It’s been a fantastically busy few weeks in this household, fortunately in a good way. My unbelievably stick-thin-skinny-ass sister left our presence this past Saturday after staying with us for a week. It was quite fun, and highly entertaining. The next few weeks are proving to be as busy with more visitors. I would complain, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the time spent with family and friends.
This Friday I will also find out if my random eye condition is alleviated enough to proceed with LASIK. My eyes don’t feel any different/better so I’m not too hopeful, but at least this way I won’t be let down - at most I’ll be pleasantly surprised. But considering the eye care place I’m going to only has once a month procedures, if this May doesn’t work out, I’ll probably give up and retry it again a few years from now. I can’t put too many of our plans on hold to make this work, and time needed for this is already “running out”.
But with this small break, I’ve hit up Rogue Galaxy again. It’s been a bit difficult to go back to a PS2 game (and I’m not a “graphics fiend” so that should say something), but I remember why I loved the game so much. Nothing in this game is absolutely outstanding, but everything is done well. Where most RPGs (or even games in general) have two or three fantastic aspects and then two or three things that suck majorly and are insufferable, Rogue Galaxy is an even level of awesome. If there was a rating system of one - five stars, it’d be a solid four or for each aspect. Again, nothing absolutely astounding, but overall, it’s just that solid.
Ya know, It’s amazing to me that a game that doesn’t upset or anger me at any point is considered “great” in my opinion. What does that say about modern gaming?
I do have a huge spiel about the gaming industry and how it’s been horrific financially for gamers, but it’s very long and very in depth. Dan has about perfected the “expand” feature I’ve been wanting to implement, and it (like my FFXIII) review, will be published once I get it up and running.
For now, here’s a video from Jen’s visit. At one point everyone around me got hit with a coma bomb, while I remained immune. This is my attempt at waking them up from the devastating attack. While there’s quite a bit of set up in the video, I recommend watching until the end.
I’ll have more pictures and videos to post later, but all the talk of Rogue Galaxy has my attention span wavering. Here’s one more video. 12 seconds of absolute hilarity and terror in my opinion.
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, some snags are being run into. I have a detailed review of FFXIII I’d like to publish (along with a few other topics), but the formatting I plan on implementing is in need of some elaborate testing. So let’s just talk nonsense shall we?
The title of this short was unappealing. But thankfully, it turned out to be awesome. I don’t know much about the current SNL show/cast, but I do enjoy some “The Lonely Island” and some hilarious celebrity appearances.
This is a bit older, but I was reminded of it when watching the above video. I’m not sure how many of you saw the “high five montage” or the series of variations on that skit - this is one of them with hilarious celebrity appearances.
You will watch that above clip and say, “That was dumb”. But later today, you might still be thinking about it and, like me, will probably look up the other variations on it. You’re welcome.
So, now to bore you.
Things are going well here. The biggest news is the potential for having LASIK very soon. There is a really excellent eye care service near us and, for once, I have insurance that actually does something. Obviously it won’t fully cover the cost of the procedure, but at least it’s better than nothing. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for about 15 years now (ever since my mom had R.K. done when I was younger). I’ve considered my eyes to be bad, but not horrible. Right now my prescription is -6.75 and -7.00, and apparently I’m an awesome candidate for it.
I was excitedly told I have “nice big and thick corneas”. It’s ok to be jealous.
I’ve never heard of a hospital staff being so anxious to fix me before now. I wish my family practice doctor was so anxious to help me get rid of my headaches and at-least-three-days-out-of-the-week nosebleeds. Unfortunately, I’m dealing with a minor eye infection that pushed back the surgery date to May (originally intended to be in two weeks).
By the way, you ever pay $80 for 1.5ml of eye drops? I have. It’s ok to be jealous.
Since there is a minimum two week buffer time needed without the use of contacts before the surgery, I’m using glasses that I believe are over 13 years old, so I’m not seeing too well. It’s not legal for me to drive, and I’m already a huge clutz when I *can* see, so it hasn’t been easy. Having to wait an additional month wasn’t an option with poor vision, so I had to use the insurance to get an updated prescription. It seems extremely wasteful for a months use, but it simply isn’t something I can deal with any longer.
