The Poison Jam

Glugglug's Adventures In Drumming

2009-12-25T22:03:00.009-06:00

Glugglug decided to try his hand at drumming today. Here are a few photographs of the event.

He began by sitting in the wrong spot, on top of the Bass Drum.

That's okay though, it's his first time even seeing a Drum Set.

After being shown the correct seat, he began by playing the Snare.

Here he is demonstrating the advanced Triple-Stroke Roll. Pretty impressive for a complete beginner.

Here he is doing a few Paradiddles and Flams.
Was that also a Pataflafla I heard?

After a while, I grew tired of him showing off. So I told him to try switching to a different drum.

So he moved over to the Floor Tom.

Of course, he was equally adept at drumming here as the Snare. So, I asked him to try playing the Cymbals a bit.

He couldn't reach them.

Nevertheless, he was quite pleased with himself.

Nice job Glugglug.
You little showoff.

That's okay, he is family now after all....

More Calliope Pics

2009-09-03T19:03:00.004-05:00

I got my guitar hanger a few weeks ago and I also got the LP framed and hung. I also decided to frame the CD with an extra frame I had lying around. Here are some more pictures.

I shall call her....

2009-08-11T21:28:00.019-05:00

Calliope.

The newest member of my guitar family has arrived today. It's an absolutely breathtaking guitar. Pictures don't do it justice. It's also much lighter then it looks. (which is typical of most flying V style guitars.) Unfortunately, she is so long that it will not fit on my wall with the way my hangers are arranged currently. I'm going to have to order a new hanger and place it somewhere else, so until then she'll have to stay in her case. Speaking of the case, it's probably the nicest case I've had for a guitar so far; (yes, even the Parker) It's definitely the biggest and heaviest.

After playing with it for a few hours, I've learned that flying v's are indeed difficult to hold when sitting down. But, it's not to hard to figure out a comfortable way to hold it. The guitar arrived setup pretty well, aside from some tuning and action adjustments I had to make. The highlight of the guitar (aside from the awesome graphics) would have to be the pickups. The Dave Mustaine Duncan Live Wire Pickups sound great and are well suited for his style of music. When I'm in the mood to play some heavier stuff I'll be reaching for this guitar. Yes, I think Calliope shall see some good use in the coming years.

And now....pictures! (Click for supa-dupa size pics!)

In case you are wondering about the artwork, read this:

The album's artwork was created by longtime Megadeth artist Ed Repka. It shows band mascot Vic Rattlehead and the leaders of the five major world powers (at the time) attending a secret meeting in Hangar 18, with Vic in the foreground presiding over the body of an alien.

The world leaders, from left to right, are former British Prime Minister John Major, former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, former German President Richard von Weizsäcker, former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, and former American President George H. W. Bush.

A new toy....

2009-08-05T19:36:00.009-05:00

Well, finally, after months of waiting and trying to get one - I finally got my Ibanez AF2 Airplane Flanger today! I haven't had a chance to plug it in and try it out yet, because it's raining outside and I can't be carrying my guitars out in the rain to my studio. But, I should be able to try it out tomorrow. These things are selling so fast, stores can't even keep them in stock. I had to wait on a pre-order list for 2 months before I got mine. At least the price went down while I was waiting for it...

Anyways, here are some pictures!

As with all Paul Gilbert products, it came with a booklet filled with some of Paul's favorite settings complete with his humorous explanations on what they sound like. Also included was a handy rig diagram which I haven't seen before. I decided to scan it:

21 years later...

2009-05-08T03:20:00.006-05:00

Well, yesterday was my birthday; Twenty-One years young.

Here are some pictures of the item that shall be occupying most of my time in the coming months and years.

Vote Earth.

2009-03-28T13:42:00.009-05:00

This Saturday is Earth Hour. Show your support for the Earth and turn off your lights from 8:30 to 9:30 PM.

If we screw this planet up, there's no where else for us to go.....

A more visual approach to blogging.

2009-03-24T18:47:00.012-05:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Below is the reason why.

Got a virus, had to format PC.

Newegg to the rescue!

Decided to upgrade to Vista.

Got stomach flu.

Sold lots of stuff.

Playing music.

RROD

Bye-bye 360.

Playing PS3 now that 360 is gone.

Also, DS.

(Before 360 Broke)

Maybe some PC too.

Listening to too much music. (Especially at night.)

Reading The Watchmen GN.

360, I hardly knew ye.

2009-03-19T18:44:00.000-05:00

I think that about sums it all up.

Surprisingly though, my 360 has been received, repaired and is on it's way back to me all in one day. I guess they get so many of them they have those repairs down to where they can do them with their eyes closed.

Screw you, Blizzard.

2009-02-25T02:51:00.002-06:00

So, Blizzard decided to close my WoW account today. Luckily, I have two and my main characters are not on the account they closed. There is no point in even trying to reverse the decision, they never do it and it's a huge hassle anyways. Whatever. Screw them. I didn't even play that account anyways.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:53:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Some pictures of my gift this year; The newest addition to the family. Her name is Belle.

You can view the whole photo album here.

FedEx = Sucks

2008-12-22T14:36:00.003-06:00

So, FedEx lost my Christmas present several days ago. (The guitar in the previous post) It was supposed to arrive on the 10th, but it seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

After several dealings with the incompetent fools at FedEx, they now believe it was stolen; Possibly by one of their workers. Yeah...

*Update*

Well, they found it. Who knows where it went and what happened to it, but it has now been delivered. FedEx offered no explanation or restitution for their poor service, but at least I have it now. Everything is in perfect condition, luckily, and it is now safely wrapped and under the tree.

A Majik Christmas

2008-12-08T19:27:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas to me.

In a few days, I'll be the proud owner of a Parker Fly Deluxe in Majik Blue.

Expect several pictures when it arrives! Until then, the photo the retailer took will have to suffice.

This is actually the exact same guitar I played during my trip to Florida. Turns out the shop we stopped in at had an eBay store, so I ordered from there.

PoP Impressions

2008-12-05T19:27:00.003-06:00

There's just something about Fridays that makes me want to blog....

Anyway, I got PoP the other day and have been playing around with it a bit. So far, one thing stands out above all the other things in the game; and that would be the graphics.

This game is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. I haven't played a game with this much art style since Okami, 2 years ago. Playing Prince of Persia is truly like a living painting. The transition from Corrupted lands to lush Healed lands is always an awe inspiring experience, that is very reminiscent of Okami. In fact, the more that I think about it, PoP is a lot like Okami in more then one way.

The game is not without it's flaws though. For starters, the combat. I, personally, hate the combat system. I find myself loathing each battle, and the cinematic direction they tried to take with it just isn't doing anything for me. It feels clumsy, weak and I just plain don't like it. Like most things in PoP, it looks good, but it just doesn't feel right. The Prince feels weak when in combat, and the fact that there is no health bar and you can't die just seems to add to the equation, even though you'd think that would be a good thing. Also, I find the whole "arena" system a bit annoying. For those that don't know; Basically there is a defined cell, or area in which combat can take place. There are invisible walls, and if you aren't fighting a boss and you reach these walls, you'll throw your enemy off the edge of whatever platform you were battling on. If you are fighting a boss, he/she will make some cheap move to escape certain death. (Usually in the form of teleporting behind you.) I guess I shouldn't call it cheap, since we're the ones cheating death throughout the whole game.

Having these defined and restricted combat zones is another flaw, in my opinion. I can see why, from a development standpoint, they exist. But from a player's view, they are just annoying and unnesecarry.

I haven't played a whole lot, so I'm not that deep into the story. But so far, it's just...meh. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing terrible either. A lot of people don't like the new prince, but I personally do. He is pretty funny and he has a lot of character. His background, so far, is totally unknown to me. All I know about him is that he was possibly a thief, but he prefers call himself an adventurer. "Stealing gold from the dead is a lot easier then taking it from the living." I'm eager to learn more about him, though. And I suppose that is a good thing.

Elika on the other hand....well...I don't love her and I don't hate her. I don't really feel like I need her, and I do find myself getting annoyed with her sometimes. Right now I'm at the begining of the game still, so I don't know a whole lot about her; Certainly more then the Prince. I'm hoping she will grow on me, but as I said, I kind of feel neutral about her right now. For example, I wouldn't care in the slightest if she were to fall down a pit and never come back due to misgauging a jump. Or perhaps "slipping" off the Prince's back while climbing some vines. I remember reading an interview with the producer of PoP, and he said something that I find myself repeating throughout my time playing. You may have read this before. He said,

"It doesn't really matter to us if you love her. It doesn't really matter to us if you like her. You just can't hate her. You can't hate her. The second you hate Elika, the second you're frustrated with Elika, the whole experience comes tumbling down."

This is an intersting quote, because sometimes I find myself saying "Oh, I'm not allowed to hate her." Even though I might be just a tad bit frustrated with her at the time. For the most part though, I don't mind her so much. I don't love her, that's for sure. I don't hate her either. I'm not sure if I even like her. But, like I said, I'm still early in the game, maybe my opinion will change the more I get to know her / the more time I spend with her.

So, there you have it. Those are my thoughts on PoP so far. I'll probably do a full review after I finish the game. One thing I forgot to mention though was the music. I'll keep it short and sweet: It's good. It's very "Sands of Time" feeling, which is definitely a good thing. PoP:SoT was my first and favorite PoP game, and it had suberb music. Even though the composer, Inon Zur, didn't do Sands of Time, he did do Warrior Within. He also did the music for Fallout 3, which is great. I guess I've been listening to a lot of Inon Zur lately.

Wrath of the Stuff.....King

2008-11-13T23:32:00.007-06:00

Well, I picked up my Collector's Edition of WoTLK today....even though I have no plans of playing it any time soon. I'm still far too enthralled with Fallout 3.

Anyways, it's quite an impressive package. As usual, photos were taken. I was only really interested in the Art Book, Soundtrack and in-game pet, But the behind the scenes DVD could be pretty cool....if I ever get around to watching it.

I also picked up Mirror's Edge yesterday. Also got my cool little messenger bag since I pre-ordered. Not a bad deal for $60...the game plus the bag. Plus it's cool that it's an exact replica of the one used in the game.

Speaking of pre-order bonuses, I also got these goodies with Fallout 3:

Oblivion, with Guns.

2008-11-05T15:40:00.009-06:00

Fallout 3 = Superb.

I can't put it down!

I also picked up the Limited Edition Strategy Guide for it, which is something I never do for games. However, I feel a game of this scale warrants some sort of guide. Also, it has an extras section feature concept art from the game, so technically it is also an art book, which I do collect. It also has a massive fold out map, which is pretty cool. The whole package was a bit hefty, weighing in at $39.95, but you get what you pay for I suppose....That map is absolutely massive.

If you have any interest at all in free-roaming RPGs, or if you liked Oblivion or Morrowind even the slightest bit, do yourself a favor and pickup Fallout 3.

In other news, I've almost completed Fable 2, which is another great game but on a different scale then Fallout 3.

I haven't even played LittleBigPlanet yet....

Also got these....Pretty cool.

The Mirror's Edge demo launched the other day, and I played around with it a bit. Looks like it's going to turn out to be a great game.

New Print

2008-11-01T17:14:00.006-05:00

I got another new print the other day. I've had my eye on this one for a while now.

It's called "The Mask of Hatred" and it was painted by the extremely talented Patipat Asavasena, aka asuka111.

24 Hours in a Day = Not Enough

2008-10-29T16:39:00.007-05:00

Sometimes, 24 hours just doesn't seem like enough time....

