What about everyone else? Are you proud of your character creations or are you clicking as fast as possible to get to the game?
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Favre, Magician, The Chronicles of Spellborn
I love character creation in MMOs. Even if the system (WoW) is very limiting or expansive (CoX), I love spending time making a character I get to watch for potentially hundreds of hours! I rolled a new toon, Favre the Magician, in The Chronicles of Spellborn and I wanted to show him off:
What about everyone else? Are you proud of your character creations or are you clicking as fast as possible to get to the game?
What about everyone else? Are you proud of your character creations or are you clicking as fast as possible to get to the game?
Friday, September 04, 2009
Dragon*Con FTW!
Dragon*Con is here! Dragon*Con is here! Dragon*Con is here! Dragon*Con is here!And everyone I work with seems to be there, because its way too busy for a Friday around here.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Book Thoughts: The Name of the Wind
Title: The Name of the Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: DAW Trade; Reprint edition (April 7, 2009)
Quick-Hit Thought: Quality writing, minus a few WTF moments.
I debated how to write this review. Should I review the book, or should I review the reviews of the book? To me, the more interesting option is to approach the reviews, as they influenced my decision to get the book. The reviews for The Name of the Wind are split; some people love it, some people hate it. For some, Patrick Rothfuss, is the next big name in Fantasy. To others, he is a self-centered arrogant jerk. Personally, I fall in the middle and have no opinion on the Mr. Rothfuss himself.
Looking at the reviews on Amazon, we get the following gem from Robin Hobb (an accomplished author himself):
I tend to agree that the book is overrated. If I rated things in little stars, TNotW would be a 3/5. Its enjoyable and well written, but it lacks the consistency of better novels. The core story is great and I enjoyed the main character Kvothe throughout. What I didn't enjoy was senseless meandering to the side. Situations in which some pretty stupid shit happens; *SPOILER* as stupid as dragons getting high on drugs spurring our hero into action. */SPOILER*
The book is about a man telling another man his life's story. The book starts with the hardened adventurer settled down as a tavern owner, adventures almost long gone. A happy-go-lucky scribe stops by and asks for the hero's story. What ensues will take three books to tell, but this first book covers the entire first day of story telling.
This approach leads to an interesting look into the events that make up the main character's life. As anyone who talks too much about themselves, Kvothe tends to embellish his stories a little bit. Unfortunately, it is hard to tell whether Kvothe is intentionally embellishing them or whether Rothfuss just writes that way. Unfortunately, this spills over (as mentioned above in the spoiler) into some pretty WTF moments.
I would have enjoyed the book a lot more and laughed a bit less at the situations had Rothfuss cut about a hundred or so pages of side story and focused on Kvothe's main storyline at the University (and area around it) and chasing information about the Chadrian. I was really intrigued by the way Kvothe interacted with the Masters at the University and was a bit disappointed when he left to chase ghost stories. I didn't mind that he had left the University, but I was very displeased at the reasons Rothfuss chose to keep him away. At one point, I almost put the book down because I couldn't stop laughing at the situation the characters were in. Seriously, read the above spoiler and tell me it doesn't sound stupid.
I tend to rate things on a 0 to 1 scale. 0, no. 1, yes. In this case, TNotW is a 1, because it is worth reading and deciding if the second book is worthwhile to the reader.
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: DAW Trade; Reprint edition (April 7, 2009)
Quick-Hit Thought: Quality writing, minus a few WTF moments.
I debated how to write this review. Should I review the book, or should I review the reviews of the book? To me, the more interesting option is to approach the reviews, as they influenced my decision to get the book. The reviews for The Name of the Wind are split; some people love it, some people hate it. For some, Patrick Rothfuss, is the next big name in Fantasy. To others, he is a self-centered arrogant jerk. Personally, I fall in the middle and have no opinion on the Mr. Rothfuss himself.
Looking at the reviews on Amazon, we get the following gem from Robin Hobb (an accomplished author himself):
It seems to me that every year there are more books I want to read and less time for me to read them. Because my time is limited, I'm guilty of picking up the books by my favorite authors first, and fitting in new authors only when it's convenient.From the peanut gallery, we get:
Due to a stroke of luck, I've had an advance copy of The Name of the Wind by my bedside for over six months, just waiting for me to open it. Unfortunately, deadlines of my own kept getting in the way. But in a way, it's lucky that I didn't crack this book until just a few days ago. If I'd had this tale to distract me, I'd have been even later getting my work done.