Especially with my sister visiting in two weeks from now. Which will be awesome. It’s ok to be jealous.
As far as gaming, I was able to polish off a few games that I had been working on for a while. Dragon Age, InFamous, and FFXIII. I have good things to say about all of them, but unfortunately FFXIII’s “pro” list is much smaller than it’s “con” list. Beautiful Katamari is stealing more time than I intended… but addiction is a cruel mistress I can’t seem to overcome.
I’m trying to play more games on the PC than consoles recently, but it’s been difficult with how bad DRMs are becoming. I have a post to make on the issue. But this one is dragging on long enough. I’ll save it for another day.
I’ve been in hibernation, with some behind the scenes ideas on getting this site up to date and adding various features that may make it easier to read for everyone.
A lot of what’s holding me back from writing is a constant criticism that my posts are too long. I agree, I tend to ramble. I have many reasons on how and why I write to such lengthy extent, but that doesn’t matter if no one reads it. The biggest problem is that I have an inability to write something in shorthand. It’s really who I am. I’ve tried changing it for many years, but it leaves me dissatisfied. Since I pay for this site, I don’t think I should be dissatisfied ever here. So I have a compromise. I plan on implementing a simple “expand” feature to this site, and once I do, I have a few reviews to modify and create using this. If successful, it will give a better length for a casual reader, but provide in depth, and more awesome, statements at your discretion.
I have a lot to say and catch up on. There have been a slew of games I’ve finished and some personal news of sorts as well. Nothing overly exciting, but what’s else is new?
To make up for lost time, I’ll probably be updating in short bits for a while. This way I don’t spend a whole day writing one long post, and it’s easily digestible for any readers I might have. If there is a demand for it, I will also give scheduled updates.
Upcoming stories:
Will games stand the test of time?
Lasik and me, together at last (hopefully).
Bioware and Valve. Activision and Blizzard.
How Kotaku has restored my faith in the internet.
The death of logical debates
My favorite iPhone Apps.
RPG is Rock.
Bring back these games!
Pigs can fly! (We own a PS3)
Super Shorthand review of games I’ve played recently:
FFXIII : First Half: Great. Second Half: Nevermind. Pass.
Mass Effect 2 : Get it now. NOW!
Dragon Age: Fantastic
EQ2 : Dead to me
FF1 (for iPhone) : Updated FF1 releases have (overall) welcome changes.
Bioshock 2: Half way through the game, still not sure.
As some of you may have guessed, Dan and I are currently vacating our plans to have an official/formal wedding. We’ve been giving it a lot of thought for over a year now, and for many reasons, it isn’t in our best interest to have a ceremony. Dan proposed last August, and on our 9 year anniversary a few weeks later, we decided to have a small legal ceremony for many reasons (mostly because it has already been 9 great years). We immediately decided to try and have a formal wedding this past August on our 10 year anniversary and have that be the “official” wedding date. Unfortunately, as you might have guessed, it didn’t work out for several reasons. Primarily, it was extremely difficult to plan for an event when the majority of the guests are all out of state, and asking friends and family to fly in during this time in our economy didn’t seem to be fair for anyone. We tossed around ideas of having a separate reception in different areas, but time and money soon became a pretty big factor we couldn’t accommodate.
Dan and I plan on starting a family relatively soon (soon as next year or two - don’t get too excited), and it is apparent that it is wiser to invest the time and money we have now into our future family. A nice formal wedding was actually something Dan and I were both looking forward to, but we realize it’s not something we necessarily need. We’re really excited to be planning a family, and we still have a lot of projects to do around the house to get ready for these upcoming changes, and are already making steady progress in that area.
We’d also like to spend this time to thank those that have helped out by giving us donations even though we didn’t provide an event for you to enjoy. The money we’ve received was extremely helpful in acquiring some key items our house has been missing. I made an Amazon wedding registry soon after the engagement, and am using it still to acquire many necessary improvements/additions to the house. The projects we have scheduled for the next year or so are big ones, so to say your help is appreciated is an understatement. Thank you!