Curse our human inefficiency! Sleep is obsolete!

Florida

2008-10-29T15:32:00.021-05:00

A few weeks ago I went on a trip to Florida for about 6 days. The main purpose of the journey was to check out a college I'm interested in attending, Full Sail.

We stayed in this great 2 bedroom 2 bath condo that had a full kitchen and patio. It was located on this huge lot of land-about 6 acres, with a lake and pool house. Here are some pictures:

Outside of Condo

Kitchen

Entry Hall

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Living Area

Dining Room

Pool House

Pool

View from the pool house roof

Here are some pictures of the aforementioned lake:

Yes, there was an alligator in the lake, but we didn't ever see him.

We also visited Universal Studios and The Hard Rock Cafe. Believe it or not, they had a great Van Halen display with Frankenstrat there!

The Hard Rock Cafe!

A Marylin Manson Painting

The Van Halen Display

Frankenstrat!

This statue was sitting outside of the Hard Rock Hotel, which is right by Universal Studios.

In downtown Orlando there was this very interesting building that was built upside down. It was a science / activity center for kids. We never went inside, but it was pretty cool from the outside. It even had this creaking noise playing, as if it were going to collapse at any minute.

We also took a trip to Cocoa Beach one day. It was about a 3 hour drive from where we were staying.

Yes, that's me.

We took a tour of the Full Sail campus, but there were no pictures allowed as there were classes going on. :( All in all it was a fun trip, and I'm looking forward to going back and attending school there.

Upgrading the Beast

2008-10-22T16:29:00.004-05:00

I upgraded the Frankenstein guitar a bit. Added some EMG 60's and 89's, as well as all chrome hardware. Now it's rocking hard and looking good!

IT'S ALIVE!

2008-09-25T21:21:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the pun.

But, the Frankenstein guitar is finally finished! After who knows how many days of work, setbacks and bad weather it's finally done. It was supposed to take three days, maybe four. It took about 3 weeks....I also did a Frankenstein job on a guitar hero faceplate in this time peroid, but I didn't take any pictures. It turned out pretty cool. (No, I don't play Guitar Hero....the faceplate wasn't for me.) A lot better then the boring white Wii guitar and most aftermarket faceplates you can buy.

*EDIT*

I've made a more streamlined slideshow for the headstock and body. They have significantly less pictures, but it basically outlines the whole process with 2 or 3 photos per phase. It's a lot better, although the pictures are lower resolution. Anyways, here they are:

Body Slideshow

Headstock Slideshow

You can still view the old slideshows here and here.

Time to give this beast a lesson; A lesson is the discipline of rock and/or roll!

WAR!!!

2008-09-17T20:49:00.007-05:00

Got Warhammer Online today. Here are some pictures of the CE Box. I've also updated the MMO Characters page with info about my WAR character(s) and some stuff from beta.

I'll be playing Destruction side on the Skavenblight server.

Huge Update!

2008-09-17T00:16:00.005-05:00

Today was the last day of taping for the Frankenstein guitar! I've uploaded 35 new pictures to the slideshow!

Tomorrow will be the final coat! We're almost done!!

Also, the headstock and body now have their own separate folders / slideshows. You can view them here:

Headstock

Body

Frankenstein Update

2008-09-16T00:33:00.003-05:00

**UPDATE - MON 9/15**

TRAGEDY! The guitar took a fall today....Luckily, it fell onto a cardboard box and the damage was minimal. There are a few scuffs on the white coat which was applied yesterday, but it should all be fine after the second coat tomorrow.

In other news, I decided it would be cool to paint the headstock tuning hardware white. It turned out to be a waste of time mostly...It doesn't matter how many coats of gloss / lacquer you put on them, the paint is still going to chip and peel off because there is just so much stress on it. It's called hardware for a reason. Anyways, I uploaded some more pics of the headstock with it's new white hardware....

Tomorrow should be the final coat of white for the body, followed by the last taping and coats of red. More pictures coming as they are taken.

Frankenstein Slideshow

2008-09-12T00:31:00.012-05:00

I've uploaded various pictures from my Frankenstein guitar project. I'll continue to update it with pictures as I take them.

I'm not sure when I'll be done with the whole thing, but it shouldn't be too long. The humidity with all the rain these past few days has slowed down the painting progress. At least I've got the headstock all done.

Anyways, here is the slideshow.

And here is the actual folder with the pictures.

**UPDATE - SAT 9/13 **

The Headstock is now finished! 11 coats of gloss should later, the hardware has all been put back on and she's all done! Although I'm contemplating painting the tuners white....

Prints, finally

2008-09-11T00:36:00.004-05:00

Finally got all my prints hung / re-hung. Click for full size goodness!

Behold!

Luciole Loong / Reiq Prints (Might be NSFW...)

Another Angle

Various DA Prints, and another Luciole Loong with lamp reflection! :/

Another Angle

Head-on shot of my "girls only" wall. =P

Prints above my headboard.

I really like this picture.... (No lamp reflection because I took it in the dark!)

"Video Game Girls" prints. I love these... Also, my 42" Plasma TV. :)

Katamari Print

Okami Print

Mirror's Edge Wallpapers

2008-09-09T00:16:00.003-05:00

Some Mirror's Edge wallpapers I made from various images found on the web.

You can download them all here.

No More Wii...Also, Guitars.

2008-09-03T00:03:00.006-05:00

Sold my Wii the other day.

Sorry Nintendo, but your control gimmick isn't enough to make up for the total lack of quality games. Also, get with the times. Gamecube quality graphics just don't cut it anymore.

I seriously hope Nintendo can get their act together for their next system. They are riding off on the whole "casual player" thing. I'm not sure THEY even know who their target demographic is.

In other news, I'm saving up money for a new guitar. I'm also trying to sell some of my old ones. I have too many, and they never get played. Plus I want to replace the cheaper "starter" guitars with high quality ones. I'm saving up for a Parker. Obviously, my ideal guitar would be a Fly Mojo Flame, but since I don't have 3 grand I'll have to go for a NiteFly. I'm thinking about getting a P-44 just to try them out, then saving up for a NiteFly Mojo Flame. However, once I saw the PM-20 in a Quilted Bubinga finish...I was enraptured. It is quite possibly the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen. I REALLY want one, but they don't have a Piezo system, which is one of the main reasons I want a Parker. It would be possible to add a Piezo to it, but I'm not sure how much of a hassle it would be to find a tech to get it installed, and I know for certain I can't do it myself.

Seriously though....tell me this isn't the best looking guitar you have ever seen.

If I save up enough for a NiteFly Mojo, I may as well try to save an additional $300 for the flame finish. I'd go for the Transparent Blue Flame.

It's going to be a really tough choice though. I really, really love the PM-20...but it doesn't have the Piezos. I like the NiteFly Mojo in Transparent Blue, but I'd be breaking the bank if I ever did manage to save up enough. The PM-20 is half the price of the NiteFly Mojo, so I'd have plenty of money to add a piezo...

For a time I was also considering getting a Schecter Stiletto Classic.It has no piezo system, but it has a load of other features and some really nice EMG Pickups in it. It also has neck thru construction. The main thing that puts me off is the Floyd Rose, no Piezo system and price. I really like the finish though.

At one point I was also considering an ESP EC1000. I'd go for the Vintage Black...although the See-Thru Black Cherry is nice too. The main reason I decided not to get this guitar (yet..) is because it is fairly limited in the type of music it's suited for. It would be an absolutely great guitar for Metal and Hard Rock, but that's about it. I will probably get one at some point, just not yet. I already own 1 ESP guitar, and it is one of my favorites so I'm eager to try out another ESP.

Finally, I was also considering getting a MusicMan Axis. (Or Peavey Wolfgang) These are superb guitars...I've played one before, and they are truely underrated. The finishes are beautiful in person and the necks are very smooth. The main thing that put me off on getting one of these was the price, (they are just as much as a Parker NiteFly Mojo) Floyd Rose and Bolt On neck. Still, they are good guitars.

Before I go, I wanted to mention a new project I'm working on. I've decided to give my ESP a custom paint job! I'm going to be painting it ala "Frankenstien." I've got all the materials and I'll be photographing the whole process, from start to finish. I've already got the front of the guitar sanded and I should have the sanding complete tomorrow as well as the first base coat of white. I'll upload some pictures when I'm done!

Still alive

2008-08-24T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive....

Just been busy. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about later.

Pro-Crass-Tuhh-Nayy-Shuun

2008-07-20T22:25:00.002-05:00

Been procrastinating a lot these past few weeks. Not much going on....I started working on my Game Collection page on IGN as well as the Completed and Favorites list. You can check them out if you want...It's pretty cool. I like IGN's collection lists better then GameSpot's. I'll update the sidebar here so it links to these new lists instead.

One thing about IGN though....they are such total Final Fantasy fanboys it's not even funny. They don't even try to hide it. It's almost as bad as GameSpot's Nintendo fanboyisim. Yes, that is a word. Starting today.

Anyways, here are the pages.

E3, we hardly knew ye.

2008-07-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

So, this year's E3 has come and gone. The coverage has been everywhere, and I'm sure you've read enough already. I won't bore you with a 5 page article about things that you may or may not care about and things you have probably already read about elsewhere. Instead, I'll just list the stuff that stood out to me and the games I'm looking forward to.

First of all, I must tip my hat in Sony and Microsoft's general direction for their great job of integrating E3 into their Live and PSN services. It was great being able to download demos, trailers and more the moment they were announced at E3. Really, a great feature. Shame on Nintendo for not doing this, but they don't really care. Now, on to the games:

Nintendo

Chrono Cross (DS)
de Blob (Wii)
Harvest Moon (DS, Wii)
Tales of Symphonia 2 (Wii)
Monster Lab (DS, Wii)

Microsoft

Fable II
Gears of War 2
Bionic Commando
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
Too Human
Tales of Vesperia
Saint's Row 2
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Sony
(PSP)

Patapon 2
Star Ocean: First Departure
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Valhalla Knights 2

Sony
(PS3)

Bioshock
Baja
Eternal Sonata
Flower
God of War III
Little Big Planet
PixelJunk Eden
Rise of the Argonauts
Resistance 2
Socom: Confrontation
Valkyrie Chronicles
White Knight Story

PC

Spore
Dragon Age
Warhammer Online
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

Multi-Platform Games

Golden Axe
Prince of Persia
Fallout 3
Final Fantasy XIII
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Resident Evil 5
I Am Alive
Mirror's Edge
FaceBreaker
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Postal 3
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Mortal Kombat Vs DC
Infinite Undiscovery
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Too many games....

2008-07-15T22:36:00.004-05:00

There are so many great games I missed out on over the past few years....I'm trying to get caught up this summer; but man....there are only so many hours in a day, and I find when I try to play multiple games at once one of them eventually wins out all of my attention and I never go back to play the others. :/

I was playing the heck out of Persona 3, while playing some Trauma Center 2 as well, but then I started playing Odin Sphere and abandoned the others. I don't see myself finishing Persona 3 any time soon, so it's pretty much shelved. I also don't see myself playing much Trauma Center 2 anymore either.

A few days ago I started playing Jeanne D'Arc again, and haven't played Odin Sphere again. Infuriating! I really love Jeanne D'Arc and Odin Sphere, but so far Jeanne is a total time sink for me. The hours just fly by when I'm playing.

