World of Warcraft really got under my skin today. Logged in to find that the battlegrounds on my server (Azgalor) were finally working. I like to play in battlegrounds because it offers a lot of PvP action, but at the same time I despise playing in them because I know the glaring imbalances that are present in WoW's PvP.
Warriors, rogues, and paladins are just insane once they have decent gear. Rogues aren't as bad as I once thought because they are soft enough targets that I can damage them respectably. Still can't fight through stuns, blind, sprint, and a number of other unbalancing features that combine to make the rogue, but with a few lucky crits and blowing my instant heal I can get a kill.
Paladins are truly fighters with heals now. Blizzard did a great job in turning the class around. Once upon a time paladins had to complain about lack of damage ability, but that is a thing of the past. Why? Because you seriously can not fucking kill them solo. If a Paladin is in any decent set of gear it takes forever to kill them. With a boost in their damage and a GOOD ranged execute they can lay the smack down before you ever get them anywhere near death. Why? Because of instant heals, invulnerability shield, and SUPER EFFICIENT MANA COSTS FOR HEALING. Also shield healing needs to be nerfed along with the majority of their healing ability. If a paladin shields they need to be unable to do ANYTHING! No more get out of jail free cards and no more "I NEVER DIE" paladins.
Warriors tip the scales though. A warrior should never be considered by their level, but by their gear. If its shiny, sparkly, or looks bad ass then you probably need to stay away. Warriors are just like rogues with enough tricks in the book to beat you down regardless of how skilled your class is. Combine this with great damage reduction, great hit points, and the most insane DPS weapons in game and you have a zero fun zone. I've seen epic warriors go into 5 on 1's and not even blink wiping them out.
Sad fact of WoW PvP is that your best bet to have fun is the twink out a lower level for lower level battlegrounds. At leas then you know you are the strongest of the strong compared to other twinks. But you won't find yourself fighting other twinks, because its always more fun to one shot the non-twinks.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Bully Trailer 2 Hits the Web
I am posting about the second Bully Trailer, because I think this is going to be a stepping stone to a better ESRB. In turn, a better gaming market. Even though I hate Jack Thompson, I do agree that the sale of violent video games needs to be controlled.
Bully does not look like it is shaping up into a Columbine simulator, as many people have criticized. The game will still touch on some very touchy subjects. Sexual relations with cheerleaders? Beating up any student, regardless of whether they are "bullying" your character, or not? These are not child friendly messages.
I would play Bully if I was still interested in console gaming, but I am old enough to distinguish between the real world and a game. Most teens and younger children are not able to make this distiction. They do not realize that games can have some lasting effects on their mind. Some teens deal with it better, but for others, it can be the last little shove before going over the edge.
Fortunately, the games really aren't the problem. Its the fact that these kids don't have a better connection to a parental figure. Someone in a child's life needs to see the warning signs and help the child out. Before it turns into a nightmare. Sadly, parenting just isn't what it used to be.
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post, applied labels, and removed YouTube video.
Bully does not look like it is shaping up into a Columbine simulator, as many people have criticized. The game will still touch on some very touchy subjects. Sexual relations with cheerleaders? Beating up any student, regardless of whether they are "bullying" your character, or not? These are not child friendly messages.
I would play Bully if I was still interested in console gaming, but I am old enough to distinguish between the real world and a game. Most teens and younger children are not able to make this distiction. They do not realize that games can have some lasting effects on their mind. Some teens deal with it better, but for others, it can be the last little shove before going over the edge.
Fortunately, the games really aren't the problem. Its the fact that these kids don't have a better connection to a parental figure. Someone in a child's life needs to see the warning signs and help the child out. Before it turns into a nightmare. Sadly, parenting just isn't what it used to be.
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post, applied labels, and removed YouTube video.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
World of Warcraft Patch 1.12
World of Warcraft patch 1.12 today? Yes indeedy feel the needy; for some cross server PvP battles! I won't be able to try the patch out at this time, because I am still downloading it. Fortunately, Blizzard's torrent seems to be working better. Not great, but not horrible.
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post. This will be kept as a placeholder for historical value.
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post. This will be kept as a placeholder for historical value.
Originally, this post contained links to various World of Warcraft patch download websites.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Forget Snakes on a Plane... I have Ants in My Mailbox
If anybody remembers back to my "Another Invasion..." post you probably can guess what this post is all about. Yesterday my wife headed out to the mailbox to grab the mail, but that is not what she found. There seemed to be a massive crawling mass inside the box.
As I ventured out to see what this mess was I pretty figured I already knew. It was ants. Not just a few, but a lot. These are not the type of ants that build anthills. These are the nesting type of ants that find any place they can to leave their eggs sitting around. We assume they are in our walls and all around our house, but we never figured they would invade our mailbox.
The mail was literally covered with ants when I made it to the box. I quickly grabbed the mail and shook the ants off. Quite a few had made it onto my arm, but were quickly brushed away. Of course I was out of RAID and the rest of my ant killing devices. After all its been a long war and the supply line to Home Depot has been congested with high traffic.
Later that evening it was off to Home Depot and luckily we ran into a representative for one of the pesticide companies who was stocking the shelves. We have a new product that was just released for the fall season that is supposedly "kick ass". I also picked up my favorite can of RAID Ant & Roach killer.
Armed with my trusty RAID I cleared out the mail box in a single spray. Up and down and all around I continued to ensure they wouldn't make a return. That was last night. Today I returned to wipe the box clean. I have never seen such a massive lump of dead ants and ant eggs before in my life. All I care though is that they are making great fertilizer now.
