Torbrand the Sneaksy Hobbit

If case you didn't know, I play Lord of the Rings Online. I love most things Tolkien related and being able to role play IN actual Middle Earth (well, you know... a computer representation of) is amazingly cool. I believe a lot of WoW player think it's stupid and lacks features, but they are tools who appear to miss the point. Better for the rest of us I suppose.
I don't play very often as it is a role playing game essentially and requires a decent amount of time for each session to accomplish anything, so I tend to try to play for chunks of no less than 3 hours and a few times have squeezed in about 8+ hours. With my job and the requirement of getting to work early, the essentially means I play during vacations or some long weekend. I even put together a special computer specifically for this game - only had to buy a new CPU, additional ram and a kick ass video card to do it. I'm also a lifer, so I never have to pay for my time again after the initial $199 I paid for play time. This means I'm good until the game dies away. I just hope it sticks around for a good long time. I'd been waiting for this since Sierra originally started to develop a version around 10 years ago.

I played this summer connected to a video projector. I'm not sure there's a better way to play a video game (or do anything video related), but it sure was a pain in the ass to set up each time. Finally though I figured out how to get it to diosplay on the TV. It's only a 36" CRT, but it does fine. I don't run at a super high resolution anyway, not wanting to risk the nice framerates and turned up graphics effects - man, seeing the tall grass swaying in the wind while I'm running through it is just cool as anything. That doesn't mean I play more - school has started, so I haven't actually played in over a month, but soon... soon!
Mines of Moria, the first pay for expansion comes out shortly. I'm not going to get it right away. I know I can get it now for a deal (I think), but I believe it's really for higher level characters and my primary character (see below) is only level 19 right now. Like I said, no rush. It's Middle Earth for crying out loud... enjoy it or leave. :)

I got an email this morning from the peeps at LotRO about the new ability to have sigs for the forums with dtat blocks for out characters, and those also include a "likeness". Still very cool - though I don't post in the forums much. Even cooler, I can post an image of the sig stat block elsewhere... so it made for a good excuse to create another entry here and show off my Hobbit Burglar.

If I know you and you are interested in playing, let me know. You can play a trial of it, but if I hook you up with an invite, and you buy, I get a 30 day free play time cert... which I don't need (lifetime membership, remember?) but I can transfer... thus adding a month to your play time, unless you go lifetime as well. I'd say you could come watch the game in action, but well... hey, if you are interested in that, perhaps something could be worked out. If I don't know you - wow, thanks for reading. Check youtube or summat, I'm sure there are lots of videos posted. I tried to capture some video while playing and it didn't go well. If you are already playing, tell me during gameplay that you read this :)... then come help me on a quest.

WiiiiiiiDDR

Much thanks to my bro and his wifey and the rugrat for the Wii DDR system for solstice gifts. Woot!!My wife and I are already rockin to it (they left only a little while ago) and I've got a great sweat going on. The music for DDR Hottest Dance Pary is a decent selection. I'm sure more tracks will open up, but for now, I can't complain, especially with a few happy hardcore speed tracks mixed with some slower ones that Karen can groove to that require a little less coordination (sorry hun ;) ).

I'm so very happy.

Anyway, first post here in a while, so I'm glad to have a nice one before I post a few upcoming ones that will be a little less than nice.

Craack, ungh, splrsh, shuullllll

The title represents my onomatopoeia representation of the glorious sounds of death that can be found in Manhunt 2. If you don't know what Manhunt 2 is... um, wake up and smell the geek coffee. ;) Err... well, I didn't know until a couple months ago. I was checking out some trailer on youtube and saw sidebar videos with trailers and other captures from Manhunt (1, but before there was a 2, it was just Manhunt I'm sure - naahtahmean?). I watched and was shocked and in love. The main character sneaking up on peeps and murdering them in such brutal and violent ways that I didn't know that kind of violence got on video games. Whew. Then I read a comment about Manhunt 2 and its being banned in the UK... I had to check that out. Sure enough, it was banned because of was given an AO rating - that's Adults Only for the newbs. My response. "And?" Adults Only!! Now, if only parents would get their shit together and shops wouldn't cave in, then kids would not have such easy access to games and adults could actually have some adult only gaming fun without nosey fucks interfering. So, as a cop out Rockstar Games made changes to the game to make it M rated (that's Mature to the newbs). Have to be 17 or older to buy, versus the 18 or older for AO. I'm fricken 35 and I'm relatively well-adjusted, who the hell are they to tell me what I can play? Urgh. That pisses me off.