As if this weren't enough, all the news from E3 has me all excited about new games coming out and I find myself wanting to play previous games from the respective series. For example: Star Ocean. I also played the new demo for Tales of Vesperia, which totally got me excited and wanting to play other Tales games. I also fooled around with the Too Human demo, which is in a league of it's own, but reminded me of three other games I have yet to play / finish. First is Mass Effect, which I started playing when it came out but never finished. Second is Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, which looks awesome. Finally, I was reminded of Valkyrie Profile 2, which also looks awesome.

Oh yeah, speaking of Jeanne D' Arc; I was reminded of two other games I have yet to play by the same developer Level 5. (who I love) Rogue Galaxy and Dragon Quest VIII. Jeez! Just look at all these games I need to play! Let's recap:

Persona 3 (Started playing, didn't finish....probably won't for a while)
Trauma Center 2 (Almost done....not much desire to finish it right now.....*sigh*)
Odin Sphere (Started playing....hopefully I will finish it at some point...)
Jeanne D'Arc (Start playing, looks the most likely for me to finish right now.)
Star Ocean: Till The End of Time (Want to play)
Tales of.... (So many tales games to play....I loved Tales of Symphonia)
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Need to play....probably will after Rogue Galaxy)
Valkyrie Profile 2 (Need to play)
Rogue Galaxy (Need to play...probably the next game on the list)
Dragon Quest VIII (Want to play)

Man! Crazy! This list only includes old games that I haven't played, so it isn't including the newer ones. Stuff like Crisis Core, FFT War of the Lions, Eternal Sonata, Ninja Gaiden 2, NiGHTS, and Okami. (Wii) I've updated my Wish List at GameSpot with all the games I continue to update it and my Now Playing list as I finish games / start playing new ones.

Oh yeah, I also bought Resident Evil 4 a while ago and played it a bit. I need to finish it as well...but I have until next March to do that.

I don't really know why I'm even taking the time to type this....I have a ton of games to be playing.

Persona 3

2008-07-09T20:57:00.003-05:00

Man...I started playing Persona 3 FES a while ago, and I've been totally hooked ever since...I've only had it a few days and I've already sunk over 16 hours into it....and I'm not even that far into the story.

I started over today because I want to try to max all my S-Links in one play through; I already screwed up with my previous save.

So...anyways, yeah. P3 is awesome. The music is hilariously bad though.

I've also been playing Trauma Center 2, which is also awesome but not quite as awesome as the awesomeness that P3 holds. Pretty awesome, huh?

Awesome.

Recently Completed 3

2008-07-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've done one of these...

I actually finished Halo 3 a long time ago...like when it came out, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it.

Halo 3 (360) - 6.5/10 "Decent"

Pros

Lots of multi-player options
Good Music
It's pretty fun driving the Warthog

Cons

Story is weak
Tons of idiots online
Not much to offer for those who don't like multi-player

Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3) - 9/10 "Highly Recommended"

Pros

Great graphics
Good story
Liberty City really feels alive

Cons

Radio shows are too short
No Rhino
Car handling takes a little getting used to

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) - 8.5/10 "Highly Recommended"

Pros

Great graphics and animation
Great story
Lot of unlockables and extras

Cons

Weakest story out of all the MGS games
Essentially the same boss battle mechanics from previous games
Story is complex, even for Metal Gear veterans

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) - 9.5/10 "Superb"

Pros

Terrific story
Amazing Graphics, Animation and Music
Boss battles are extremely fun and feel very cinematic

Cons

Too easy
It eventually ends...
Some of the Time Trials are a bit strict

ICO (PS2) - 8/10 " Recommended"

Pros

Great Story
Some interesting puzzles
The ending theme song ;)

Cons

Too short
No replay value...(The NTSC version is stripped of any extras)
No progressive or widescreen support

I actually finished Halo 3 a long time ago...like when it came out, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it.

Also, I wrote a full review of MGS4 a while ago, which you can read here.

Shadow of the Colossus is one of my favorite games of all time....so I can't say enough good things about it.

Told ya so.

2008-06-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hate to say "I told ya so", but I told ya so.

Wonder how many years we'll have to wait for this?

Blizzard's Teaser.

2008-06-25T12:15:00.013-05:00

It's Diablo III. Mark my words.

Blizzard.com

"Ice1.jpg"
June 23rd

"Ice2.jpg"
June 24th

"Ice3.jpg"
June 25th

"Ice4.jpg"
June 26th

"Ice5.jpg"
June 27th

Let's take a look at the evidence, shall we?

The runes are obviously from Diablo.

The runes form a pentagram shape. Coincidence? I think not.

Image 4 clearly reveals a set of eyes, which lines up perfectly with the Diablo 2 cover.

--------------------------------------

Yeah, yeah. A lot of people are saying it is clearly Arthas behind the ice now. Here is a 20% overlay picture:

It does indeed line up perfectly, and it may very well be Arthas there...But what are the meanings of the runes? Is it related to the Death Knight's rune system? Why use runes from Diablo though...? Also, let's not forget the pentagram shape they are arranged in. Check this out though:

It could just as easily go the other way.

I'm still adamant that the reveal will be D3. We all know Blizzard has been working on it for a long time. Perhaps they are just trying to throw us off with the ice and Arthas. However, they may not be ready to reveal it just yet....All this WotLK stuff is really complicating things. What news could they possible bring us from WotLK? A concrete release date? Big deal. That hardly warrants all this hype. Maybe a new hero class? Now that would suffice.

Bandwidth....

2008-06-24T13:01:00.006-05:00

Argh! The BB wallpapers are pretty popular, and I'm about to use up all my bandwidth on my BoxSTr account. I've uploaded some of the most popular ones on another server. You can get them here: (You should still be able to get the other wallpapers though....these are just a backup.)

Here are the original posts containing the wallpapers:

Post 1

Post 2

PSP Wallpapers

2008-06-24T12:33:00.012-05:00

I made some PSP wallpapers.....Lots to choose from, just pick the menu design you like. Or download them all here.

MGSPO PSP Wallpapers

2008-06-24T12:30:00.002-05:00

Some Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops wallpapers. Once again, many different menu styles to choose from. Or you could download them all here.

More Wallpapers

2008-06-23T15:01:00.003-05:00

Some more wallpapers of the B.B Models. I got crazy and made one where they have tattoos of which BB they are. :p

New Blog

2008-06-22T17:36:00.003-05:00

I've got another blog I'd like to direct everyones attention to. I'll continue to update both this one as well as the new one.

Check it out, it's called Totally Obscure.

B.B

2008-06-22T16:55:00.010-05:00

Some pictures of the Beauty and the Beast unit from MGS4.

Lyndall Jarvis
(Laughing Octopus)

Yumi Kikuchi

(Raging Raven)

Mieko Rye
(Crying Wolf)

Scarlett Chorvat
(Screaming Mantis)

Group Shots

B.B Wallpapers

2008-06-22T16:15:00.004-05:00

Some Wallpapers I made from various shots posted above. Most are at 1920x1200 resolution, but a few are dual monitor size. I'm personally using the sixth one at the moment. :)

Workspace

2008-06-20T12:24:00.003-05:00

Some pictures of my (messy) workspace.

Yes, it's a mess. No, I didn't clean it. Never far from my grasp are my iPod (with crappy blue skin because my black one broke.), Bose Headphones, PSP, guitar pick and Excedrin Back & Body! (lol, j/k)

All of those markers are pretty new...I'm still getting used to them.

Also, what is in the mysterious tube...? Well, it's full of Reiq prints, which I don't have frames for yet.

Desktop Screenshot

I don't like any icons on my desktop....I also don't care for widgets. I'm actually using XP, but I have the Vista Theme.

With Labels

You may may have spotted some of my Vai stuff. I wrote a bit about it, here.

lolmetallica

2008-06-20T02:21:00.002-05:00

Just read this, thought it was pretty funny.

lolmetallica

That's all for now.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

2008-06-19T00:43:00.004-05:00

**Fair warning: This is both long and contains spoilers.**

Well, my time with MGS4 has come to a close. I won't say it was a bad experience; it's far from that. It was more of a....necessary experience. Allow me to elaborate:

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the last in the epic Metal Gear series. As such, the story that started over 18 years ago finally comes to a close. In terms of game play, nothing stands out in Metal Gear Solid 4 over it's previous iterations. In terms of story, MGS4 really lags behind the others. However, the story, and the game as a whole, are necessary.

Necessary to close the story.
Necessary to end the Metal Gear Series.
Necessary to get Hideo Kojima paid.
Necessary so said developer can work on other games.

Let's talk about the previous Metal Gear games for a brief moment.

MGS1, Metal Gear Solid / (Twin Snakes) is the original (modern) Metal Gear. It's the first introduction for all the major characters, and the boss battles were some of the best ever created at the time. The Psycho Mantis battle is still one of my favorites in video game history. It had incredible depth in both story and with the codec system. It's only folly is it's age. (although it's been remade for GCN)

MGS2, Sons of Liberty is one of my favorite games of all time. It was also my first experience with the Metal Gear Series. The boss battles weren't as good as Snake Eater's, but the story was superb. I was also quite fond of the setting. And I don't care what anyone else says, playing as Raiden was cool. The music is also my favorite in the series, and it's one of only two games that ever made me cry. Not outright balling like a baby, mind you, but shed a few tears. A testament to the power of the story.

MGS3, Snake Eater was an excellent addition to the Metal Gear series in terms of letting us learn more about the characters and really helps you to understand the story as a whole. The setting was also unique and who can forget all the great boss battles. The battle with the End is truly a moment in gaming history. The sheer amount of boss battles also make it great. Snake Eater is a Prologue to the events of all the other Metal Gears. A lot of people don't realize this, and think they are playing as Solid Snake. This could lead to a lot of confusion in understanding Guns of the Patriot's story.

And now we come back to:

MGS4, Guns of the Patriots. The boss battles are decent, but nowhere near Snake Eater's or Sons of Liberty's. In fact, almost all are copies of battles from the previous games. The Metal Gear battle was kick ass though. (It kicks even more ass with rumble.) Of course the graphics are superb, and it seems like that is all reviewers are looking at these days. MGO makes the whole package of MGS4 a bit more appealing, which probably explains it's high score despite it being the weakest in the series.

You really need to play the previous games in order to understand MGS4. Even then, it is a complex and winding story. (Perhaps even a bit too complex for its own good.) It's also the shortest of them all. I feel MGS4 is really only suited to two people:

Existing fans of the Metal Gear series / Metal Gear veterans
Those only interested in MGO.

MGS4 has it's high points, which for me, would be it's boss battles and the trip back to Shadow Moses Island. Let me break down the boss battles:

Laughing Octopus

Battle: 7/10
Character Background: 6/10
Difficulty: 3/10

Laughing Octopus is the first boss you will encounter, and is the first of the BBs. (Beauty and the Beast) This is probably my second or third favorite boss battle. Each of the BBs has an emotion that they are tormented by and some sort of animal that their battle suit personifies. Her battle suit features 8 mechanical "tentacles" that can shock you, grab you and throw you around and other various things. The thing that makes this battle so good are the environment in which it is fought and her method of fighting. As she has the traits Octopus, she has the ability to camouflage herself and which point she will spew off taunts at you until you find her. She is almost impossible to see until you are right in front of her, but you can hear her and track her easily using the Solid Eye's NV mode. Once you do some damage to her, she will spew ink at you, which blinds you if you don't move, then move to a different location to assault you from.