So, with the “officiality” finally being… official, I will be very soon (sooner than babies - next week or so) changing my name to Mrs. Mary Kate Joyce (and that is the first time I’ve used that full name). Thank you all for being patient, support, and understanding during this time. It’s been great seeing a lot of you this past trip to Illinois (and Kansas), and again thank you for all the love and support.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. Dan Joyce (I don’t like that one)
Mary and Dan Joyce (that one works)
Here’s some high quality photos of our EQ2 Guild Hall on the Mistmoore server. All of the designing was done by myself and Dan. It’s an extremely custom layout and I’m very proud of the design. All of our guild hall NPCs are a tribute to guildies we had in EQ1.
I tried dealing with low quality screenshots but with as many objects in the hall, it just blends. Click on the pictures to see a larger fuller quality version.
The customized sections of the guild hall
The banker and broker area
The vendors and mender.
The harvester area. Small area but took hours of work to get the layering job done just right.
The druid area is the first area I ever made, and is by far my favorite.
The strategist area.
The stage - revamped about 8 times but finally just right.
Dance floor (disco ball above), stage, and those posh high class bar seats.
The poker side of the bar.
Bar with the view of kitchen.
Kitchen area.
The banquet table - all mugs come with a set of shot glasses (sake bombs baby!).
One side of the 4 sided bar.
The other side of the 4 sided bar. Yes it is natural for a pink elephant and lizard thing-a-ma-jig to serve you drinks.
Cudget’s office (hidden behind the bar).
The other side of Cudget’s office.
Our trophies.
The obstacle course! Entrance is at the ground level banners, wraps around through the air a few times.
The final steps of the obstacle course. Where you see the purple hearts is the end.
Yes I know what you’re thinking, “But Mary, you just posted yesterday! What could you possibly have to say today?!” And the answer is not much. Well, at least “not much” by my standards.
I did get Worms Armageddon: 2 on XBLA yesterday and am very happy with that purchase. There seems to be some lag issues (waiting seven seconds or so between turns - not counting the additional five second at the “Are You Ready?” prompt) and it’s not as complex as the original Worms Armageddon got, but I wouldn’t expect it to be on XBLA. Quite honestly I’ve never had as frustrating as a time with controller sensitivity before. Despite all that (and an AI that’s even MORE superhuman than the original), great game! If you liked the first, get it. Hell, it’s worth it for the addition of screaming the worms do as you drop a mine or shoot a bazooka right over their head. Oh is it worth it.
Also, Dan and I just (and I mean *JUST*) got done watching Dark Knight. In a nutshell - two thumbs up. By far the greatest movie I’ve seen in a very long time. It was hyped quite a bit and I found that I still was in awe of the great movie it was. I think recently people give too much credit to explosions and not enough to collisions. There were more than a few moments I found myself “OH MAN!” at the impacts that were occurring that didn’t include fire and smoke. I even gotta give props to the sound guys. I don’t just mean the booms and what not, just the suspenseful and dramatic music/effects going on in the background of about every single scene. I just can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a movie where sound drastically integrated with the emotion and feel of a movie, it really drew me in to the experience.
So finally, I’ve been stockpiling a few clips for a while, but I like sharing videos. So here’s a few that make my pick. First off, Total Eclipse of the Heart done right. While it’s not put out by dustfilms.com as one of their own literal translation videos, this is the first I’ve seen by others I’ve loved just as much. Thanks to Travis for sharing.
Next up - Wierd Al’s Hardware Store done to WoW footage. While you all know my feelings of WoW and how I never want to play it again… I won’t deny it’s influence (and very fluid animations that make for great videos). This thing is old, but pretty cute (I got a good laugh outta the guild chat part)
And finally, a very adorable video I found today that shows not all people on the internet fail. These guys pass. Very pass. Multi-pass. Big bada boom! Oh sorry… was sidetracked. Anyway, this video is a joy to watch.
Been a while eh? Well, you see kiddies, when I get behind on posting it’s bad. As you can tell, I like to write very long posts even without much to say. So, when I have a lot to say, it turns into a day project to make one post. Kinda dissuading.
