Acid for Blood

Well, that was relatively easy. I now have a domain, web hosting, and a WordPress blog.

I will not be deleting this Blogger blog, but I will no longer be updating it.

Please update your links and feeds accordingly. Cheers.

New address: http://acidforblood.net/

RSS for entries

RSS for comments

Hope to see you on the other side!

I am so getting it.

Provisional list of games to buy:

Animal Crossing: Wild World
Mario Kart DS
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Nintendogs: Chihuahua and Friends
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Trauma Center: Under the Knife

I'm iffy on the last two, and Phoenix Wright is quite hard to find, anyway.

The previews for Metroid Prime: Hunters have failed to bowl me over, but I'm keeping my hope up for more details.

I haven't played Castlvania: Aria of Sorrow, which is why Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is not included.

Should any other DS games be on this list?

Tagged: nintendo ds, nintendo ds lite

I was bored and curious, so I made a blog on WordPress.com. WordPress.com is another free blog hosting site, using WordPress (multi-user version) as the blog software/publishing platform.

The advantage of hosting one's blog on WordPress.com is obviously that it uses WordPress. WordPress.com is great for newbie bloggers and for anyone who doesn't want to deal with code. WordPress is quite user-friendly, it is easy to get to work with for the uninitiated, it has a lot of features, and there are loads of nice-looking templates available.

It has a host of standard features that Blogger lacks. The ability to categorise posts and blogroll links is one. Another is a basic, integrated blog stats counter. Another feature that Blogger doesn't have is the ability to make stand alone pages which are not part of the continuity of your blog entries.

The version of WordPress that WordPress.com provides is less feature-filled than if you downloaded WordPress for use on your own web server, but it is still powerful.

The major missing feature is the inability to alter the blog's template code. I am accustomed to tweaking the Blogger template to suit my needs. Granted, I don't do anything too fancy, and creating a template from scratch is beyond me, however I like the flexibility to edit the code.

Another point against WordPress.com is that they do not allow JavaScript, so Flickr badges, StatCounter code, or anything else that uses JavaScript is out.

WordPress.com does not allow you to associate more than one blog with one author, which is something that Blogger allows. I don't have the need to author multiple public blogs at this point, however it would have been nice if WordPress.com offered the option.

One thing to note is that the WordPress.com hosting site just went public just last Autumn, after a period of being invitation-only. They are still making improvements and developing features. I'm going to keep an eye on them. If they offer an automatic import/export feature, I may take another look. WordPress offers enough features as standard that I would consider moving from Blogger (though I would miss my Bloglines blogroll).

On a related note, from time to time I consider paying for hosting services, getting my own domain, installing WordPress, and blogging from my own site. Learning the ins and outs of the backend would be something to look forward to, kind of. I am not schooled in the ways of programming or the technicalities of web site management, but surely it isn't too difficult, is it? Having said that, it's not as if I have a large audience or that I make any money from doing this, so I dont know if I can justify the recurring expense. It would be a nice project, though.

For the elites in the audience, do you have recommendations or warnings about specific web hosting services?

Tagged: blogging, wordpress, wordpress.com

4 color rebellion has commentary on the Metroid film.

Right. I do not have the energy to write about this topic again. When news of a Metroid film emerged last year, I subjected my LiveJournal audience to a very long essay about this, Samus as a character, and the suitability of Metroid being adapted to film. My sentiments remain the same as they were last year, and are generally in line with the 4 color rebellion piece. Metroid is my favourite videogame series and Samus is one of my favourite videogame characters. I have a cloying fear in my gut that the Metroid film, like so many other videogame film adaptations, will go horribly wrong. Even more terrible is that I will still watch it even if it sucks.

Tagged: metroid, samus aran, videogame movies

GameSpot says:

Kojima Productions offers PC desktop accessory to Japanese purchasers of Metal Gear Acid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

Kojima Productions is offering a free bonus to purchasers of Metal Gear Acid 2 or Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence in the form of an appropriately themed PC desktop accessory. The accessory is called "OtaClock," and as the name suggests, it's a clock that features series character Otakon. The clock was originally developed for use by Kojima's development team, but it's now being released to the public as well. Keen Metal Gear Solid fans might recognize the OtaClock from its brief appearance in the last few seconds of Metal Gear Solid 4's trailer. To download the OtaClock, gamers will need to visit a special Web site address that can be found in Japanese copies of Metal Gear Acid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

Since I have mentioned Otakon a couple of times recently, I guess I'll mention the link between the Metal Gear Solid character, Otacon, and the anime convention, Otakon.