After you defeat her, she sheds her battle suit and you are treated to a scene of her being tormented by her specific emotion. After this, she will start walking towards you slowly. (trying to grab you and do something unpleasant I'm sure...I don't know, as I've never let it happen.) You then have the option of either killing her, or knocking her out with the tranquilizer gun. I chose to knock her out, as you get a special face camo if you do. After knocking her out / killing her, you will get a call from Drebin explaining her story. Laughing Octopus had one of the best stories, and I'll let you play the game to hear it.

All of the battles with the BBs play out like this. The only difference with them are the Beauties themselves, and the location that you are fighting in. You always have the option to kill them or knock them out at the end. You will receive each BB's face camo if you chose the non-lethal route.

Raging Raven

Battle: 5/10
Character Background: 4/10
Difficulty: 5/10

Raging Raven is the second boss battle, and was one of my least favorite. She was generally uninteresting, and somewhat annoying to fight. As her name suggest, she is angry and she flies around like a bird. You fight her in a multi story tower which she flies around and crashes through the walls periodically. Outside of the tower there are several other Ravens which look identical to her and they will shoot rockets at you.

Following the same method as the other BBs, once you defeat her she sheds her battle suit, you kill / knock her out then Drebin calls you and tells you her story. Blah, blah, blah. Three more left...

Crying Wolf

Battle: 7/10
Character Background: 5/10
Difficulty: 2/10

Did you play Snake Eater? Remember the battle with The End? Well, the battle with Crying Wolf is basically the same. She doesn't have a sniper rifle, but rather a rail gun. This battle was very easy...In fact, the only damage I ever took was from the soldiers around the area and once by her when she ran over me. Her battle suit is one of the best looking and is well designed. Imagine a giant, black mechanical wolf.

There is almost no visibility in the area, due to a blizzard, so most of this battle is fought with the Solid Eye in NV mode. Basically, you track her down by either following her footprints or the sound of her crying. Then you snipe her a few times and she'll run away. Rinse and repeat until she leaves her battle suit and starts walking towards you. You know the drill by now; Kill her or knock her out then you'll get a call from Drebin telling you her story. I didn't find her story to be all that interesting, and it was similar to the other BB's.

Vamp

Battle: 7/10
Character Background: 8/10
Difficulty: 4/10

Yes, Vamp. You'll learn much earlier that he didn't die in MGS2. The battle with Vamp is pretty fun in terms of the way you have to defeat him. He is immortal (somewhat) so every time you bring his health or psyche to 0, he will just resurrect. In order to beat him you must beat him down by the normal means described then grab and inject him with a special syringe.

He isn't that hard, but he is fast. He will throw blades at you and jump at you and try to slash you with his knife. All of his attacks are easy to dodge, and he is pretty easy to shoot. Overall a good battle, albeit an easy one.

Metal Gear RAY

Battle: 8/10
Character Background: 5/10
Difficulty: 7/10

This is one of the best battles in MGS4, all because you get to pilot a Metal Gear! You fight RAY using a beaten up REX without it's rail gun. Just because REX is old doesn't mean he can't kick some serious ass. It has three weapons to choose from; Homing Missiles, a Laser Gun and a Gatling Gun. It can also do a melee attack at close range.

RAY was designed to defeat REX, so your on the losing side from the start. From what I saw, RAY has 2 attacks; A water cutting attack and an attack where he leaps on top of you. Each attack is pretty easy to avoid, but if you get hit by one they will do quite a bit of damage. The best way to defeat RAY is to wear him down using the Gatling Gun, then after dodging a water cut attack either charge up the Laser or Lock on as many missiles as possible and fire away. You only have a limited amount of missiles, but they do the most damage. Two complete lock on attacks on Solid Normal will take off over half his health.

The best part about this battle is the fact that you get to control a Metal Gear. They are very well animated and it feels very satisfying to fire it's weaponry and destroy the nearby buildings simple by walking into them. Overall a very fun battle.

Screaming Mantis

Battle: 7/10
Character Background: 6/10
Difficulty: 4/10

The battle with the last of the BB's, Screaming Mantis is pretty much what one would expect after what you had been told of her. She is a puppeteer, and as such uses others to fight for her. At the beginning of the battle, you are in her control and unable to do any damage to her or the soldiers she animated without breaking free. After you figure out how to do this, your next step should be either killing or knocking out the soldiers she is controlling. Once you have done this you are free to attack her, which does nothing. Instead you need to attack one of her two dolls she uses to control people that are floating around her. After a few rounds of this she will eventually drop one of them and you need to pick it up.

As for her attacks, she uses the soldiers to shoot at you but if you kill them all / knock them all out she will either use Meryl to shoot at you or teleport to your location and do a few quick knife attacks from the air. They are easy to avoid, and the soldiers move slowly and are generally pretty inaccurate.

After you pick up both of her dolls, you use one of them to gain control of her. You then shake the controller and she will die. As with the other BB's, she sheds her Mantis suit and begins walking towards you. Kill or knock her out and you will receive a call from Drebin telling you her story....but wait! There's a surprise visit by our good friend Psycho Mantis before this, and he is there to do some magic tricks. It's a pretty funny scene actually. He attempts to do the things he did in MGS1, which were "read your past" (reading your memory card) and "move the controller by sheer force of will." (making it rumble) Since we don't use memory cards and most PS3 controls don't have rumble, his little magic show fails. He then fades off in the distance never to be seen again.

Overall a very fun battle, and probably the best in MGS4. Even if it was expected.

Liquid / Ocelot

Battle: 8/10
Character Background: 8/10
Difficulty: 8/10

The final battle, and it's a tough one. It all takes place on the top of a ship, and for some reason you can fall off but you can't push him off. This battle is all done with CQC using a special control layout made specifically for the event. It's a very cinematic battle, and it is full of special cutscenes. Liquid / Ocelot will go through three different forms throughout the fight. Each one progressively harder. Oh, one more thing, he can also regenerate health by taunting you. (You can regenerate health too, but only at the same time he does)

It's a bit of a cheap fight. But it is still a good one due to it's cinematic nature and all the elements leading up to it. Once you beat him, grab some popcorn or make a sandwich because the game is over but you still have over half an hour of cutscenes to watch.

So theres the layout on the boss battles, the best part of MGS4. After all the scenes you will receive your emblems, something else I wanted to mention. Emblems are rewarded based on what you did during your play through. For example, a Hawk Emblem for over 150 headshots or a Lobster Emblem for spending over 1 hour crouched. Some Emblems will net you special rewards, and these emblems are generally the hardest to get. I like the Emblem system though, it's a good way to add replay value to the single player story.

All and all MGS4 is definitely the weakest of them all in story, and not that much higher in game play. But, as I've said before, the game is really meant to close the story and intended for existing Metal Gear Fans. Add in MGO and you have a solid package. The single player campaign would only net about 7/10, but including MGO we have:

Overall Score: 8.5/10

It's black now.

2008-06-17T08:02:00.002-05:00

It didn't used to be, but it is now.

Thoughts on MGS4.

2008-06-17T07:42:00.005-05:00

So, MGS4 is pretty good so far. I'm almost done with it. I'll probably be done tomorrow.

It got a 10.0 at Gamespot....I don't really agree with this. I thought Sons of Liberty was better. Don't get me wrong though, it's a great game. Sons of Liberty set the bar pretty high though. It's the standard at which all Metal Gear games are judged by...for me at least. I might even say Snake Eater was better then MGS4...but I'll reserve that comment until I see the ending of the story.

One thing that I don't like about MGS4 is that you can't go back to watch the cutscenes....but then again, you never have with any of the Metal Gear games, which I've always hated. Also, why the Japanese are so perverted is a mystery to me....I mean, sure I like boobs as much as the next guy. But, I don't really need to see cleavage on every single female character in the game. (Including the old ladies....) Also, whats up with their fascination with making characters with glasses push them up every five seconds? Is it supposed to make them look cool? Is it supposed to add drama to the scene? I don't wear glasses, but I'm pretty sure if you're having to push them up so frequently they probably don't fit and need to be adjusted.

The boss battles have been great though. I won't spoil anything, but veterans of the Metal Gear series will have a lot to look forward to and have plenty of nostalgic moments throughout MGS4.

One thing that I haven't decided is cool or not, is that after each Act you have to go through an installation of more game data. It only takes about 5 minutes after the first act then progressively less after the remaining acts. The initial game installation only took about 8 minutes...I guess this is due to the fact that it wasn't installing everything.

I kind of like this idea though. It might be cool for PC games.

Let's talk about 10's for a minute....

2008-06-16T07:16:00.000-05:00

The good folks (lol) over at Gamespot have given MGS4 a perfect 10, the second game to receive this (at one time...) coveted score.

My disdain for Gamespot is somewhat well known. Last year they fired their best reviewer for giving a game a bad score. (aka doing his job) This enraged many of the other members of the editorial staff, as well as countless individuals who frequent the site. As a result, all but one of the editors quit and/or were fired. Gamespot was left in shambles, and they have yet to replenish their staff. They have, and have been for a while, been using their editors from overseas. Those who still bother to visit the site don't care for this. We once used to love the editors, and trusted their opinions and could relate to them. Now, they have all been replaced by people we know nothing about (or care about...?) and really have no reason to trust their reviews. Many of the new editors don't even have profile pages set up, so if we did want to get to know them, it would be impossible.

Anyways, my point is...

Gamespot sucks, and it has for a while. and
MGS4 is not a 10.0 game. (Neither was GTA4)
The new editors at GS are making a mockery of their rating system by throwing out all these 10.0 scores like they are nothing.

The 10.0 score was once a coveted score, reserved for games that were perfect, or as close to perfect as possible in all aspects at the time it was released. Up until now, there were only four games that received this score, and I agreed with every single one of them. They were:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Chrono Cross
Soul Calibur

Ocarina of Time is a no brainer. It's a timeless masterpiece. You aren't a gamer if you haven't played this game.

For THPS 3, you have to take into account the time that it was released. At this point, this was the absolute best skateboarding game ever created. The THPS series was fairly new and this game was the best it had. And it, in my opinion, is the best created so far. (After playing skate. though, the THPS series is pointless to me now.)

Chrono Cross is another timeless game. All the FF7 fanboys hate this game, and with good reason: It absolutely destroys FF7 in all aspects. It's a shame that the CC series isn't as popular as the garbage that continues to be released under the FF brand.

Soul Calibur is perfection defined. The graphics, at that time, were astounding. It's only problem was that it was released on a doomed system. (even though I love my Dreamcast, and I still play it.) It was, however, a system seller. Even though people knew the Dreamcast was going to fail, they still bought it just for a chance to play SC in their houses.

It's a shame that Gamespot has become a mockery of what it once was in terms of review quality. I've always felt that ultimately, the only person who can decide if a game is worth playing is yourself. But it helps to be guided to the right games by honest reviews made by people you like, trust and can relate to. Not reviews made by sellouts just to please the media and game companies.

That's all I have to say on this subject.

IT'S HEREEEEEERAAAGHLBLAAAARRRGHHHH!!!

2008-06-13T02:15:00.003-05:00

Oh yeah....

This is going to be awesome...

OPEN NOW!!

Yesssss!

All fingers still intact!
(Also, the game is magically wrapped back up...how did that happen...?)

See ya!

Vai Stuff

2008-06-12T02:34:00.007-05:00

There is this great deal Mr. Vai has going on in his online store right now. There are these bundles, which are priced very well and include some great stuff for Vai fans. I opted to order this bundle.

It arrived today.

Heres the bundle....It includes a signed 8x10 print, an Ultra Zone 1999-2000 Tour Book and a Flexable LP.

Tour Book Front Cover

Tour Book Back Cover

Page Excerpt

Page Excerpt

Album Cover

Album Back

Opened up....