I loathe spoilers, so I'm not going to discuss the plot of this book. I will say it has all the things that I demand of a book. The characters are real, the action is convincing and it has a compelling story to tell.
One of the things I like best about this book is that the magic is absolutely rooted in the book's world. Nothing seems contrived; the consistency is excellent.
The characters are very well realized. That means that when the protagonist does something clever, it's believable. And when he does something youthfully dumb, it rings just as authentically true. Because the characters are real and the magic is true to its own world, I closed this book feeling as if I'd been on a journey with an entertaining new friend, rather than sitting alone looking at words on a page.
This one is well worth some of your precious reading time. I'll wager that the books to follow it will also be.
Robin Hobb
Like so many here I was suckered into this. Before you buy this book, read all the reviews. Read the honest 1 and 2 star reviews, read the others. Do notice how many reviewers gush praise but don't actually discuss the book. Or how many of the reviews all sound alike? Mention of the main characters, three to five sentences, all proclaiming how this is the best thing ever. Are we really supposed to believe this over the top hype? The funniest, and I mean laugh out loud funny, is the recent review that proclaims "next biggest thing since Tolkien". Or how about the laughable "I hope to be witnessing history on par with Herbert, Tolkien, etc."I'll admit I bought the book based on the above two reviews. One, because Robin Hobb is a trustworthy review source. Two, because I wanted to know why so many felt the book was overrated.
I tend to agree that the book is overrated. If I rated things in little stars, TNotW would be a 3/5. Its enjoyable and well written, but it lacks the consistency of better novels. The core story is great and I enjoyed the main character Kvothe throughout. What I didn't enjoy was senseless meandering to the side. Situations in which some pretty stupid shit happens; *SPOILER* as stupid as dragons getting high on drugs spurring our hero into action. */SPOILER*
The book is about a man telling another man his life's story. The book starts with the hardened adventurer settled down as a tavern owner, adventures almost long gone. A happy-go-lucky scribe stops by and asks for the hero's story. What ensues will take three books to tell, but this first book covers the entire first day of story telling.
This approach leads to an interesting look into the events that make up the main character's life. As anyone who talks too much about themselves, Kvothe tends to embellish his stories a little bit. Unfortunately, it is hard to tell whether Kvothe is intentionally embellishing them or whether Rothfuss just writes that way. Unfortunately, this spills over (as mentioned above in the spoiler) into some pretty WTF moments.
I would have enjoyed the book a lot more and laughed a bit less at the situations had Rothfuss cut about a hundred or so pages of side story and focused on Kvothe's main storyline at the University (and area around it) and chasing information about the Chadrian. I was really intrigued by the way Kvothe interacted with the Masters at the University and was a bit disappointed when he left to chase ghost stories. I didn't mind that he had left the University, but I was very displeased at the reasons Rothfuss chose to keep him away. At one point, I almost put the book down because I couldn't stop laughing at the situation the characters were in. Seriously, read the above spoiler and tell me it doesn't sound stupid.
I tend to rate things on a 0 to 1 scale. 0, no. 1, yes. In this case, TNotW is a 1, because it is worth reading and deciding if the second book is worthwhile to the reader.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Favre Cracks a Block and maybe a Rib
Brett Favre is in a bit of hot water this morning after throwing a potential career ending crack-back block last in the Vikings vs. Texans preseason game. The 39-year-old quarterback drew a penalty for an illegal crackback block to the knee of Houston's Eugene Wilson when he lined up wide in the wildcat formation in the third quarter. Wilson was injured on the play, but said he'll be OK.Fortunately for Favre, his coach is taking the blame:
Favre said he wasn't out to hurt anyone and was simply trying to protect rookie Percy Harvin, who took the snap.
Vikings coach Brad Childress said he hadn't seen the block, but had a lot to say about it.Childress should be the one to blame. It was the dumbest formation a Favre-lead offense could ever possibly be in. It would have been ironic justice had Favre been seriously injured on that play. Even as a Favre fan, I cannot defend that block in any shape or form.
"I have not spent a lot of time with him blocking in the last 10 days," Childress said. "Nor do I think he has spent any time doing any blocking, but I will in the future if he is going to be at the point of attack. I don't think he did any of this down in Mississippi either. So that one is on me, I will take that one."
And maybe there is justice in the universe as Favre may have a broken rib:
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre says he might have a cracked rib.Its going to be an interesting season. As Terrell Owens once said; "get your popcorn ready".