Anyway, I bought the game anyway... I want brutality. It's damn fantasy. It's not real and my mind is not going to act on it. I know for a fact that kids do act on their game training. I teach kids who are playing some games that frankly their parents should be slapped for letting them play. I love Grand Theft Auto, but a 13 year old kid should not be playing it. A married, well educated, average Joe isn't the issue. So I'm playing the game, a few hours of play time - hey it's a hard game for this guy - and I've seen the changes. The execution scenes have been altered (as the word on the net is) such that they are all washed in a red tint and blurred, covering so much of the detail that's it's really mostly hinted violence. I'm actually pissed and offended by it, but I still enjoy the game. Rockstar sold out. The game would still sell like mad if they kept the AO version, frankly the difference between 17+ and 18+ is a little silly. I realize M is like an rating from the MPAA (don't even get me started on that terrorist organization) and thus AO is meant to be like X (or XXX since X was done away with so that a triple-x rating could seem worse) and I'm fine with that, but why on earth does that really cause releases to fail? Ok, I realize a lot of adults would feel weird walking into a store to buy real pr0n (not that bullshit tease softcore crap you find on old-school skinemax), but I guess that's a whole different topic.

Blah, I'm ranting and rambling.

There's apparently a version floating around in torrent land that is the uncensored release, but I only saw info on the PS3 version... and even if there was one for the Wii, I'd not hack my Wii just to be able to do it. When I first put Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Wii in my system, it said it was installing something that warned that if I had done any modifications to my system, it might stop working. Yikes!

So, tonight I believe SNL isn't new since the TV writer's strike is still on, I'm hoping the wife won't mind if I play some more. Hahaha, she'll likely need to go to bed first though. When I first put the game in the night I got it, to just check it out, I had the option of a little tutorial on how to use the Wiimote and Nunchuk... it just had me move the parts in ways to cause thing happen - uh, yeah - but the sounds were obvious. The sounds of crunching or bones and popping body parts causing blood splatter. The sound really bothered her. It cracked me up. You could see what appeared to be blood splatter on the screen, slowly dripping, but it was dark. In any event, she's an audibly annoyed person. It did not set well. Thankfully the headphones have a long cable.

Other than the annoying censorship of the game, I despise that they ignored lefties. I have to have the Wiimote in my right hand because all the primary weapons end up in that one. Damnit, I'm a lefty, I should have the options of switching, even if only because it's a lot harder for me to control certain actions with my right hand. What idiot forgot about something as simple as that???

Still... great game that will provide hours and hours of brutal, bloody, mental violent fun. And some of my students had the gall to call me square last year.

Monster play

It's hard to find time to play, but I'm still loving playing Lord of the Rings Online. I sneak in a few hours here and there. Long weekends (like this - Labor Day Weekend) make it a little easier, I just play on Saturday night. Tonight (actually, that would have been a couple hours ago to be Saturday) I played for a little bit. When I logged in I saw the option to play in Monster Play mode. I knew I'd be able to eventually, but last time I played that option was not selectable. I don't know too much about it, but I knew it'd be cool to try out, so I selected it.

You have the choice between 4 monsters or so... maybe it was 5. Thee appears to be two Uruk-hai options, a leader and an archer, a spider, and a couple others... I forgot already. I selected an Uruk-hai archer dude, see picture to the right. His name is Akulnakh. I gave him a surname, but
off hand I can't remember it. Whoopee really, it doesn't matter. Unlike player characters, you don't get to customize the monsters. No biggie. The truth is, I was not too impressed with that monster play. It seemed like I had to travel far too much to accomplish quests, but I
also didn't select a bunch off hand. This picture was taken before I had received around a total of 10 quests. I only finished two of them, and not even finished. I started them, I guess you could say.