Autographed Print

A scan of the print...

Apparently it's pretty good?

2008-06-10T10:18:00.002-05:00

Shadow of the Colossus. Apparently it's pretty good?

Why am I talking about this 3 year old game? Well...I don't really know.

I've had the official soundtrack for a while, but I recently discovered it's awesomeness. It made me think about how I never really gave the game a fair chance. I rented it once, and played it for a little bit. I got to the first battle with the Colossus and promptly got my face introduced to the dirt. The controls were the main thing that I had a problem with. They were really bad....and I hated them, and they made me suck.

The game has everything though.

Great Soundtrack
Great Story
Great Art Style
Great Concept

Fighting AND KILLING enemies the size of mountains is just about the most awesome concept in all of gaming history. I really want to give it another shot. However, there are only 24 hours in a day and 23 of those hours will be taken up by Metal Gear Solid 4. I'm totally playing it after I get done with MGS4 though. Who knows when that will be though....

Oh yeah....

2008-06-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

Oh yeah, MGS4 is coming out in a few days....Totally getting that. It's going to be awesome on so many levels.

Also, Ninja Gaiden 2 snuck up on me. (No pun intended) I didn't have it pre-ordered, and now it's almost impossible to find. I want to play it, don't get me wrong, but I think it will have to wait until after MGS4.

That's all for now.

Update this thing already!

2008-06-07T05:52:00.001-05:00

Ok.....It has been a while since I last updated this thing....

Whats going on with me? Well, the usual stuff. Just had surgery about 4 weeks ago...still recovering from that....I got some new games, lost some old ones and I upgraded my (over 2 year old) computer. Also got some art supplies...another hobby that I haven't talked much about here.

You want specifics? Sure.

Games obtained:

Age of Conan (The reason for the computer upgrade)
Grand Theft Auto IV

I also misplaced my Sims 2 disc....oops.

I had GTA 4 pre-ordered for the PS3 and I went to pick it up on the 29th of April, launch day. I played it feverishly until May 13th, which was my surgery date. I completed it May 12th. It may or may not be a well known fact that it received a 10.0 at Gamespot. While I agree this is by far the best in the series so far, it isn't quite a 10 in my book. I won't go into details here, but I'll probably write a full review elsewhere at some point.

Age of Conan is good so far. It killed my old computer, and forced me to face the fact that my 2 year old machine just wasn't cutting it anymore. I had used that machine longer then any other before upgrading. I used to do full overhauls every 6 months, at least. It was kind of comforting to not have to worry about that sort of thing for a full 2 years. The main reason I didn't want to upgrade for so long, was that I didn't want to make the jump to Vista. I still haven't, actually. I don't really see much point in upgrading to Vista right now. Not a whole lot games require DX10, and even less utilize it. Also, a lot of people see a performance decrease using Vista instead of XP.

The game looks great running on max settings with my new machine though. I'm still making a bunch of alts and just trying stuff out at the moment. I hear a lot about how "this and that are way OP" and "so and so is totally weak." I don't pay it much attention though. I just play what I like and think is cool, which right now happens to be the Necromancer. I've always been a fan of Necromancers. (See my EQ2 characters.) I'll say one thing though: There are a lot of whiners in AoC right now. People don't seem to understand that this is a new game, and there are bound to be bugs.

I'm also continuing to play WAR beta. It's really shaping up into a nice game. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and can't wait for launch.

Some people may want to know what my computer upgrade contains. Well, here it is:

Old System

Intel E6400 Core 2 Duo
eVGA Nvidia 7900GTX
2GB Corsair XMS

New System

Intel Q6600 Quad Core @ 3.0GHz
MSI Nvidia 8800GTS
2GB Corsair XMS

I also had to get a new motherboard and PSU. They are ASUS P5B and Rosewill RX750-D (750 Watt) respectively. Apparently, the 8800GTS is equal to the 9800GTX in speeds and performance, but uses twice the power. (400w) It was half the price of the 9800GTX, so I just decided to get it instead and use the money I saved on the PSU.

I also did some overclocking on this machine, which I haven't done in years. The CPU was running at 17c, so it was asking for it. I easily got it to 3.0GHz and it's running at a stable 20-25c idle. This thing is a monster though....I've never seen it go over 40c on any load amount.

Lets see....what else is going on....I have Beyond Good and Evil rented from Gamefly. I received it a few days before BG&E2 was announced. Coincidence? I think not. I've been wanting to play it for a while, but never got around to it. It's sitting in my PS3 now, waiting to be played.

I also have Okami for the Wii rented. My love for Okami knows no bounds. I played the original PS2 version when it first came out and fell in love with it and everything about it. I own the Okami Artbook, which I got from Amazon Japan (well worth the yen.) as well as the Official Soundtrack, a Piano Arrangement soundtrack (beautifully done.) and a Retro Arrangement soundtrack. The music for Okami is one of it's main assets. I've yet to begin playing through the Wii version, but I will get around to it. I hear the controls are a bit lackluster.

Despite my love for Okami, I've never actually finished it. I started playing it, as I said, when it came out which was a point in my life where things were going a bit crazy. I was near the end of the game when I discovered my cancer had returned and I never had time to finish it. I will some day though! So, even though the game brings up some bad memories of times when things weren't going so well, I still love it. I always look at hardships as oppourtunities to grow and improve oneself. What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger; and I've been through a lot, so I'm pretty damn strong. ;)

What else was I going to say...? Oh yeah, art supplies. I got some stuff. A few sets of Prismacolor markers, colored pencils, various types of papers, some China Markers, a few Sakura Pigma Micron Pens and a few other various things. Those markers have a bit of a learning curve that I'm still getting over....also, they smell. The colored pencils and creamy and gooey and yummy, I like them a lot. I'm also experimenting with different types of paper. I got some Bristol Board (Smooth finish) which is my current favorite; A lighter and larger sketchbook; And some marker paper which kind of sucks. It says it won't bleed, but it does. The paper is thin as parchment paper, I don't see how it wouldn't bleed. Ironically, the colored pencils look really good on this paper though.

I spent over $250 on these things. Wouldn't you know it, but I forgot to get some stuff. I'll order it later.... I also had to due a bit of re-arranging and furniture ordering for my room. I got a new TV stand, which is real nice. (Much nicer then the old worn out desk it was setting on.) I also got the remaining pieces for my desk. It was an "L" shaped desk unit, which I originally only bought the main piece for, but I needed more surface area to work with so I got the other pieces. It's a great desk.

One last thing, as if I haven't wrote enough already. I ordered Yotsuba Vol. 6 over two months ago from Amazon and have yet to receive it. I started doing some investigation, and it turns out the publisher, ADV Manga is notorious for this type of thing. It seems things aren't going so well for their Manga department, so they decided to shift all their focus to the Anime department. Even though Yotsuba is their best seller......It seems that the verdict is that Yotsuba Vol. 6 is on indefinite hold. (however, if you are so inclined a quick search will net you a translated scan of both volumes 6 and 7....It doesn't compare to having the actual book in your hands, but if you're desperate enough....)

Well, you wanted an update, so there it is. I've been meaning to post some pictures of my gaming setup and whatnot. I'll try to get those done at some point.

PSP

2008-03-15T15:24:00.000-05:00

What's up? Been a while.

I recently got a PSP, and figured I'd do a write up about my thoughts on it so far. I got the Piano Black PSP Core System, 5 games, 2.0G Memory Card, and a USB cable. The games I got are:

Patapon
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Jeanne D'Arc

After opening the PSP. my first task was to setup the Wi-Fi connections for use with my router. This proved to take longer then expected, but in the end it was all my fault. I was entering the wrong password for the past hour. :/ Once it was all setup, I updated the Firmware to 3.80 and did some browsing on the Internet to see how well the browser functioned. A bit of a side note: I have a PS3, so the browser and XMB are familiar to me. Here are a few things one should note about the browser:

The system used for typing is sort of like a phone, and it can be frustrating and time consuming.
Most pages don't display well, if at all. Even with the various resizing features.
The Wi-Fi operates on 802.11b. So if your router doesn't support that, take note.
As it operates on 802.11b, speeds are quite slow.
The only real use for the browser is preforming searches or checking email. There is not much else to do with it.

Anyways, after all this I decided to play a game. I first played GTA: Liberty City Stores. One thing that became apparent very quickly for me was the difficulty I had using the analog control stick. Luckily, GTA: LCS has the option to switch do D-pad controls. This helped, but I know that not all games support this and I need to get used to using the analog control. Another thing I noticed was that when driving in a car, my eyes started to hurt. The fast moving picture didn't bode well with my eyes. I think it may have something to do with the FPS decrease when driving. Moving the screen further away helped, but didn't completely fix the situation.

After about an hour of play, my thumbs started to hurt. I was expecting this to happen. The PSP is a well designed system. It was designed to maximize screen resolution and fit everything in a neat and tidy package. If you have large hands, you know that portable systems are going to feel odd. (Except maybe the DS, with it's pen system.) The only remedy for this is to play in short sessions; about an hour to an hour and a half. Carpal tunnel syndrome is definitely something you want to avoid. I've played a bit more GTA over the past few days, and have come to the following conclusions:

It's a good game. Especially if you liked GTA 3. (Who didn't?)
If you're used to playing GTA, you won't have much trouble knowing what to do. However, if you are new to the PSP and aren't used to it's controls, you are going to have some trouble.
Aiming, Driving (especially drive-bys) and Combat are difficult with the PSP's control scheme.
It's still a good game.

After resting my hands a bit, I decided to play Patapon. This is a great game. It's essentially a rhythm game, but it also has RPG elements. Here is a rundown:

It's awesome.
The art style is great.
The music is equally great.
The music can get on your nerves after a while. (Especially since you have to play the same beat over and over to move your army, make them attack, defend and so on)
If you're into RPGs and gear collecting then you will really appreciate those elements.
No multiplayer.

Elaborating on the last point, I'm not a big fan of multiplayer. (outside of MMOs) Normally, I could care less if a game includes it. However, I feel this game would really benefit from it. It would be a lot of fun raising a huge army and pitting it against another player. It's a shame they didn't include any MP, it really would have added some replay value and another excuse to keep playing after you've completed the story to gear up your army.

The next day, I played Jeanne D'Arc. Now, let me first state that I LOVE Level 5. Everything they make is pure gold. (Except Dragon Quest VIII. I didn't care for it....) So my opinion may be a bit biased. This game is awesome though. The first thing I really loved was the art style. Sure, the Anime cutscenes are great, but the in-game art is equally well done. Here are a few points to take note of:

Go buy it now.
It rocks.
The Anime cutscenes really help tell the story, and add an extra dimension to the characters and world.
The battle system may seem like a traditional RPG's turn based system, but Jeanne's transformation ability makes it unique.
The voice acting is...ok. They are going for a French accent here, I know. But...I don't know. Maybe actual French actors would have been better.
It's a real time thief. I've caught myself playing for hours on end without even noticing.

So far, these are the only games I've had time to play. Between GTA, Jeanne D'Arc, Patapon and WoW, time is limited. I look forward to playing the other games, especially God Of War, as I've heard good things about it. But until there are more hours added to the day, or I finish one of the other games they will have to wait. I also have Field Commander, Monster Hunter Freedom and Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions rented from GameFly. So....yeah....I have a lot of games to play.

Chains of Olympus

2008-03-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

***Update***

I've completed the game....Yeah....already. While it was a great experience from start to finish, I wasn't expecting it to be this short. I believe my total played time was just under 4 hours. Totally a rental, IMO.