So I’ll try breaking it up into smaller posts over the next bit. I should be doing that anyway. I’m gonna go get some Cocoa Krispies first. BRB.
Ahhh, that’s better. I love me some Cocoa Krispies. I don’t know about you guys - but all the cereal I loved when I was a kid I just can’t eat anymore. Either too sugary or it tears the crap outta my mouth. But not Cocoa Krispies. They treat me good. But now they’re getting soggy. Just a sec.
Ok there we go. Wait a minute - I grabbed a Pepsi instead of a Dr. Pepper. Gah! Look, clearly this isn’t working out today. We’ll just pick this up tomorrow.
.
. .
. . .
I’m just kidding.
OK, so first things first. Transformers 2 is not a movie I’m going to see. It’s hard enough to convince me to see the Star Trek movie, while I kinda want to - I heard that there are some crazy plot holes or just a lack of plot altogether. I will see it eventually, but the plot issues are holding me back. Big-bada-booms aren’t enough to sell me on a movie. Unless is Milla saying Big-bada-boom. But bay’s bada-booms are fails in my opinion.
So needless to say - Bay’s latest vomit he calls “work” has sparked 0 interest for me. That being said, doesn’t mean you can’t get a few good laughs out of it right? First up - Transformers 2 trailer done accurately (no spoilers).
Next up (and by far the funniest thing I have read all year) a review done by Topless Robot. I want to thank Travis for showing me this, this past weekend. THIS HAS SPOILERS A PLENTY so you’ve been warned. But if you have no interest in seeing the movie or have seen it and weren’t amused, or hell, even if you loved it:
Read this! I can’t stress enough how hilarious this review is.
This past month or so has been all about personal accomplishments big and small. I was really happy with myself to have done Muse - Hysteria on bass while playing vocals on expert level. It wasn’t pretty but I didn’t come close to failing out at all. It definitely isn’t the hardest song on Rock Band 2 but it keeps ya busy - so *pats self on back*.
This isn’t me on the video but here’s the expert track part.
All while doing vocals. *flex*
Also saying that EA Sports Active has been working out is an understatement. I’m not going to lie, there are some bugs/flaws with some workouts (which will be covered in my review that’s already a novel before getting into the actual exercises), but overall this is solid. I’ve never felt more accomplished and better from any other workout I’ve tried. My endurance has skyrocketed - to say the least and overall my energy level is higher than it’s been in years. I didn’t expect to see any results besides this, but I’m already looking at a 5 pound loss in weight (already factored in daily weight fluctuation). I managed to get two solid workouts made… one cardio with upper body and one lower body with heavier cardio (I really need the cardio), and the default workout schedule they have is two days on and one day off, so this works out great. It’s been almost two months since I bought it, and I still feel like I’m just getting warmed up. So again *high five*.
Finally, not so much a personal one, but it’s a pretty big accomplishment - Outcast Adventurers is going strong. Our guild on EQ2 is growing, and the quality of players we’re recruiting is looking top notch. As some of you may know, running a guild takes a hefty amount of time and energy, so that’s some of the reason I’ve been held up. That and Fallout 3 *cough*.
Yeah so I beat Fallout 3 about last week, but I’m still playing it. They chocked this game full of content just like Oblivion. I think my play time is past 90 hours or so at the moment, and I feel halfway done (before even touching the expansions). You know what is my favorite aspect of Fallout 3? Having 100 sneak. That means, planting grenades in people’s pockets. Here’s someone’s montage:
I personally favor planting them in Super Mutant’s pockets. They say “GONNA BLOW!” and “TAKE COVER!” in very Warcraft orc fashion. Shame I can’t find videos on those. Zug Zug. Biggest problem I have with Fallout 3 is that it only plays half of my playlist on my Ipod connected through my Xbox 360. Not sure why that is, but if I want to listen to artists I-Y I gotta start the music playing on the dashboard. Otherwise artists #-H will be the only ones I hear. Radiohead is on the latter half, I tend to use that part. Still odd that happens tho, haven’t noticed that in any other game I play on the 360 (including Oblivion). Other than that, the game is great. Wonderful - all things good. And Ms. Jaxxy Vindalooooooo- please be sure to let me know how you do on playing evil >:D
It’s been a paragraph since I posted a video. And I really want to share the Fumbles experience. Because it’s Fumbles, it’s always been Fumbles.