The fight is tough, but I plan to win.
Update: 5 Aug, 2009 - Edited post, applied label.
As I ventured out to see what this mess was I pretty figured I already knew. It was ants. Not just a few, but a lot. These are not the type of ants that build anthills. These are the nesting type of ants that find any place they can to leave their eggs sitting around. We assume they are in our walls and all around our house, but we never figured they would invade our mailbox.
The mail was literally covered with ants when I made it to the box. I quickly grabbed the mail and shook the ants off. Quite a few had made it onto my arm, but were quickly brushed away. Of course I was out of RAID and the rest of my ant killing devices. After all its been a long war and the supply line to Home Depot has been congested with high traffic.
Later that evening it was off to Home Depot and luckily we ran into a representative for one of the pesticide companies who was stocking the shelves. We have a new product that was just released for the fall season that is supposedly "kick ass". I also picked up my favorite can of RAID Ant & Roach killer.
Armed with my trusty RAID I cleared out the mail box in a single spray. Up and down and all around I continued to ensure they wouldn't make a return. That was last night. Today I returned to wipe the box clean. I have never seen such a massive lump of dead ants and ant eggs before in my life. All I care though is that they are making great fertilizer now.
The fight is tough, but I plan to win.
Update: 5 Aug, 2009 - Edited post, applied label.
Friday, August 11, 2006
I should really start a political blog for this...
...but I'm not going to waste my precious time with creating a new blog just to vent a little bit about Digg.com politics and the general political atmosphere of the Internet. It is no secret that the Internet has become overrun with far left democrat loud mouths who feel a few thousand hits to their blog turns their opinions into fact. I shouldn't say the net is smothered by these whacko's, but I must say that they are abusing any tool they can to promote their ill will.
Case in point... Digg.com's addition of a World and Business section which just so happens to include Political News and Political Opinion. There is a problem though... the liberal agenda can't seem to understand the difference between News and Opinion. I would link to some articles, but it is by far not worth the effort.
The problem is even larger than just throwing around partisan politics as news. Digg.com is a website that has grown from Tech News into All News. The liberal political blogosphere is spearheading the abuse of the Digg system to deny fair and balanced coverage. It is a true reflection of mainstream media in America which is dominated by the pundits for the liberal agenda. Whoever said the Internet would deliver political freedom was dead wrong. It has provided a system for those who yell the loudest to oppress the rest of us that don't agree.
Since I am a large fan of Digg.com it pains me to see the Digg community so one sided in political debate. Articles that are equivalent to hate speech are passed off as foregone conclusion on the Digg pages. The Digg community is the editor and chief here, but that only goes so far when the community is driven by hate filled individuals. If you don't agree with the haters you are "dugg -1" and soon any iota of balanced debate is destroyed.
On top of this Digg receives visitors from around the world and it is no more evident than in the World and Business section. Digg.com is an American idea, an American company, and most of all only possible because of America's free will. You would think that such ideals would come accross from the Digg community. They do not.
Most international posters that actively engage in political discussions on Digg are American haters. They hate us. They probably hate you if you are American. Read through any comments on a political news story on Digg.com right now. Count how many times you hear about how Americans "don't get it". How American's are ignorant.
Yet day in and day out Digg.com flourishes. A website built on American free spirit, but slowly being occupied by the hate vendors of the world. Maybe people like myself just don't care enough to counterbalance Digg and provide an equal footing for our ideals. Maybe for people like me Digg is best left as just another news site rather than a revolution in Social Bookmarking. Social Bookmarking only works when everyone's voice can be heard.
Case in point... Digg.com's addition of a World and Business section which just so happens to include Political News and Political Opinion. There is a problem though... the liberal agenda can't seem to understand the difference between News and Opinion. I would link to some articles, but it is by far not worth the effort.
The problem is even larger than just throwing around partisan politics as news. Digg.com is a website that has grown from Tech News into All News. The liberal political blogosphere is spearheading the abuse of the Digg system to deny fair and balanced coverage. It is a true reflection of mainstream media in America which is dominated by the pundits for the liberal agenda. Whoever said the Internet would deliver political freedom was dead wrong. It has provided a system for those who yell the loudest to oppress the rest of us that don't agree.
Since I am a large fan of Digg.com it pains me to see the Digg community so one sided in political debate. Articles that are equivalent to hate speech are passed off as foregone conclusion on the Digg pages. The Digg community is the editor and chief here, but that only goes so far when the community is driven by hate filled individuals. If you don't agree with the haters you are "dugg -1" and soon any iota of balanced debate is destroyed.
On top of this Digg receives visitors from around the world and it is no more evident than in the World and Business section. Digg.com is an American idea, an American company, and most of all only possible because of America's free will. You would think that such ideals would come accross from the Digg community. They do not.
Most international posters that actively engage in political discussions on Digg are American haters. They hate us. They probably hate you if you are American. Read through any comments on a political news story on Digg.com right now. Count how many times you hear about how Americans "don't get it". How American's are ignorant.
Yet day in and day out Digg.com flourishes. A website built on American free spirit, but slowly being occupied by the hate vendors of the world. Maybe people like myself just don't care enough to counterbalance Digg and provide an equal footing for our ideals. Maybe for people like me Digg is best left as just another news site rather than a revolution in Social Bookmarking. Social Bookmarking only works when everyone's voice can be heard.
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