After playing for about an hour with him, I logged out and went back in as Torbrand, my hobbit burglar. He's the main character I play with, and since he's only up to level 14 by now, it shows how little I actually play. The good news is that as long as this game stays alive, I'm likely good for a very long time - and my lifetime subscription will indeed be worthwhile. Anyway, I wasn't interested in playing him tonight, I primarily wanted to log him in to get a couple pix. Both are taken in Budgeford, where I last time I ended play after my first two fellowship quests. I'm more in this game to play alone... that's my style, but it just so happened by great luck that two different people were searching for fellowships for the exact quests I wanted to complete. It worked out just great... hey, perhaps I should have taken a group picture, hehehehe. Anyway, the first pic is of Torbrand (in the beta I called him Brand - like my Halfling Rogue in D&D - but someone beat me to the punch to get the name in the final release) flexing in front of some random hobbit habitat. The second is pulled back a bit... he's waving hellow to you. I tried to get him to yawn, but it didn't work for some reason... the yawn would match how tired I am right now - as soon as I'm done writing this entry, I'm going to bed.

If you happen to be a LotRO player, in the first server on the list (see, I don't pay a lot of attention, I think it starts with E... it is one of the original servers, left over from closed beta), post your PC name... perhaps we'll meet in Middle Earth.

Better yet, donate some money to me so I can buy a kick ass gaming card. I'm playing this on my laptop. It plays just fine, but I can't turn up the visual efx and features like I'd like. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of details and beauty in this. The visuals of this game are just stunning, and I only hope I get a system that has the beef enough to power it all. Eh, I'll include one more picture... it's just a farm picture with a nice sky and rainbow in the background. The weather system is cool... I had killer rain one day, but there seems to be more rainbows than IRL. ;) Anyway, my guess is that the details would be better and I bet the trees would even be moving the wind, not to mention more detailed characters and baddies.

There is a god...

Hahaha, you know I'm just kidding, but one might have to wonder after hearing the great news that Jerry Falwell is DEAD. Oh dear me... wishing ill on the dead. Fuck him. That man is a worthless scumbag piece of shit anyway. Worms might not even want to feat on his carcass when his putrid body rots through his casket. Blame 9/11 on atheist, liberals and homosexuals... fucking moron! Asshole... you KNOW it was your "on the DL butt buddy" G.W. Bush.*

This was a shitty evening ending a not too bad at all day. But it all turned around when I opened my email from the account I wasn't looking at all day and saw the header "Jerry Falwell Dead"... only 10 minutes after finding a stash of gaming dice that I've not seen in a very long time, handily stowed away in my Munchkin Fu box.

I guess now I should make nice with the wife and go put in my violin practice time before SVU.

*I in no way mean my use of that term in disrespect toward homosexuals, or even men on the DL... you just gotta know that people who hate gays as much as they do must be hiding something.

Game of choice

First post and relatively pointless at that... I'm about to get playing Lord of the Rings Online. I was part of one of the stress tests then invited back for the closed beta. I'm new to these types of games, but certainly not new to Tolkien's amazing world... so I really didn't have a choice in the matter, I pre-ordered the game and am now in the open-beta until release and then I'll likely fork over the $200 for the lifetime subscription. Sad huh? Well, I figure that during summer break, I'll get in a LOT of gaming time, so that alone will likely make me feel like I got my money's worth.

So... I'm sure I'll post some pix/screenshots over time and perhaps talk about my experiences there. I'm currently playing a hobbit bandit... had to make a new one for the open beta, but I'm pretty much playing the same character I made for the closed beta. His name WAS "Brand", but amazingly someone took it before I re-created him... damnit!!! I believe I ended up picking Torbrand... good enough. Brand is the name of my halfling monk in one of the D&D campaigns I play in every Wednesday night.

More later.