Favre told ESPN before Monday night's game at Houston that he hasn't received an official diagnosis but that taking a deep breath caused him some discomfort. He also doesn't plan to wear any kind of special padding, saying "the damage is done."
Sunday, August 30, 2009
My Chronicles of Spellborn Photo Album
Typing one-handed while holding a baby is tough. So, here are some screen shots from my time in The Chronicles of Spellborn.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Recap: TCoS PvP Server Bug
To recap my previous post.
The sad thing is that it took TCoS support until 2:36 AM this morning to post that they even heard about the issue.
Yes, TCoS is F2P and being redesigned. Yes, I am bitching about it simply because there was no way to even notify the developers that there was a problem and no way to know they even knew there was a problem until way too much ill will was generated for their game.
Contrary to popular belief, I want MMOGs to succeed on all business models. TCoS has a chance to relaunch itself successfully and now is not the time for them to be letting the general player base down.
...there is one glaring problem right now: the fucking PvP server is not working and has not been working for the entire god damn weekend. No progress is saved, characters can't be created.Now, I knew there was an issue earlier in the day, but thought it was only affecting me. Not until last night did I know it had been ongoing for nearly two days affecting all players on the TCoS PvP server.
The sad thing is that it took TCoS support until 2:36 AM this morning to post that they even heard about the issue.
We have received reports of Rollback on PvP Server and many more other bugs. We apologize for the delay and are looking into it. I'll update this post when the bug is fixed.By 3:57 AM, the server was restored to normal working order. To recap: two days the server was broken, for something that took an hour (give or take) to resolve.
Yes, TCoS is F2P and being redesigned. Yes, I am bitching about it simply because there was no way to even notify the developers that there was a problem and no way to know they even knew there was a problem until way too much ill will was generated for their game.
Contrary to popular belief, I want MMOGs to succeed on all business models. TCoS has a chance to relaunch itself successfully and now is not the time for them to be letting the general player base down.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Acclaim: The Chronicles of Spellborn's PvP Server Has Been Broken For Two Days, Please Fix It
I've started to play The Chronicles of Spellborn (TCoS) recently as it went full free to play (F2P) (with no strings attached until they rebuild the game). I'm actually enjoying myself.
So, the game is completely free right now as the developers figure out how to convert the game into a profitable F2P title. As a free game, TCoS is not that bad. Its not something I would ever consider paying $50 + $15 monthly for, but as a micro-transaction game, I would spend a few dollars here and there.
However, there is one glaring problem right now: the fucking PvP server is not working and has not been working for the entire god damn weekend. No progress is saved, characters can't be created. Every time someone logs in, they are at the same point they were at the last login. Unlucky are the few that logged in unaware, spent hours playing, only to log back in later and find every last second spent logged in previously was erased from the record book.
I am aware that I am paying nothing for this game and the support is going to be lackluster. However, it was not that long ago that people were ACTUALLY PAYING TO PLAY THIS GAME.
All I am asking for is a post or whisper from Acclaim stating that they at least KNOW there is a problem. Right now, there is nothing but confused and angry players re-rolling characters on the PvE server (which is working). There is no known way to contact the TCoS developers to make sure they are aware of the problem.
Please, not for me, but for the people that actually paid for this game previously, post this news and get the word out so Acclaim and the TCoS developers can get this fixed.
So, the game is completely free right now as the developers figure out how to convert the game into a profitable F2P title. As a free game, TCoS is not that bad. Its not something I would ever consider paying $50 + $15 monthly for, but as a micro-transaction game, I would spend a few dollars here and there.
However, there is one glaring problem right now: the fucking PvP server is not working and has not been working for the entire god damn weekend. No progress is saved, characters can't be created. Every time someone logs in, they are at the same point they were at the last login. Unlucky are the few that logged in unaware, spent hours playing, only to log back in later and find every last second spent logged in previously was erased from the record book.
I am aware that I am paying nothing for this game and the support is going to be lackluster. However, it was not that long ago that people were ACTUALLY PAYING TO PLAY THIS GAME.
All I am asking for is a post or whisper from Acclaim stating that they at least KNOW there is a problem. Right now, there is nothing but confused and angry players re-rolling characters on the PvE server (which is working). There is no known way to contact the TCoS developers to make sure they are aware of the problem.
Please, not for me, but for the people that actually paid for this game previously, post this news and get the word out so Acclaim and the TCoS developers can get this fixed.