Way back when the first MGS game was released, Otakon Staff found out that this character in the game was called 'Otacon'. Since Otakorp, Inc. had the rights to this name, and because 'Otacon' was similar enough to 'Otakon' the non-profit had to give permission to Konami to use this name in the game. As I remember Otakon Staff were really quite excited that the character had a similar name to the con, so they were only too happy to give Konami the permission to use the name. When you complete a Metal Gear Solid game in which Otacon appears, you will see Otakorp, Inc. mentioned in the credits.

Oh, and the character's name is spelled with a 'k' instead of a 'c' in the Japanese version of the Metal Gear Solid games, apparently. So, in Japan, 'Otacon' is 'Otakon'.

Also, the way 'Otacon' (the character's name) is pronounced in the game is not the same way that Otakon (the name of the anime convetntion) is pronounced. Otacon = AH-tuh-kon, Otakon = OH-tuh-kon.

[Wikipedia entry for Otakon, the anime convention -- Scroll all the way down to see the explanation about the name]

[Wikipedia information for Otacon, the videogame character]

Tagged: metal gear solid, otacon, otakon

Weekend gaming consisted mostly of Guitar Hero, when I could actually get a turn. The song line up for this game is really great. It would have been cool if they'd had a song (or two) from The Darkness, Poison, and/or Guns n' Roses (maybe unlockable?). Oh my God, that would be sweet. Great game, though. If only I knew someone who has it around here. I can't really spend the cash on more games now (and Guitar Hero is $80.00), since I have mentally allocated my money to other titles.

I think I'm going to try to get back into DDR seriously. I'm very firmly stuck on Standard, and it would be nice to consistently pass Heavy songs. Playing on a semi-soft dance mat is underwhelming, since I learned how to play DDR at the arcade. Perhaps I could reward myself by saving money for a nice metal dance pad later on, if I improve enough. I guess I'll check my progress in six or eight months from now, and decide whether I've improved enough to think about a metal pad.

I got a call from one of my D&D mates last night with an update on the campaign. I have missed the last two Sundays of D&D due to other obligations. Apparently our Psion has died; killed by a Drow Rogue on a rooftop. The party had saved the enemy's armour and weapon for me, because it is best-suited for my character. I am the only full Rogue. A couple of others have taken a Level of Rogue, they wouldn't be able to use this armour and sword as well as my character. So now I have really awesome armour and an awesome sword (possibly the best equipment in our party), and I haven't been there in a fortnight. I feel bad that my character is going to be using the equipment that the Drow used to kill our Psion.

I'm going to become pretty busy in the next few months, due to my involvement with Otakon. I'm a Department Head at Otakon, and also in charge of another Department-like entity for Otakorp, Inc., the non-profit corporation that runs Otakon. The latter position is effectively a Department Head position, though the event does not take place during Otakon. Otakorp sponsors an anime film marathon at the National Cherry Blossom Festival and for the past few years, I have been coordinating that. These commitments will likely mean fewer posts and fewer reading of blogs.

Tagged: dance dance revolution, dungeons & dragons, guitar hero, otakon

Weekend away from PC + Lack of time upon returning home on Sunday = Very little Guild Wars: Factions (preview) for me.

I created an Assassin briefly and mucked about in the Team Trials, but not long enough to gather any solid impressions. The new regions and costumes are beautiful.

The Assassins could have used nicer facial options, because most of them were not that appealing. Seriously. Only two of the female Assassin facial options were really attractive. The Assassins are meant to be like ninja, I guess, so they kind of have this Chinese/Japanese influence going on.

I often find that Western people have different concepts of what an attractive Asian woman looks like. Asian women that I find are of average- or below-average attractiveness, some of my non-Asian friends will rate them very highly. I had a discussion about this a few years ago with a friend from Hong Kong. She came to the conclusion that Westerners, because they have not interacted with large numbers of Asians, are unable to differentiate as much as an Asian is able to. Basically, Westerners think that all Asians look the same, as such they don't have a "refined eye" when it comes to Asians' appearance. Interestingly, my friend says that all white people look basically the same. She sometimes has a hard time telling them apart unless she has interacted with them regularly. I guess it goes both ways, then.

The bottom line is that I was very disappointed with the face options for the female Assassin. I don't think I've been able to say that any of the Guild Wars facial types are ugly until now.

The only impression that I came away with regarding the new Professions in terms of play is that it seems that anyone who plays an Assassin Primary will have to keep an eye out on chaining their Skills. But the Profession shows a lot of promise.