One word: WOW

This game is amazing. I had some time to play it this morning (stupid insomnia) and was blown away by the quality of many aspects. First thing you're going to notice are the graphics. They are PS2 quality, or better; and considering that this is running on the PSP, this is an amazing feat. I've played God Of War 1 before, and it was pretty good. I was never totally astounded by it, but I did like it. I never got around to playing GoW 2, but rest assured I'll be trying it after I finish Chains of Olympus.

God of War games are unique in that they start you off sprinting and you never slow down. They throw you right into the action from the moment you put the disk in. All in all, God of War games are very cinematic. Not to be read "they have a lot of cinematics." Rather, the story progression and the way it is told throughout the game is a cinematic experience.

Keeping with this cinematic experience, the music is fitting as well. It sounds like it was taken out of a blockbuster movie, and the musical direction is superb. Battle music is invigorating and exciting, and depending on your locale the ambient music is always a fit.

Boss battles are fun and challenging, and lets not forget the gore. You can't have a God of War game without tons of blood and brutal executions. I mean, at your very first boss encounter you take out a giant Basilisk's eye by smashing it with a battering ram, dropped by an ogre who was bitten in half by the Basilisk. Later on in the level you finish him off by pulling two stone towers on to his head, then jump on his head and break his jaw. All of this is in the first level.

I've progressed the story a bit further and am now tasked with returning Helios, the Sun God back to the skies. I look forward to continuing to play, and highly recommend you check this game out.

CoH/V Template

2008-03-02T00:07:00.000-06:00

Archery / Devices Blaster
Archery / Electric Blaster
Archery / Energy Blaster
Archery / Fire Blaster
Archery / Ice Blaster
Assault Rifle / Devices Blaster
Assault Rifle / Electric Blaster
Assault Rifle / Energy Blaster
Assault Rifle / Fire Blaster
Assault Rifle / Ice Blaster
Electricity / Devices Blaster
Electricity / Electric Blaster
Electricity / Energy Blaster
Electricity / Fire Blaster
Electricity / Ice Blaster
Energy / Devices Blaster
Energy / Electric Blaster
Energy / Energy Blaster
Energy / Fire Blaster
Energy / Ice Blaster
Fire / Devices Blaster
Fire / Electric Blaster
Fire / Energy Blaster
Fire / Fire Blaster
Fire / Ice Blaster
Ice / Devices Blaster
Ice / Electric Blaster
Ice / Energy Blaster
Ice / Fire Blaster
Ice / Ice Blaster
Sonic / Devices Blaster
Sonic / Electric Blaster
Sonic / Energy Blaster
Sonic / Fire Blaster
Sonic / Ice Blaster
Dark Melee / Dark Brute
Dark Melee / Electric Brute
Dark Melee / Energy Brute
Dark Melee / Fiery Brute
Dark Melee / Inv Brute
Dark Melee / Stone Brute
Dark Melee / Will Brute
Dual Blades / Dark Brute
Dual Blades / Electric Brute
Dual Blades / Energy Brute
Dual Blades / Fiery Brute
Dual Blades / Inv Brute
Dual Blades / Stone Brute
Dual Blades / Will Brute
Electrical Melee / Dark Brute
Electrical Melee / Electric Brute
Electrical Melee / Energy Brute
Electrical Melee / Fiery Brute
Electrical Melee / Inv Brute
Electrical Melee / Stone Brute
Electrical Melee / Will Brute
Energy Melee / Dark Brute
Energy Melee / Electric Brute
Energy Melee / Energy Brute
Energy Melee / Fiery Brute
Energy Melee / Inv Brute
Energy Melee / Stone Brute
Energy Melee / Will Brute
Fiery Melee / Dark Brute
Fiery Melee / Electric Brute
Fiery Melee / Energy Brute
Fiery Melee / Fiery Brute
Fiery Melee / Inv Brute
Fiery Melee / Stone Brute
Fiery Melee / Will Brute
Stone Melee / Dark Brute
Stone Melee / Electric Brute
Stone Melee / Energy Brute
Stone Melee / Fiery Brute
Stone Melee / Inv Brute
Stone Melee / Stone Brute
Stone Melee / Will Brute
Super Strength / Dark Brute
Super Strength / Electric Brute
Super Strength / Energy Brute
Super Strength / Fiery Brute
Super Strength / Inv Brute
Super Strength / Stone Brute
Super Strength / Will Brute
Earth / Emp Controller
Earth / FF Controller
Earth / Kin Controller
Earth / Rad Controller
Earth / Sonic Controller
Earth / Storm Controller
Earth / TA Controller
Fire / Emp Controller
Fire / FF Controller
Fire / Kin Controller
Fire / Rad Controller
Fire / Sonic Controller
Fire / Storm Controller
Fire / TA Controller
Gravity / Emp Controller
Gravity / FF Controller
Gravity / Kin Controller
Gravity / Rad Controller
Gravity / Sonic Controller
Gravity / Storm Controller
Gravity / TA Controller
Ice / Emp Controller
Ice / FF Controller
Ice / Kin Controller
Ice / Rad Controller
Ice / Sonic Controller
Ice / Storm Controller
Ice / TA Controller
Illusion / Emp Controller
Illusion / FF Controller
Illusion / Kin Controller
Illusion / Rad Controller
Illusion / Sonic Controller
Illusion / Storm Controller
Illusion / TA Controller
Mind / Emp Controller
Mind / FF Controller
Mind / Kin Controller
Mind / Rad Controller
Mind / Sonic Controller
Mind / Storm Controller
Mind / Ta Controller
Assault Rifle / Cold Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Dark Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Kin Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Rad Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Sonic Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Therm Corruptor
Assault Rifle / Traps Corruptor
Dark / Cold Corruptor
Dark / Dark Corruptor
Dark / Kin Corruptor
Dark / Rad Corruptor
Dark / Sonic Corruptor
Dark / Therm Corruptor
Dark / Traps Corruptor
Energy / Cold Corruptor
Energy / Dark Corruptor
Energy / Kin Corruptor
Energy / Rad Corruptor
Energy / Sonic Corruptor
Energy / Therm Corruptor
Energy / Traps Corruptor
Fire / Cold Corruptor
Fire / Dark Corruptor
Fire / Kin Corruptor
Fire / Rad Corruptor
Fire / Sonic Corruptor
Fire / Therm Corruptor
Fire / Traps Corruptor
Ice / Cold Corruptor
Ice / Dark Corruptor
Ice / Kin Corruptor
Ice / Rad Corruptor
Ice / Sonic Corruptor
Ice / Therm Corruptor
Ice / Traps Corruptor
Radiation / Cold Corruptor
Radiation / Dark Corruptor
Radiation / Kin Corruptor
Radiation / Rad Corruptor
Radiation / Sonic Corruptor
Radiation / Therm Corruptor
Radiation / Traps Corruptor
Sonic / Cold Corruptor
Sonic / Dark Corruptor
Sonic / Kin Corruptor
Sonic / Rad Corruptor
Sonic / Sonic Corruptor
Sonic / Therm Corruptor
Sonic / Traps Corruptor
Dark / Archery Defender
Dark / Dark Defender
Dark / Elec Defender
Dark / Energy Defender
Dark / Psy Defender
Dark / Rad Defender
Dark / Sonic Defender
Emp / Archery Defender
Emp / Dark Defender
Emp / Elec Defender
Emp / Energy Defender
Emp / Psy Defender
Emp / Rad Defender
Emp / Sonic Defender
FF / Archery Defender
FF / Dark Defender
FF / Elec Defender
FF / Energy Defender
FF / Psy Defender
FF / Rad Defender
FF / Sonic Defender
Kin / Archery Defender
Kin / Dark Defender
Kin / Elec Defender
Kin / Energy Defender
Kin / Psy Defender
Kin / Rad Defender
Kin / Sonic Defender
Rad / Archery Defender
Rad / Dark Defender
Rad / Elec Defender
Rad / Energy Defender
Rad / Psy Defender
Rad / Rad Defender
Rad / Sonic Defender
Sonic / Archery Defender
Sonic / Dark Defender
Sonic / Elec Defender
Sonic / Energy Defender
Sonic / Psy Defender
Sonic / Rad Defender
Sonic / Sonic Defender
Storm / Archery Defender
Storm / Dark Defender
Storm / Elec Defender
Storm / Energy Defender
Storm / Psy Defender
Storm / Rad Defender
Storm / Sonic Defender
TA / Archery Defender
TA / Dark Defender
TA / Elec Defender
TA / Energy Defender
TA / Psy Defender
TA / Rad Defender
TA / Sonic Defender
Fire / Energy Dominator
Fire / Fire Dominator
Fire / Ice Dominator
Fire / Psy Dominator
Fire / Thorn Dominator
Grav / Energy Dominator
Grav / Fire Dominator
Grav / Ice Dominator
Grav / Psy Dominator
Grav / Thorn Dominator
Ice / Energy Dominator
Ice / Fire Dominator
Ice / Ice Dominator
Ice / Psy Dominator
Ice / Thorn Dominator
Mind / Energy Dominator
Mind / Fire Dominator
Mind / Ice Dominator
Mind / Psy Dominator
Mind / Thorn Dominator
Plant / Energy Dominator
Plant / Fire Dominator
Plant / Ice Dominator
Plant / Psy Dominator
Plant / Thorn Dominator
Mercs / Dark Mastermind
Mercs / FF Mastermind
Mercs / Poison Mastermind
Mercs / Traps Mastermind
Mercs / TA Mastermind
Necro / Dark Mastermind
Necro / FF Mastermind
Necro / Poison Mastermind
Necro / Traps Mastermind
Necro / TA Mastermind
Ninja / Dark Mastermind
Ninja / FF Mastermind
Ninja / Poison Mastermind
Ninja / Traps Mastermind
Ninja / TA Mastermind
Robots / Dark Mastermind
Robots / FF Mastermind
Robots / Poison Mastermind
Robots / Traps Mastermind
Robots / TA Mastermind
Thugs / Dark Mastermind
Thugs / FF Mastermind
Thugs / Poison Mastermind
Thugs / Traps Mastermind
Thugs / TA Mastermind
BS / DA Scrapper
BS / Inv Scrapper
BS / Regen Scrapper
BS / SR Scrapper
BS / Will Scrapper
Claws / DA Scrapper
Claws / Inv Scrapper
Claws / Regen Scrapper
Claws / SR Scrapper
Claws / Will Scrapper
DM / DA Scrapper
DM / Inv Scrapper
DM / Regen Scrapper
DM / SR Scrapper
DM / Will Scrapper
DB / DA Scrapper
DB / Inv Scrapper
DB / Regen Scrapper
DB / SR Scrapper
DB / Will Scrapper
Kat / DA Scrapper
Kat / Inv Scrapper
Kat / Regen Scrapper
Kat / SR Scrapper
Kat / Will Scrapper
MA / DA Scrapper
MA / Inv Scrapper
MA / Regen Scrapper
MA / SR Scrapper
MA / Will Scrapper
Spines / DA Scrapper
Spines / Inv Scrapper
Spines / Regen Scrapper
Spines / SR Scrapper
Spines / Will Scrapper
Claws / DA Stalker
Claws / Energy Stalker
Claws / Nin Stalker
Claws / Regen Stalker
Claws / SR Stalker
Claws / Will Stalker
DM / DA Stalker
DM / Energy Stalker
DM / Nin Stalker
DM / Regen Stalker
DM / SR Stalker
DM / Will Stalker
DB / DA Stalker
DB / Energy Stalker
DB / Nin Stalker
DB / Regen Stalker
DB / SR Stalker
DB / Will Stalker
Energy / DA Stalker
Energy / Energy Stalker
Energy / Nin Stalker
Energy / Regen Stalker
Energy / SR Stalker
Energy / Will Stalker
MA / DA Stalker
MA / Energy Stalker
MA / Nin Stalker
MA / Regen Stalker
MA / SR Stalker
MA / Will Stalker
Ninja Blade / DA Stalker
Ninja Blade / Energy Stalker
Ninja Blade / Nin Stalker
Ninja Blade / Regen Stalker
Ninja Blade / SR Stalker
Ninja Blade / Will Stalker
Spines / DA Stalker
Spines / Energy Stalker
Spines / Nin Stalker
Spines / Regen Stalker
Spines / SR Stalker
Spines / Will Stalker
Fire / Axe Tanker
Fire / DB Tanker
Fire / Energy Tanker
Fire / Fire Tanker
Fire / Ice Tanker
Fire / Stone Tanker
Fire / Super Tanker
Fire / War Mace Tanker
Ice / Axe Tanker
Ice / DB Tanker
Ice / Energy Tanker
Ice / Fire Tanker
Ice / Ice Tanker
Ice / Stone Tanker
Ice / Super Tanker
Ice / War Mace Tanker
Inv / Axe Tanker
Inv / DB Tanker
Inv / Energy Tanker
Inv / Fire Tanker
Inv / Ice Tanker
Inv / Stone Tanker
Inv / Super Tanker
Inv / War Mace Tanker
Stone / Axe Tanker
Stone / DB Tanker
Stone / Energy Tanker
Stone / Fire Tanker
Stone / Ice Tanker
Stone / Stone Tanker
Stone / Super Tanker
Stone / War Mace Tanker
Will / Axe Tanker
Will / DB Tanker
Will / Energy
Will / Fire
Will / Ice
Will / Stone
Will / Super
Will / War Mace

