One, they never notified their subscribers as some of us (like moi) game late and work late. Two, it was like every weekend. Third, it was never done to people in other areas of the city.

They were in short, pissing me off. So I considered dsl. Now I also was considering something cheap and not aggravating (I'm looking at you, Verizon!) and that wasn't so low as to be dial up. No wanting to knock people who use dial up, but I'd die if my net was throttled so low. But I had search for alternatives cause Cox was simply being their name sake. The alternatives would've been cost effective too. But the owner of the house (my grandmother) said no.

Damn.

Though after moving out, me and Cox have reconciled as the bad service was an area thing. Though if they go down the shitter here, I will not hesitate to try those other places.

Hota finally returns home.

2012-05-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

She had managed to make it to her small hut towards the mage quarter without further incident. Hota rifled through her items on the counter. Magic blades, dishes, a paper labeled 'apidextra review', many random items that just were taking up space in her semi neat living quarters. In a corner was a few half written on scrolls – magical projects she had been putting off despite her restlessness. She laid the cigar box down, going to the freezer box for some meat to cook.

Disco with my Saint's Row

2012-05-18T16:31:00.001-04:00

Oh yes. This will be on while I ran around like a fool with my crack!Barry Burton character. I need to find him a suitable disco suit to cause mayhem in.

RIP Donna Summer.

Rocking me some new head phones.

2012-05-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

I've finally replaced my old, duck taped pair of $10 head phones for well a $30 refurbished pair of Sennheiser ones. These things are like a piece of art on my stand. They hug my head nice and comfortably, keep sound from bleeding out into the room – that bleeding out of sound that kinda defeated the purpose of wearing head phones - looks professional and just compliment my nice sound card. Course I have a bad thing about breaking head phones. I've been babying my last pair keeping the wires put away in a clip. That tactic seemed to work so will definitely do the same with these pair.

Magic Reserves Versus Generators.

2012-05-13T04:53:00.000-04:00

As the Troll salivated over the ways she could tress and cook each Night Elf to a golden crispness, the portal shrank to barely nothingness. The Troll couldn't help but groan out in agitation. Her impending pyroblasts to each of the nude Night Elves' faces was stolen right from under her. Damn. That was a week's worth of food.

As the small portal shark, the hum of electrical machinery took its place around her. Generators normally ran the non magic sections of Horde encampments...mainly the non Goblin controlled parts. She never trusted the things. But Hota had to grudgingly admit they helped during the power outage a few weeks back, when an Alliance assault knocked out a good portion of the Drag. Magic can only produce so much energy over time. A good burst of it, but not infinitely sustainable as electricity.

Still didn't trust the things though. The generators proved that their was use for Goblin engineering tech. It made her nervous. No, the Horde will always need magic. Magic is personal, not manufactured. Ugh.

Hota closed up the cigar box, tucking it under one arm. She will investigate it more in the comfort of her own home. The generators hummed along as Hota tried her best to ignore their existence.

Sometimes this is how it feels to buy games

2012-05-13T02:26:00.000-04:00

So many questionable titles appear...it drives me to not quite buy them. Stop being overly expensive and meh like the movies, video games so I can not feel like I'm playing the 'will this game suck' game.

Free Night Elven meat? Yes, please.

2012-05-12T18:45:00.001-04:00

Hota peered further into the portal, confused as to its purpose. The images flickers pass her red eyes, one stopping at it seemed a concert for the Tauren Chieftains, to someone's strange blinds...no faux wood blinds. Faux because of the strange energy the wood gave off to her. The Blinds then suddenly flipped open, exposing a pair of Night Elves doing more than just tending to ones wounds.

Two female Night Elves at that. Hota licked her lips, less because of the sensationalism (in fact politics and sex didn't even hit her at the moment) but of the deliciousness their cooked meat would be. Yes, in Horde law cannibalism was verboten...against other Horde members. And as a card carrying Troll, Hota wasn't going to pass up on a free months worth of meat. Now..to only get through this portal...