I didn't even have time to create a Ritualist like I wanted to. They have an African/Amazonian tribal thing going for them in terms of appearance.

I'll have to wait until the full version arrives later in the year. I reserved Factions at my local GameStop. Apparently, if a pre-order bonus becomes available, I will be able to get it, since I've already reserved the game. The price of Factions will be the same as any other game, around $50.00.

Don't know how much a Special Edition will be. Perhaps $20.00 more like the original? Doc Jitters got the Special Edition of Guild Wars for his birthday last year, and the only thing he got in-game was the Divine Aura. This amounted to lots of shiny sparkly lights around his character's hands when she danced or moved around. He did get an artbook, and I think the soundtrack CD (which I have already purchased via download from DirectSong).

I was really excited to try out the new Professions, but didn't have the time, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It was a fun weekend regardless.

Tagged: assassin, guild wars, guild wars: factions

I'm in a meeting right now. Not much gaming occurred in terms of Guild Wars, though I did attempt the bonus of a Mission that I have been trying to complete for ages (Divinity Coast Bonus, though I still need to do the Bonus to D'Alessio Seaboard). I didn't get very far, because I kept getting interrupted, and it's hard to concentrate in this environment as well. Too many things going on, too many people to talk to/socialise with, and too much serious stuff to discuss.

I had a brief look at the templates for the Assassin and Ritualist PvP characters. They look cool, especially the Assassin. Wow. Hot stuff. One of my friends here was telling me about some of the Assassin Skills and they seem really awesome. Can't wait to get home and try them out.

I played some Dead or Alive 4 and I wasn't too impressed with the game, though I am not a DOA player. The Xbox 360 controller is very nice, though. Very nice indeed. I may check out this same controller for my PC.

Played some late night DDR on sweet Cobalt Flux hard pads last night. A more skilled player complimented me on my technique, saying that I'm moving the right way to play at a more advanced level. I usually play on Standard Mode, though I have, when I was on top form, passed a few Heavy Mode songs. I didn't play nearly as long as I wanted, since it was getting quite late. Went to sleep at around 03:00. I love hard dance mats. Wish I had one.

I played some Guitar Hero this morning after breakfast, and I am convinced that the controller is too big for my small hands. I was having problems pressing the buttons. It's great fun, though.

I could use some Tekken 5, but everyone here only seems interested in rhythm games. I love rhythm games, but I love Tekken 5 as well. Maybe tonight, if I'm not doing anything else.

Some Karaoke Revolution would be nice, too. Don't know if anyone brought that.

More later.

Tagged: cobalt flux, dance dance revolution, ddr, dead or alive 4, gaming, guild wars, guitar hero

Here are pictures of the new Assassin and Ritualist Professions in Guild Wars (both male and female types).

I am stuck at work, and I likely will not be able to log in for the PvP event until late on Sunday, as I am out of town. I seriously considered skivving off today. However, missing work because one wants to play a game is a slippery slope that I don't want to venture towards. I could have come up with a better excuse like, "I have to attend Otakon Staff meetings, and they are starting today" (which they are), but really... I would have spent the bulk of the day playing Guild Wars, and then leaving for the meeting in the late afternoon. I decided to be good, though.

[Via the Guild Wars LJ Community]

Tagged: guild wars, guild wars: factions, guild wars pvp weekend

This will make germphobes and hypochondriac of us all: Toilet seat is cleaner than the average keyboard.

Despite this fact, I think I am the only one in the office who has yet to become ill this season. I haven't had a cold (knock on wood) in two years, at least. Though, having said that, I may seriously consider buying some of those disinfectant wipes for my work keyboard and phone...

[Via gHacks]

Tagged: bacteria, dirty, keyboard

With a fond look back at our recent holiday event, and as a foreshadowing of many more in-game events to come with Guild Wars: Factions, we are pleased to offer you this year's Wintersday Memories movie.

[Watch via MMORPGDot]

Tagged: guild wars, wintersday

Here's something I wrote earlier: What does this American dining and entertainment chain have to offer the gamer? For the casual gamer, it probably exceeds expecations. For an avid gamer, well, not so much.

EDIT: Check it out: /.

I have replied to those who commented directly to my post, however I have refrained from reading the discussion on Slashdot. It would be pointless, as most of the people there seem to be, unfortunately, bitchy trolls. One of my friends was reading Slashdot comments, however, and he told me that everyone there assumes that I am a guy, as did a commenter on The Game Chair. Nice fact checking, people.