And finally, some music. I use to be big into metal - and still am with the classic metal. The newer stuff I have a problem with. It makes me sound old, but I don’t enjoy music where you can’t decipher the different instruments. Where it seems the guitarists and drummers want to hit as many things as possible - not make notes, riffs, or even music. That doesn’t mean the music has to be boring - it just has to have style.
So I’m enjoying Mastodon. They’ve been around for a while and I’ve heard a song or two occasionally - but this song Oblivion has really stolen my short attention span. It’s heavy but melodic, and damn good. Video’s wierd… but it’s a metal video, so duh. I downloaded Crack the Skye album and thus far, very good.
And now - a mash up of gaming news at it’s finest failure.
Fitness Hero and Workout Hero have been trademarked! You know what I love? A franchise that exploits the consumer by refusing to eliminate disc swapping (and then later re-releasing the same songs again to make more money) to handle my workout routine. Because Wii Fit releasing a whole new game for an expansion pack/patch worth of updates wasn’t bad enough - Activision has to show them how it’s done.
Starcraft 2 won’t support LAN! That’s right! Talking about biting the hand that feeds - dismissing the thing that made you what you are, is the epitome of fail. Blizzard - your merge with Activision has been for the worse. You guys need to get a whole new “business ethic” committee. This is the last straw, separating Starcraft 2 out to get more money was bad enough - you guys lost my pre-order and support. Go to hell.
Thankfully - within the same day a petition already reached 6k signatures. I don’t have much faith in petitions, but good luck guys. Even if you win, they still lost me.
Activision you suck. Did I mention that? If they didn’t do enough dickish moves for you already - don’t worry, there’s more! Just look at how they handle Brutal Legend. First they drop it, then when it does GREAT at E3 they say “but it’s ours!!”
Finally, China bans gold farming! In a country were freedoms run free this comes at a shock *cough*sarcasm*cough*. While I’m not a fan of how much China bans, I’m not really opposed to this. Gold farms are running like sweatshops (and not to mention annoying with spam).
That’s all for now. I leave you with my new desktop background.
Huzzah! Oh very happy day! Good job Fox, I want to gripe you’re only extending it 13 more episodes thus far, but I’m hoping for the best, and am happy I get to see that much at least.
On to other stuff. I love Japan.
Here’s hoping if they import this game to the US they don’t change a single thing. Hell I think it’s even better non-translated.
So I haven’t been able to spend much time with Age of Conan or even Free Realms. Free Realms does have a very casual atmosphere, so the mini-games can be a bit draining after a while. But did I mention that it’s free? You just have to ignore the myriads of “Upgrade now!” and “Station Cash” links and buttons strewn throughout your screen, but again, free. My chick is here, and I stay on Server 4 when I play. Group 4 in the hizz-ouse - represent! What?! What?!
I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again.
But this week will be good! EA Sports Active arrives, and while most of my shows are over for the season, We were lent the first season of Battlestar Galactica, which Dan and I have yet to see. Plus I found out I can watch Naruto Shippuuden on Hulu. Huzzah for Hulu! I gotta say too, I’m intrigued by the Punch Out!! Wii remake. Heard some pretty awesome things about it, and my man is a huge Punch Out!! fan. Or at least he tells me every time that game gets brought up. Every. Time.
I hardly had time for Everquest 2, but I find myself recently resubscribing to Age of Conan and giving Free Realms a whirl. Bad Mary! *slaps wrist*
One plus side - Free Realms is… well… free. And while looks super kid friendly (because it is) it’s actually a ton of fun. You can get a $5 subscription fee a month version that enlarges your quest log capacity and unlocks more content in general - but you don’t need to because IT’S FREE. It’s tempting since it’s only five bucks, and when it comes to that quest log space it’s REALLY tempting, but again you don’t need to because IT’S FREE.