Damnit Ponies, you can so rock my headphones

2012-05-12T13:04:00.000-04:00

In case you aren't in on the MLP goodness (or are scared of technicolor ponies - seriously don't get your panties in a twist haters, they are just cartoons), the show has sort of taken hold of me this past year along with my need to try out pc games and rp.

The season 2 finale had a gratuitous amount of songs, all great as they were, but the remixes.....Yeah, when I'm nuking someone to death on a caster or whatever I'm playing at the time that tends to nuke others from afar, I'm listing to ponies. U Mad?

~~I hope not. They are just ponies, gais~~

Oh and enjoy this little nugget :P ~~I may even have a pony blog, shhhhsh~~

A future fur gamer?

2012-05-10T12:56:00.002-04:00

I and my guy have thought long an hard about adopting a fur baby. I mean we both strongly love cats. It also helps that cats are apartment friendly (our place does not allow dogs). But it has become a reoccurring idea to look into adopting. Our little fur gamer, if you will.

We hung out looking at what ideas online pet guides could suggest. I mean we between the two of us possess many video game systems (some very, VERY vintage), laptops, and pcs from top of the line to old scrap. The place despite being neat is simply at times full of obstacles or delicate things.

And this place, why ample enough space for us, is not big enough to pet proof everything. And cats are notorious for leaping onto anything as a perch. So many question, so many worries.

Needs Moar Ponies Up in Hurr

2012-05-09T12:22:00.004-04:00

Mini portals in cigar boxes?

2012-05-08T11:16:00.000-04:00

As Hota enjoyed her smoke, she riffled deeper underside the smoke box feeling an odd piece of parchment under it. Her large three fingers dig with a delicate grace. It probably helped that the Troll wasn't stoned from the cigars. These humans were either lightweights having little herb in the items or didn't put any at all inside them.

But what her middle finger pulled up was...confusing.

A flier of some sort for a such thing as a car? It said it was a 'used car ad' for a http://www.parkautomall.com, going by her broken Common recognition. A flier for used cars in a place called 'Tampa'.

The Trolless had no idea what a 'Tampa' was. She knew what a car was; it was those noisy polluting things those Goblins brought to the Horde. It was bad enough that the things, these 'trucks,' 'SUVs', used cars for the poorer set made such a mess in the once proud capital city, but now they clutter the town and take away her income from granting portals...wait. What is this?

She pulled up the thin ad from the bottom of the box to be exposed to what looked like a mini portal airing these used car videos. Through the swirling thing, she saw more of the moving things rolling about. This was some odd voodoo, mon.

Upgrading my work desk to greatness

2012-05-08T01:48:00.000-04:00

I have seriously went on a semi upgrade spree for my work desk/pc set up. See, the guy gave me his smaller flat screen helping me toss away the heavy and space eating CRT from my desk. Many like the huge ass screens, but I actually like the small screen. Namely because

1. My desk isn't that huge and

2. I have this rather spiffy (and new) laptop)

So I can indulge a large screen with the laptop. Or dual screen with the laptop and monitor. But I digress. I basically have a pro looking station where I chose between two setups for work and play. But I decided to upgrade even more. I Got a laptop stand because I am rather paranoid about the thing overheating. And it looks nicer. I also like that I can adjust the viewing screen to match with my pc monitor. And that it hides my cables.

But what's super awesome is I'm moving on to wireless things. I already use a wireless router to save cables trailing across the room, but I am digging this wireless mouse that DOESN'T use batters. Battery ones were more trouble than they are worth. Getting regular batteries was wasteful and using rechargeables was just aggravating with how little they kept a charge. And when I'm away I can charge the mouse in a hidden dock.

My bigger prize (that is to arrive in a few days) is my wireless, solar powered keyboard. I can finally toss this Dell laptop that I've had since I got the original pc from Dell oh 7 years ago (no, the actual Dell pc has been upgraded to a custom case). And since it's wireless I can switch from pc to laptop with a usb thingy that comes with it. I plan on getting me some Sennheiser headphones to complete the upgrades o' madness. Hurrah.