Tagged: arcade games, dave & buster's

Bloody computer started restarting randomly again. Same behaviour as before. At the suggestion of a few people, I checked my RAM. I did a memory test, took out my RAM modules one by one, checked each one, swapped sockets, etc. Near as I can figure, one of my RAM sticks is bad. It failed nearly all the tests on every pass. The other one had no errors on every pass. My computer friend agrees.

I'm operating on a mere 512 MB, until I get a new stick. It's not so bad. At least I can still play all the games I have.

Now the question is whether the problem is only the RAM, or whether the card is also being weird, and the RAM crap was masking an additional problem. I will have to see whether there are problems operating on the good stick of RAM.

Tagged: computer problems, ram problems

If you don't currently play Guild Wars and would like to check out the PvP action for free, ArenaNet has just made game keys available.

The Guild Wars Team would like to invite gamers everywhere to join us on the weekend of January 20th for a Guild Wars: Factions Global PvP Free-For-All Weekend Event! This event will take place on the Battle Isles, the new PvP continent. Players can visit this new area of the world to to try out a brand new arena, to visit the new combat training zones, or to experience the PvP explorable areas. Join us to get an early look at how PvP will evolve with the coming of Guild Wars: Factions!

During the PvP event, players will be able to try out the two new Professions, the Assassin and the Ritualist. There is an FAQ on the main page, detailing specifics.

I will be deleting a character so that I can create a Ritualist or Assassin Primary for the PvP event. I have no spare character slots. My Elementalist (Adrastos) is still in Pre-Searing (along with my Warrior/Monk) and has not chosen a second Profession. Even though I like him more than my Warrior/Monk, I would like to get all the Skills for all the Professions. Adrastos is the only redundancy in my character roster, Profession-wise. I already have the six Professions represented in my Necromancer/Mesmer (Khirsah), Ranger/Elementalist (Ralaar), and Warrior/Monk (Varda). Hrm... Maybe I can delete Adrastos and re-create him in Warrior/Monk or Monk/Warrior form. However, Adrastos without his bishounen good looks, his noble bearing, and his general prettiness just wouldn't be the same if he was anything but an Elementalist Primary. Then again, Varda is only Level 5, and she has never grown on me. It's just like Livia, the Mesmer/Monk I created and deleted because she was ugly. Oh, decisions decisions.

I could use one of the free keys to create a character for the event, but then all the Faction Points, Rank, and Skills I unlocked would not get credited to my account. Even though I don't expect to play too long (lack of time), I would not want my meagre 'earnings' to be in vain.

I still have time to mull this over and make a decision.

Tagged: guild wars, guild wars: factions

When I had a working 35mm camera, I used to take a lot of pictures of random things I saw throughout the day. I'd often take my camera along with me, and snap photos when I saw something interesting. I have no photography training or anything, but it was fun to have an image of what I came across. After my camera broke a few years ago (I accidentally dropped it at a scenic overlook on Tantalus), I decided not to replace it. Since then, I have been using 35mm single-use cameras. Kodak has phased out film camera production and now Nikon is slowly going all-digital. This may be the year that I get my own digital camera.

Everyone else in my immediate family has already got one. My father gave my mother a Sony CyberShot digital camera a few years ago, and he recently bought his own CyberShot (my father is a Sony fanboy). My brother was out of the country for a month, including Christmas, so we all decided to do the holiday thing upon his return. I gave my mother a 1 GB Sony MemoryStick Pro for her camera. Last night I bought my father a 2 GB Sony MemoryStick Pro Duo for his CyberShot. In what seems to be a continuing fit of generosity, I agreed to buy my brother a digital camera. He's still doing research on which one he wants. He has a Canon SLR 35mm film camera, so he is familiar with the brand. We spoke to a helpful person at Best Buy the other day, and my brother seems likely to go with a Canon, though he isn't sure which model to go for yet.

I'm partial to a tiny, slim camera, because you can stick it in your pocketses, however they don't seem to have as many features as the slightly larger models. If I go digital this year, I could start back up with the random picture-taking. Then I could be even more 1337 and post them to Flickr.

Does anyone have any digital camera suggestions?

Tagged: digital cameras

In this month's edition of Matthew Sakey's column, Culture Clash, he rebutts film critic Roger Ebert's assertion that games cannot be art. Ebert's commentary caused quite a bit of stir in the games community a few months ago.

Ebert said:

I believe books and films are better mediums... Because I have recently seen classic films by Fassbinder, Ozu, Herzog, Scorsese and Kurosawa and have recently read novels by Dickens, Cormac McCarthy, Bellow, Nabokov and Hugo, and if there were video games in the same league, someone somewhere who was familiar with the best work in all three mediums would have made a convincing argument in their defense."