Veprid Darkmoon

2008-03-01T19:37:00.002-06:00

Veprid Darkmoon

I played Veprid from the begining of SWG's lifespan, until the end. Or, what most players call the end. The game official died for most of us after the "Combat Update." All of the screenshots that I have left are near the end of my play time, when the Jedi class was first being unlocked by players.

Rawr

Meditating in my house shrine

Focusing the power of the Force Crystal

Force Sensitivity officially unlocked

Resting in Dantooine

The "old man"
(Old time players will remember him)

A planet.
(I think it's Naboo?)

Another Planet
(Dantooine?)

Stormtroopers knocking on my door.

(Looks like I'm in trouble....)

The Cure for Alt-itis

2008-03-01T19:37:00.000-06:00

The cure for Alt-itis, or Altohisim is much like a cure for the common cold. There are many theories, but no one method works for everyone. Many methods do work however. Since I began playing MMOs, I've been an Altoholic. I've battled it for many years, but have come up with some methods that may help you with your battle.

Let's begin with a bit of basic info.

Alt-itis is a lack of focus. The inability to focus on one and only one character.
Roughly 65% of MMO players suffer from it.
I made up that last statistic.
You can't cure your alt-itis if you are unwilling to make sacrifice. The severity of your sacrifice depends on the condition of your alt-itis.

Now, depending on your condition, as described in the last section, more or less harsh measure may need to be taken. However, any combination of the following tips should suffice.

Tip 1

Develop a story for your character.

Making your own story about the origin of your character and where he/she got his powers or why he/she is who they are and do what they do can greatly improve your desire to continue playing them. Many games have a specific section in-game to add a bio for your character. Others don't, but fear not! Sites such as this (blogger) work quite well if you want to develop your story outside of the game, or the game doesn't have the option. If you are a City of Heroes/Villains player you might want to check out this site as well.

Here are a few of my characters I've made pages for: Nether Harlequin and White Panda

Tip 2

You got to have a reason!

Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out this tip. If there is no content at the level cap, what is the point of even reaching it? If you just want a character at the cap just for the sake of having a character at the cap, then you may want to rethink why you are even playing in the first place. Bonus tip: Having a maximum level character doesn't amount to much outside the game. If all you want to do is hang around towns so people can look at you and say "ohhh, a level 100" then you might want to seriously rethink your priorities.

Tip 3

Don't go on looks.

A big mistake many people make, myself included, is making a character solely based on how they look. Sure that tank might look pretty bad ass in his epic raid gear, but if you don't like tanking, you're never going to get that gear for yourself. It doesn't matter how good they might look, if you don't like playing a class you aren't going to stick with it. Which would be Tip #4.

Tip 4

Play what you like, not what you think you will like.

Sure, when you first start playing you have no idea what class you're going to like. So, naturally you need to play them to find out. If you aren't new to the whole MMO genre however, and know, for example, that you don't like healing or tanking then don't go making a Warrior or Priest! If you know that you like or don't like something from past experience, then be smart and make the right decision the first time!

Tip 5

Play at the right pace for you.

How do you know what the right pace is? It differs for everyone. You need to find a comfortable pace that allows you to do what you want to do. If you want to do as many quests as possible and learn about the lore, then take the time necessary to read the quests and learn! If you want to do some crafting a long the way, that is fine. Just make sure you are taking the time to do what you want to do on your journey to the level cap. Remember the words of an old proverb: "It's not the destination, but the journey that matters."

If your sole reason for playing is to reach the cap as soon as possible, you're going to find yourself getting burned out pretty quickly. Ever wonder why there are so many female players who level at a snail's pace end up reaching the level cap, while you got burned out long ago? Because they take their time and do what they want to do, not playing just to reach the cap, but to have fun. Which brings up to Tip #5.

Tip 6

Play for "current" fun.

Yeah, it might be fun to experience raids and pvp at maximum level. But if you aren't having fun the way there, you aren't going to last long. You need to find something that is fun to do at your current level, and all the way to the cap. If you can't then you may be doomed to a life of perpetual alt-itis.

Tip 7

Set short-term goals.

Yes, many things that apply in real life resolutions and life goals apply to MMOs and reaching that level cap! Find something to strive for. The ultimate goal always will be to reach the cap, but you need to find more short-term goals as well. A few examples would be:

Getting that new spell at level xx.
Getting a new weapon for level xx.
Getting that set of armor for level xx.
Getting lai....oh wait, wrong goal list.
Seeing the level xx zone.
Fighting those level xx monsters.

You always need short-term goals to help reach long-term goals.

Tip 8

Find a leveling buddy!

Things are always better and more lively with a friend around. Finding a buddy to level with you will really help your chances of reaching the cap without resorting to making more alts.

Tip 9

Switch sides.

Most MMOs have a "good side" and a "bad side." Most of the time you'll stick with the side you like the best. In doing so, you can get bored with characters faster then before because you've already seen all the zones and experienced most quests that each particular side has to offer. This can sometimes be a tough move to make. If you are really set on playing as one side to the other, sometimes a change of Race can help. But if you don't care which side you play on, try making a switch to your normal playing area.

Tip 10

Try something completely off the wall.

This tip both contradicts Tip #4 and further reinforces it. If you have played Healers all your life and have never cared for or tried DPsing, try it! You may find that you really like the class and you'll be excited about playing again. You might even stick with it until the cap. Like Tip #6 says, if you don't like what you're playing you aren't going to get very far. Of course you could hate it just like you knew you would and this tip is completely worthless. It could go either way.

Tip 11

Drastic times call for drastic measures

This is the hardest thing to do of all the tips: Delete all your characters.

Yes, you heard me. Delete all your characters and start anew. This is indeed very drastic, but you won't be temped to play your alts if they don't exist. Of course you will always have the option to create new alts, but if you've leveled any to a moderate level before you probably won't want to go through the same thing again....

Alternate Tip 11

Fill up all your slots.

If you don't want to delete all your characters, you can do the complete opposite. Make as many characters as allowed on your server, or even account. For added leverage level them up to a decent level so that you don't want to delete them. Then, choose the one you like playing the best and never look back.

Tip 12

Join a large guild

Joining a large guild with many players can often help someone with alt-itis. Wandering around in the world all alone is no way to go about it. Having people to talk to every time you log in should really help you out. There were times when I wouldn't have logged in at all some days had it not been for my guild members.

Alt-itis is a tough illness to battle. But, if you follow these tips hopefully you will prevail. Tips #1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 12 really helped me. But if you are really bad, you might want to consider Tip #11 and it's alternative.

Contact

2008-03-01T19:19:00.002-06:00

I can be contacted via email at:

Ashen7 [at] gmail [dot] com

or

PoisonJam7 [at] gmail [dot] com

Former is preferred.

XBL Gamer tag is Ashen7.

PS3 PSN name is PoisonJam7

Vuhon - EQ2

2008-03-01T19:15:00.000-06:00

Vuhon Blackblade

Level 45 Half-Elf Assassin

Vuhon was my second character I made after returning to EQ2 after a long break.

Character Select

Close Up 1

Close Up 2

Barrister's Robe

Close up 3

High Elf Disguise 1

High Elf Disguise 2

Welcome

2008-03-01T19:11:00.000-06:00

Welcome. This is the Poison Jam. Instead of being a preservation of Fruits (or poison, in this case) it is a preservation of my thoughts, opinions, reviews and much more on a wide variety of subjects.

Toast is optional.

If you are here from the GameFaqs / Gamespot Message Boards, you may find this page interesting.

**Edit 3/23/08**

The MMO Characters and "The Cure for Alt-itis" articles are now finished.

(No, the "Subjects" section is not broke. Not all subjects have been written about yet, but will be at some point.)

This site is still under construction as of March/April 2008.

Odeki - EQ2

2008-03-01T19:03:00.000-06:00

Odeki

Level 43 Half-Elf Necromancer

After nearly a year break from EQ2, I returned and created Odeki. I finally had a computer capable of displaying EQ2's graphics at a reasonable level. :D

Character Select

In my house with the Grim Thulian minion

Grim Spellbinder

Rotting Thrall

Shadowy Stalker

Grim Thulian

Betrayal Quest

2008-03-01T18:51:00.000-06:00

I did the old Betrayal Quest in EQ2 with my character Modi. Before they changed it, it was quite a lot of work. I betrayed Qeynos.

Confronting the Queen
(There were many steps before reaching this point, most involving spying on Qeynos in various ways.)

Poisoned
(After the Queen kills you, you find yourself on the shores of the Commonlands looking like this.)

Stealing from Grandma

Killing Orcs

500/500
(Yes, you really had to kill 500 Orcs....)

Finishing the job

He is not The Overlord....

Betrayal Complete

Modi - EQ2

2008-03-01T18:49:00.000-06:00

Modi was my second character in EQ2. I played him a little bit before I quit for a while. I also did the old Betrayal Quest with him, which I made a little page for here.

Character Select

Flaming Fist

Close Up

Ashen - EQ II

2008-03-01T18:42:00.000-06:00

Ashen was my first character in EQ2. I played him from launch well into the coming months. It took quite a long time to level up back then, that would explain why I'm always wearing the same robe. lol

In The Elddar Grove

In Castleview Hamlet

Fighting Giants

Fighting Golems

The first day the Froglok Quest was added
The lag was unbearable....

Misc WoW Characters

2008-03-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

Here are various other characters that I have. I don't play any of them anymore, except Nyyxx, who is my current main.

Nyyxx

Fayh

Kastle
Not to be confused with this Kastle.