Enjoying the fruits of one's labor

2012-05-08T01:31:00.001-04:00

The spoils from the caravan wasn't all about the cash. The Trolless found hidden in one of the satchels found a wooden case. Hota popped the small thing open to see a near untouched set of macanudo cigars.

Cigars were a human thing; the Trolless was used to sharing a pipe with the Tauren or if out in the fields simply rolling a bunch of herbs and a thin piece of paper for a smoke. But she wasn't going to turn down a good smoke. Hota just wondering if the human smokes gave off a pleasing buzz like the Horde ones did?

Happy Wheels

2012-05-08T01:14:00.002-04:00

Oh yes, you magnificent gorn similator with hilarious physics, you. So many youtubers have played this, but my favorite, one of (if not THE) most well known WoW machinmators ever did it best imo. Yeah PewDiePie has the crazy Irresponsible Dad going on, but thre's something just so soothing about Clint doing these LPs.

Randomly in Arthas' voice.

Ambushing caravans for money.

2012-05-05T05:01:00.000-04:00

Hota found many things that Alliance generals did was simply amusing. They would wear tailored sportsman jackets and pack fine foods. They would carny their weapons in luxurious weapon caches and made sure their tools were spotless. These habits made them for easy pickings for the mage as she ambushed a small three person patrol on the borderlands. She had a debt to pay. The fast money in doing this was worth it.

Speaking of wacky HoTD games...

2012-05-04T11:10:00.013-04:00

This game is what is says on the tin. It's an overkill blackploitation/grindhouse/Tarantino film done up in zombie gore. It may not be all -that- gory in comparison to other zombie games out there (namely due to its meh graphics), but the scant plot and over the top lines will definitely leave a mark. Oh if you have any sacred cows...yeah, leave them at the door XD

In which a mage strikes back

2012-05-03T23:09:00.000-04:00

This whole week sucked for the Troll mage; she was now in debt to these slimy Goblins. Hota passed by one of these complicated an in her opinion, over built vehicle contraptions. She being a person able to teleport, or even ride a mount from location to location she saw little point to such a contraption. That and they polluted the Orgimmmar air with its emissions.

She despite her disdain for it, started to poke around the unattended vehicle finding herself at some point looking under the engine hood. She saw with a strange covering of some sort coated in soot. It had written on it, 'k&n replacement air filters'. Wonder what would happen if I take it out...

The mage slide the item out, magicing it away. Well, if they are going to take my money and time, I'll take theres in like kind, the mage wryly thought as she walked away from the slightly lighter vehicle.

Prepare for battle...with a keyboard.

2012-05-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

This game is so win. I mean we have at least 6+ keyboards in our house. We will be exceedingly prepared for the impending zombie/mutant outbreak/disaster.

Debt Creeps into the Trolless Life

2012-05-03T22:49:00.000-04:00

Hota was now in some deep trouble. Oh, not the violent kind, but of the bad credit kind. The Goblins were shrewd, and knew that to make more money off a debtor was less in allowing them to pay off or return the items they 'rented'. No, they made it near impossible to return anything, letting the bills pile, and a buyer's credit plummet.

Even in these war town times, having a good credit rating kept on in good standing with many shops. To not be would cause many to be forced to fend on their own, or to struggle to get even the most necessary of items to survive. Hota was lucky (assuming things came to that) that she could conjure items. But magic can only sustain on with bad credit for so long...

Where have all the (believably) crazy villians gone?

2012-05-03T01:51:00.005-04:00

Yes. I love villains. Especially believably screwed up creepy villains. I dare you to:
1. Not be creeped out
2. Not pity him (if you g and see his back story)
3. Not scream 'pedo bear is in the building' with his scenes with MOMO*

*The US version of his scenes with her are already creeptastic, but the Japanese version is pure nightmare fuel.