I really recommend everyone try Free Realms, there’s a ton of content and it’s pretty damn fun. Lots of mini games and the ability to play on any server is a huge perk. Of course, it’s not bug free - there’s some problems meeting up with group members occasionally, and let’s not talk about how declining someone to be on your friends list puts them on your friends list. But overall, it runs well enough… especially considering (did I mention this) IT’S FREE!
If you do end up paying for the subscription, you get to have pets. The biggest perk? You could be a ninja - with a pirate dog. What’s not to love?
You’re welcome for that annoying squirrel.
Now with Age of Conan, we’ll see how that goes. I whole-heartedly love the ingenuity with Conan, and it has amazing promise, I just think it doesn’t try as hard as it should. One of the reasons I left it was having a level 50 character (out of 80) with no new content. They really expected a level 50 character to mindlessly grind to the next tier of content at 60. No thanks, I’ll play a game that has something for me to play. Now coming back to it, they’ve remedied that situation and have a new load of content for my 50 Herald of Xotli to demolish - but there still seems to be a lot more work that needs to be done. It just doesn’t feel complete. It’s too early to say tho, I want to toy with it a bit more and there will be a major patch coming up drastically altering some mechanics, so who knows?
I hope you guys enjoyed pictures I posted from Eugene’s Bar 2.0 Party, I thoroughly enjoyed them as well. I have some video from the night, but I think I’ll save those for when the appropriate time to blackmail arrives. I’m gonna post some more pictures in a bit (when I find my copy of Adobe Photoshop lying around.) from an experiment I did with a Facebook application. It’s a farm town, you plant crops have them harvested and then plant again. I did the most natural thing you can do with a a blank template and turned it into a tetris playing field. It’s quite glorious. I just need to fuse the photos together to complete the process. Yes I am that special. Here’s a smaller picture of it actually
Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire - you have potential. It looks like you have a halfway decent story and the humor is humorous. I’m worried you putting out the sexual jokes a bit too much, and it normally wouldn’t be a problem but they really aren’t the funny parts. I worry for you my friend, stick with the eye rolling puns and sad jokes please - you’re doing ok with that part. Adult Swim. Seriously go away. I watched a show of yours called Look Around You for ten minutes last night and I can say without a doubt it is the stupidest thing you have ever aired. I turned the station to CNN and watched Lou Dobbs Tonight and was entertained more. Let me add - Lou Dobbs was covering a case of missing children and I was vastly more entertained than your show. Congratulations on proving me wrong about thinking you couldn’t possibly fail more than you did before.
I’m looking forward to EA Sports Active releasing later this month. Trying to break some bad habits before it comes out and use it as a stepping stone for improving my overall health. That makes me smart. I’ll miss you Sake. You sweet sweet nectar of life. For the time being I’m using Wii Fit’s 30 minute step session to get some activity going while watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. That was a tip from Tammi and I can say it was a good one. It doesn’t feel like it does much but the next day I can verify that very much yes it does do something. I’m also midway through writing my lengthy Wii Fit review… after that I’ll finish my Star Ocean: The Last Hope game and review it as well. If you read my previous statements in older posts about Wii Fit you can predict the outcome of that review. Star Ocean: The Last Hope, while it’s a good game, I can tell you right now I still prefer the PS1 version Star Ocean: The Second Story in the end. There’s a bit more too it than that and the overall outcome will not be one that many other will agree with (for good reason) but it’s a review. It’s personal and stuff. Jeez.
I hope everyone is doing well. I hope my sister has a fantastic birthday this Thursday (but she’ll probably be raiding in WoW?) and an early happy Mom’s Day to all the hot mommas out there. I’m just looking forward to a fantastic Benihana dinner with our EQ2 buddy Suzy. We’ll be recapping how awesome we are for pwning The Shadow Odyssey expansion group content boss - Varsoon. Yay, we win at EQ2! Suzy Fraps’ed a video of one of our kill I plan on posting later (this fight is insane) But we schooled him look like the two dollar whore he is. Don’t judge - his whoreness has been established before.
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