Noveria

Reprise

Salamander

Faeth

2008-03-01T18:01:00.000-06:00

Faeth

Level 66 Hunter

This is Faeth, my highest level character currently. I no longer play her for two reasons:

I don't like Hunters.
I don't care for Blood Elf Hunters (I don't mind them as other classes)

I don't really know what I was thinking when I made her. I guess I thought it was a good idea at the time....

Oakbeard

2008-03-01T17:58:00.000-06:00

Oakbeard

Level 25 Druid

This is Oakbeard....I used to play him back when I was a fool still playing Alliance. But, no more.

Arakkoa

2008-03-01T17:54:00.000-06:00

Arakkoa

Level 59 Druid

Here is Arakkoa, who used to be known as Fayh before I transfered and renamed. I no longer play her.

Quotes

2008-03-01T17:51:00.001-06:00

When I'm feeling down, or looking for inspiration or wisdom I often look to these many quotes:

Chinese Proverbs

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody. - Chinese Proverb

A gem is not polished without rubbing it, nor a man perfected without trials. - Chinese Proverb

Deep doubts, deep wisdom, little doubts, little wisdom. - Chinese Proverb

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. - Chinese Proverb

Biblical Quotes

The price of wisdom is above rubies. - Job 28:18

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. - Matthew 7:1-2

It is more blessed to give than to receive. - Acts 20:35

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:21

He who walks with wise grows wise. - Proverbs 4:1

Judge not lest ye be judged. - Luke 6:37

Music

The Prince of Peace was a harpist Himself. 275-35

Music should be a part of each souls development. 2780-3

Music, color, vibration are all a part of the planets, just as the planets are a part--and a pattern--of the universe. 5755-1

Music arouses emotions in the body to an unusual degree, well that there be choices made regarding what emotions are aroused by the character of music. 1406-1

Music may be the means of arousing and awakening the best of hope, the best in the heart and soul of those who will and do listen. Is not music the universal language, bothfor those who would give praise and those who are sorry in their hearts and souls? Is it not a means, a manner of universal expression? 2156-1

Music is the universal language. - Unknown

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music. - George Eliot

Just as certain selections of music will nourish your physical body and your emotional layer, so other musical works will bring greater health to your mind. - Hal A. Lingerman

Blame is better to give then receive. - Rush

One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity. - Rush

Edgar Cayce Readings

On trying.....

Expect much, you will obtain much. Expect little, you will obtain little. Expect nothing, you will obtain nothing. 5325-1

It is the "try" that is the more often counted as righteousness, and not the success or failure. 931-1

You only fail if you quit trying. 3292-1

To not know, but to do the best as is known, felt, experienced in self, to him it is counted as righteousness. 1728-2

One had best be active in error then not doing anything. 262-126

There is progress whether ye are going forward or backward! The thing is to move! 3027-2

On sincerity and honesty....

Half a truth is worse than a whole lie. 366-1

On joy and happiness....

Happiness is a state of mind attained by giving same to others. 2772-2

Happiness is love of something outside of self. It may never be obtained, may never be known by loving only things within self. 281-30

The Lord loveth those who expect much of Him, in giving much of themselves--joyously! 2401-1

On patience....

Patience is the most beautiful of all virtues and the least understood. 2448-2

Persistencey is very well; but consistency is indeed a jewel. 257-186

Patience doesn't mean patience in the sense of just submissiveness, or just being quit--but an active patience, conscious of being patient with self and with others. 911-3

Patience is meekness in action, pureness in heart. 262-5

On self control....

The conquering of self is truly greater then were one to conquer many worlds. 115-1

Be consistent in all thou doest, and when thou hast conquered self thou mayest govern another. 257-53

On forgiving and forgetting....

The soul that holds resentment owes the soul to whom it is held, much! Hast thou forgotten the wrong done thee? Then thou owest naught! 1298-1

On humor, smiling and laughing....

See the humor in any experience, whether it is the most sacred, the most cherished experience, or that which comes as a trial. 2560-1

See the funny side--don't be too serious. Remember, He even made a joke as He walked to the Garden to be betrayed. Remember, He looked with love upon His discipe that denied Him, even as He stood alone. 2448-2

Laugh under the most straining circumstances. 1823-1

See the ridiculous side of every question--the humor in same. Remember that a good laugh is good for the body, physically, mentally. 2647-1

A smile gains entrance into the confidences of individuals when reprimands bring little but resentment. 5230-1

It is by thy smile and not a word spoken, that the day may be brighter for many a soul and making the day brighter, even for the moment ye have contributed to the whole world of affairs. 2794-3

Though ye may be reviled, revile not again. Though ye may be spoken of harshly, smile--smile! For it is upon the river of life that smiles are made. Not grins!....but the smile of understanding cheers on the hearts of those who are discouraged, who are disheartened. It costs so little. It does so much good, and lifts the burdens of so many. 281-30

On trials, tribulations and temptation....

Without the cross there is no crown. Without the bitter there is no sweet. Without love, ye are lost indeed. 254-78

They who would gain the greater will suffer the more. 5242-1

In suffering strength is gained. 5528-1

Through trials, trouble, tribulations, one arrives at the best things in life and the trials are forgotten. 288-1

From what may anyone be saved? Only from themselves. That is, their individual hell; they dig it with their own desires. 262-40

If these hardships are held continually as crosses, or as things to overcome, then they will remain as crosses. But if they are to be met with the spirit of truth and right in their own selves, they should create joy; for that is what will be built. 552-2

On power and anger....

Few does power not destroy. 3976-13

Weakness is only strength misapplied or used in vain ways. 436-2

No man is bigger then that which makes him lose his temper. 254-55

Be mad and sin not; Righteous anger is a virtue. He that has no temper is very weak; but he who controls not his temper is much worse. 3416-1

Anger can destroy the brain as well as any disease. For it is itself a disease of the mind. 3510-1

When anger hath beset thee, hast thou stopped and considered what the fruit of rash words would bring? 793-2

Just as hate and animosity and hard sayings create poisons in the body, so do they weaken and wreck the mind. 1315-10

Think on these....

It is never right to do that which is evil that good may come. 254-7

Keep the heart singing! Keep the mind clear! Keep the face toward the light! The shadows are then behind. 39-4

Do ever in self that thou knowest to be right, thought it may make of self even an outcast to thine neighbor. 373-3

We correct habits by forming others! That's everybody. 475-1

Know that each soul constantly meets it's own self. No problems may be run away from. Meet it now! 1204-3

Fei

2008-03-01T17:51:00.000-06:00

Fei

Level 56 Rogue

This is Fei, my Night Elf Rogue. I made her back when I was still a fool playing Alliance in 06. Needless to say, I no longer play her.

Sendela

2008-03-01T17:37:00.000-06:00

Sendela

Level 54 Warlock

Sendela was my main character before my account got bannedz0rz. She would probably be 70 today if that hadn't happened. But alas, it did, and she is not. I played her off and on from September 06 to February 07.

I was never quite sure why I got banned, but Blizzard refused to reverse it after several petitions. They also never specifically told me why I was banned.

Myrannis

2008-03-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

Myrannis

Level 30 Priest

I created Myrannis on 6-12-07 and played him for a short time, until 6-18. About this time I realized I don't really like Priests....

Kastle

2008-03-01T16:40:00.000-06:00

Kastle

Level 54 Warrior

I made Kastle on 2-2-08 and leveled him pretty quickly...for a Warrior. My initial goal was to make him a Death Knight with Wrath of the Lich King, but I later found out that you don't actually turn your characters into Death Knights, rather you unlock the class and can make them like new characters. So......yeah, wasted time since I don't really like Warriors.

Fun fact: His name is from the Rook chess piece...it's a Castle Tower.

I like chess, and the Rook is my favorite piece. It can be used as a very defensive piece, or very offensive piece. Much like Warriors.

Inarius

2008-03-01T16:36:00.000-06:00

Inarius

Level 19 Priest

I played Inarius for a short time in November 2007. However, I wasn't feeling him so I quit playing him.

Fun fact: His name is from Diablo. Pretty interesting character.

Dkm

2008-03-01T16:32:00.000-06:00

Dkm

Level 42 Paladin

I play Dkm off and on quite a bit. He was made sometime in June 2007, and I still play him today, once every blue moon.

Fun fact: His name is an acronym for Demonic Kool-Aid Man. If you read the June 2007 issue of Nintendo Power, you'll see where I got the name. ;)

Disir

2008-03-01T16:27:00.000-06:00

Disir

Level 24 Priest

I played Disir sometime in November 07. She didn't last long either.

Fun fact: Disir are goddesses of fate, or protective spirits in Norse mythology. Read more here.

Alynei

2008-03-01T16:11:00.000-06:00

Alynei

Level 30 Priest

I played Alynei from 2-18-07 to 2-27-07. She didn't last long.... lol

Misc Characters

2008-03-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

Here are several miscellaneous characters, that are either low level or I didn't have many screenshots of. Also, if you click on certain character's names you can get an idea of who/what they are inspired from.

Alexsys

Iron Slug

Phantom Flame

Lucavian

Silver Cosmic
Silver Surfer Ripoff

Raven Knight

Radiation Raver

PW- AA
Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney

White Panda
White Panda has another page, here.

Unno

Super Shooter
Best name evar!

Starr Nova
Power Girl Ripoff

Soul Cutter

Fortuness

2008-03-01T15:08:00.000-06:00

Fortuness

Illusion / Radiation Controller

Ashen

2008-03-01T15:02:00.000-06:00

Ashen

Katana / Regeneration Scrapper

Black Wing

2008-03-01T14:57:00.000-06:00

Black Wing

Earth Melee / Fire Armor Brute

Nether Harlequin

2008-03-01T14:53:00.000-06:00

Nether Harlequin

Necromancy / Dark Mastermind

I have another page for her, here.

DeathFist

2008-03-01T14:51:00.000-06:00

DeathFist

Dark Melee / Dark Armor Scrapper

Red Current

2008-03-01T14:48:00.000-06:00

Red Current

Electric Melee / Electric Armor Brute

Kasai

2008-03-01T14:46:00.000-06:00

Kasai

Ninja / Poison Mastermind

Kat Khaos

2008-03-01T14:42:00.000-06:00

Kat Khaos

Thugs / Traps Mastermind

City of....

2008-03-01T14:16:00.000-06:00

The fun thing about the "City of" games is that each character is totally unique is both looks and biography. I have a story for most all of my characters, and always put a lot of thought into the costume design and power set choices. I decided to make this page linking to each of my characters, which will tell their biography and show their costumes.

Heroes:

Ashen
DeathFist
Lucavian
Emma Eldritch
Unno
Starr Nova
Silver Cosmic
Black Serval
Fortuness
Sobekneferu
Abyssion
Phantom Flame
SuperShooter
Soul Cutter
Raven Knight
Necronian
PW - AA

Villains:

Black Wing
Kat Khaos
Nether Harlequin
Avatar of Persephone
Avatar of Nyx
Odeki
Radiation Raver
Alexsys
Lantana Camara
Emma Eden Eldritch
Crimson Standard
Red Current
White Panda
Kasai
Iron Slug
Jack in Chains
Dollmaker

Miss Abyss

2008-03-01T14:09:00.000-06:00

Miss Abyss

Level 9 Necromancer / Ranger

Ashen Shadowpaw

2008-03-01T14:07:00.000-06:00

Ashen Shadowpaw

Level 7 Ranger / Warrior

Dren Soulforge

2008-03-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

Dren Soulforge

Level 8 Warrior / Monk