Planning on a TV Upgrade Soon

2012-05-03T01:42:00.000-04:00

Earlier, me and my SO were chatting about eventually upgrading from out rather crappy CRT TV to a flat screen. Our pc screens have been flat – but both our (to be fair free hand me down) TVs are of the old CRT kind, not even the flat in between types. Trying to play PS3 games on a blurry old TV is wearing thin. The smaller on in the back room holds a better picture which is sad.

We already have a sturdy entertainment center that holds all our consoles so we have no need for any tv stands with mount, but I've seen those TV mini stands that sit under the TV itself giving it an extra few feet up and into eye line of vision. I kinda want the kind of stand you see Mac users put unfer their screens for more desk real estate with space underneath. We have the cable box on top of the TV for now; it would help in having a place to stash it as a newer TV would be too thin to sit things on.

Xbox has entered the building

2012-05-01T12:42:00.000-04:00

Oh yes. After YEARS of avoiding em, I've finally broken down and got us an Xbox. No not the 360. An Xbox. I simply had to take up that offer on ebay. Well that and it was supposedly already modded. A first gen too (I tend to like my consoles as close to release version as possible). Downside is whoever modded it plainly sucked at it. Yes, I typically like modding out my consoles, damn the warranty! The console was 'soft modded' as in instead of getting a chip or some sort placed inside of it like my ps2 (or 'hard modding') it was modded due to external means. I.E.: A pc cable to console A Hacked SD/memory card A CD/DVD Now, when I say mod, I mean I mod them to be able to play backups off a burned CD or a HD, can play imported games, and sport things like emulators expanding a system's capabilities. But this console was modded with files out of place, no note as to which program(s) were used, and crashed a lot. At first it was thought it was the Xbox, but it in honest was the shitty modder. So in sum - if you wanted something (soft)modded - do it yourself! XD Now hard modding...yeah I'll let the pros do that.

Plans for My Business Growth

2012-04-29T05:38:00.000-04:00

So it nearing that time of the year again, where I reevaluate where I stand with my brand and my methods behind my small business marketing plan. When I first started out doing this blogging thing, I wanted to do just that. Blog, and gain a bit of coin from it. But nowadays I've found myself inadvertently expanding.

I mean right now I blog here and elsewhere for at least 6 places (3 on my turn and 3 nit), work a gig that's under NDA, sell on various auction venues and am holding out for yet another gig. i.e. I am not nesting all my eggs in one basket but hopefully not spreading myself too thin. I like what I do yet I know in order to keep the work stay I need my name out there.

This doesn’t just mean me plastering fliers with my face and likeness everywhere or phone calls, this mean bolstering my web presence The web is like the best place to be seen for better or worse. When I made that online resume (and just as quickly gave it a domain name), I didn't expect much from it. But strangely that domain and the many I run have gained me more than I ever expected.

In fact if I do a local search of my name, I show up first on the results. Great for if I ever grow famous I guess. But knowing that people are hitting me up for advice of freelancing or selling items in various places makes me happy to be of help.

But to solidify my presence I need more. More web presence, more visitors, more requests. I've laid the foundations – building up my portfolio, gaining feedback in my various auction sites, simply hustling – and feel I can only build so much up on my own now. I want and need to get a bigger trust in my brand. This (aside from opening an ebook store) is my next plan of attack.

Wherein Hota takes on a Debt

2012-04-28T11:21:00.003-04:00

Soon she found herself with a bunch of items at the cost of a huge dent in her pocket book. It was a good thing her int was high to aid her in debt negotiation. See, had Hota kept walking around the store, it's wares slowly but surely eating away at her resolve.

This was a bad thing as she had a spendthrift nature that had her impulsively spend more than she had. So it was now up to her debating powers to wheedle her bill down to something manageable. But considering the Goblins were known for shrewd negotiations – the very reason many disdained them – the Trolless was in for a tough sell.