UPDATE: 24 Aug, 2009 - I guess a support tech came into work this morning and noticed the network cable to the database server was unplugged, because the PvP server appears to have returned to normal as of 8 AM EST when I was able to successfully create a new character.
New Star Wars:The Old Republic Videos: Same Old Crap Part I
IGN is sporting four new videos for Star Wars: The Old Republic, totaling 20 minutes of footage. Most of the footage is from in-game, showing off SW:ToR's combat and voice acting. Unfortunately, holding the same as every single video Bioware has released for SW:ToR, the developers in the video say one thing and then show something else.
Here is the first video.
What Bioware says:
What the Video shows:
A bounty hunter crouching behind a rock and tree blindly shooting blaster bolts and rockets through solid objects at NPCs that stand there and take it like a bitch, all while the NPCs five feet to the left ignore the fact that their comrades are being killed.
From the video footage, their idea of heroic is "fighting two guys at once". I'm not quite sure that fits my idea of heroic. Personally, a heroic situation comes from more than just the number of enemies involved. It comes from the entire sum of the scenario. This could have passed as Heroic if the NPCs around the area reacted to the fact a bounty hunter just walked in and started blasting random members of their team, culminating in maybe a wall mounted blaster cannon taking aim at the bounty hunter, truly forcing the jet pack equipped bounty hunter to take to the sky and unleash a precisely-fired rocket to take down the cannon.
That would be HEROIC. Standing still, shooting NPCs that are also standing still, is not.
Part I score: 2.5 out of 5 stars
The only thing that looks interesting is the voice acting and story driven nature. The combat still looks terribly boring and formulaic. An additional half star for the cover system which looks interesting.
Here is the first video.
What Bioware says:
"the action packed Star Wars combat"
"we want to make sure combat feels heroic from the beginning"
What the Video shows:
A bounty hunter crouching behind a rock and tree blindly shooting blaster bolts and rockets through solid objects at NPCs that stand there and take it like a bitch, all while the NPCs five feet to the left ignore the fact that their comrades are being killed.
From the video footage, their idea of heroic is "fighting two guys at once". I'm not quite sure that fits my idea of heroic. Personally, a heroic situation comes from more than just the number of enemies involved. It comes from the entire sum of the scenario. This could have passed as Heroic if the NPCs around the area reacted to the fact a bounty hunter just walked in and started blasting random members of their team, culminating in maybe a wall mounted blaster cannon taking aim at the bounty hunter, truly forcing the jet pack equipped bounty hunter to take to the sky and unleash a precisely-fired rocket to take down the cannon.
That would be HEROIC. Standing still, shooting NPCs that are also standing still, is not.
Part I score: 2.5 out of 5 stars
The only thing that looks interesting is the voice acting and story driven nature. The combat still looks terribly boring and formulaic. An additional half star for the cover system which looks interesting.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Faith in Humanity: Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale
I just got back from the "Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale". Seeing tens of thousands of people show up to shop through hundreds of thousands of books warms my heart. Reading, in a society so bent on instant gratification, sometimes feels like a lost art. However, today I was reminded that people still read: from little old ladies sorting through the Nora Roberts table, to the throng of geeks grabbing everything off the Sci Fi and Fantasy table.
Enough with the pontificating and on to the books I was able to snag:
Michael Crichton - Sphere, Jurassic Park, & Eaters of the Dead
Isaac Asimov - The Currents of Space (1962 paperback edition), Foundation, Foundation and Empire, & Foundation's Edge
Tad Williams - Shadowmarch, The War of the Flowers, River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Book 2), Mountain of Black Glass (Otherland, Book 3)
Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara, The Black Unicorn
All for a total of $12, mixed paperback and hardcovers. Most were gently used and in the case of Sword of Shannara and Isaac Asimovs, 1st printing mass market paperback editions from the 70's and 60's respectively.
Enough with the pontificating and on to the books I was able to snag:
Michael Crichton - Sphere, Jurassic Park, & Eaters of the Dead
Isaac Asimov - The Currents of Space (1962 paperback edition), Foundation, Foundation and Empire, & Foundation's Edge
Tad Williams - Shadowmarch, The War of the Flowers, River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Book 2), Mountain of Black Glass (Otherland, Book 3)
Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara, The Black Unicorn
All for a total of $12, mixed paperback and hardcovers. Most were gently used and in the case of Sword of Shannara and Isaac Asimovs, 1st printing mass market paperback editions from the 70's and 60's respectively.
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