New Ventures

It's official:  I'm part of the staff now over at VideoGameWriters.com!  I'll be writing news for the site, which is a newcomer to the video game news scene that I've been following since it launched last year.  The challenge, of course, will be making it fit in with that pesky day job...

But enough about why local news is grinding my soul into a fine powder: you didn't come here to see me being emo.  This is not Live Journal.  Let's talk about why I like VGW, and why you should too.

IT'S ALIVE! Pt. 2

That's right, that's me and my buddy Jeramy gettin' our podcast on.  Expect that to happen more often.  I've been wanting to get into podcasting for a very long time, with mixed results, but finally I'm getting to do what I like to do best:  talk about geeky things with other geeks.

We plan to do a weekly podcast that looks back at "the week in geek" and talk about what caught our attention, as well as what's coming up that we're interested in.  These are the kinds of conversations we used to have around a pool table at the local dive, around the D&D table, or around the corner booth at Taco Bell during lunch.  After I moved away we continued to have these discussions over Skype, and eventually got around to recording them and slapping them on the internets.

So, keep an eye on it, send an email to GIRpodcast@gmail.com with suggestions or questions, and we'll keep on geekin' out.

A New Beginning

After much planning (and more hand-wringing), I finally went forward with plans to do a second blog, this time dedicated solely to one of the games I play.  In this case, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Hokey Religions and Ancient Weapons is now live over at HRAAW.com, and will be the place I talk primarily about what I'm doing in SWTOR and about stuff going on with the game and the community.  Hopefully I'll be able to kick my butt into gear enough so I can do regular posts on it throughout the week, and we'll see what happens with it further down the road.

The Last Straw?

I recently took a break from WoW after helping my guild raid team get to Ragnaros and snuff him out. Work had taken a turn for the busy, and when Skyrim came out I got sucked into Tamriel so hard I didn't really have time for Azeroth.

Every time I considered logging back into WoW, I found myself asking... "Why?". I had everything I really wanted from raiding, I had a stable full of alts I wasn't really keen on leveling, and the thought of enduring another horrific pick-up dungeon group filled me with disgust. And now they have pick-up RAID finders now. Why would I want to subject myself to 20 or so meter- and self-obsessed PUG twats filling the chat with various slurred versions of "You suck and I rock" over and over again just to make it to the gear level I needed to be at to raid effectively?

The answer, as I finally allowed myself to admit, was that I didn't.

Come to the Dark Side: We Have Crazy Hats!

Sith fashionistas everywhere were rocked, ROCKED I say, by the Inquisitor's electrifying appearance at SWTOR.com Friday.  Always dressed to impress terrify, the Sith's darkest souls will certainly be... festooned as they conquer world after world for their Emperor's bidding.

The Inquisitor's progression video certainly played to the strengths of the class: lightning, double-bladed lightsabers, and scaring the bejeezus out of small children and rank-and-file Troopers everywhere.  The brash scarlet and dusky darker tones play well off the occasional blood stains that Sith inevitably find decorating their clothing.

SWTOR: An Opinion

It seems hardly fair to call this a "review", since the only access I've had to the game has been beta testing for a little more than a month.  Likewise, there have been plenty of "impressions" already put out there, and I didn't want to repeat that when I sat down and committed to digital ink what I thought of Bioware's entry into the MMO market proper. I say proper, because you cannot tell me Neverwinter Nights wasn't massive, multiplayer, and online, not to mention a really great moment in D&D's digital history and roleplaying online in general.

Therefore, let the record show that this is simply an "opinion" of The Old Republic, its potential, its gestation, and its impending birth into a world of fans angrily clamoring for The Second Coming of the MMO, Star Wars, or Both.

Be warned:  I sense spoilers in the Force after the jump...

Syrim: A Day in the Life of a Warlock-Assassin

From the personal research notes of Morgrimm, warlock-assassin of the Dark Brotherhood.

8:15 a.m. - Woke up at the Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm.  Stayed up late experimenting with some new potions; brewed a tea with a black, bitter herb I bought off a khajiit trader to compensate.

9:30 a.m. - Dropped off the excess results from my experimenting at the White Phial.  Used some coin to purchase more canis root and charus eggs, necessary for the paralysis and invisibility potions I've been making.

10:15 a.m. - Met the mercenary, Stervan, outside Candlehearth.  Shared a flask of whiskey on the steps until the target, Gaius Maro, arrived in the city.  According to the schedule I stole from his father's men, Maro the younger will be touring the city's defenses and guard rotations before staying in the barracks tonight.  Luckily, the city is still on edge because of a series of murders by a killer being called "the Butcher", so the barracks will be nearly empty tonight while the guards do extra patrols.