Apparently, Sakey is the man for the job.

[Read]

Tagged: games as art, games culture, roger ebert, videogames

Make the hurting stop.

Tagged: metal gear solid, uwe boll, videogame movies

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Guild Wars: Factions will be "playable as a standalone game, but gamers who also own the original Guild Wars will be able to explore both game worlds and also get access to new items in the first game."

GameSpy's interview with Jeff Strain, Founder and President of ArenaNet. There are screenshots of the Ritualist and the Assassin as well.

In-game chat with Gaile Gray, Community Relations Manager at ArenaNet.

Gaming Steve's Podcast interview with Jeff Strain.

Thanks, Clamatius for those last two links!

Tagged: guild wars, guild wars: factions

I've been posting to this blog for a year. And some people actually read this thing. Regularly (it seems). Thanks for stopping by, internet people!

Tagged: blogging

Press Release (emphasis added):

NCsoft, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announces Guild Wars: Factions, the next chapter in the critically acclaimed Guild Wars franchise from ArenaNet studios. The Factions campaign will release in the second quarter of 2006. It offers players an incredible gameplay experience with many new choices, including new regions, professions, skills, missions, and monsters, along with expanded options for both Cooperative and Player-versus-Player (PvP) play, and enhanced features for guilds.

There will be a sneak preview of Factions during the Guild Wars: Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend, taking place from 20th January to 22nd January.

Right. Definitely picking up the next issue of Computer Gaming World. There are more details of the Assassin and the Ritualist professions in the mag.

The Ritualist has been described as a combination of the Monk, Necromancer, and Ranger Professions. It has also been said that whilst the Profession is versatile, it requires a lot of micromanagement.

The Assassin seems to be a melee attacker, with abilities that grant higher probabilities for critical hits. No idea about stealth or sneaking. I think the Assassin would be a good Profession to combine with Warrior or Ranger.

ArenaNet just had to choose the weekend that I will be out of town at the big Otakon Staff meeting. Grr. Perhaps I can catch the tail-end of the event on the Sunday. *sigh*

EDIT: Rock on. I rang the hotel, and they have free wireless internet access for guests. Now I just need to ensure that one or both of my Guild Wars playing friends on Otakon Staff 1) bring their laptop (with GW installed on it), and 2) let me borrow it for a few hours. Hehe.

[Via GWOnline.Net]

Tagged: assassin, guild wars, guild wars: factions, ritualist

OHMYGOSH. The Optimus Keyboard, with an OLED display under each key, has a launch date. Supposedly 1st February. The price? Only your first-born child.

You can customise the keyboard so that each key displays exactly what it does. So if you play games, you can make the keyboard display game functions, for example, they have mapped the Quake controls to the keyboard. And it looks really cool. They are vague about it, saying that it would cost about the same as a "good mobile phone" which, I would guess is over $200, at least.

I have to settle for my Saitek Eclipse keyboard, which is very nice, but not nearly as cool as the Optimus. Priced quite a bit less.

[Via Gizmodo]

Tagged: optimus keyboard, saitek eclipse keyboard

My D&D group had its first session of the year yesterday. The DM added another dimension to our campaign: sound effects and music. It was really cool! He got a hold of this program that manages music and sound effects for table-top role-playing games. He apparently spent ages working on the sound for the campaign, and the results were awesome. That right there is a committment to delivering a good gaming experience. Wow.

Background music played for travel through certain areas. Last night, we were tracking mysterious creatures through a creepy forest, and appropriate music played. When we entered combat, we had different, faster background music. As we traveled, fought, and spoke to NPCs, he played a variety of sound effects. For example, we visited a work site for a lighting rail. Here, the DM played sounds that one might hear at such a place: hammers against stone and general worker bustle and noise. During specific combat events, such as when one of us hit an enemy, another sound effect would play: steel against wood, bashing against another creature, grunts of pain, death screams, etc. Sound effects were mapped to the keyboard, so he would simply press a key when an event warranted a sound effect.

My character also didn't get hurt! No Orcs falling from trees, no temples collapsing after encounters with diabolical extra-planar creatures, no poisoned traps, etc. For the first time in the campaign, she used her Sneak Attack ability (combined with Point Blank Shot). The way Kourui has developed, she became melee-shy early on. Subsequent events only served to increase her fear of close combat and general risk-taking. However, recent sessions haven't been too bad for her, so her confidence is increasing.

During the break, one of the players logged on to the D&D Online: Stormreach beta. After watching him complete a short quest, and after listening to the DM's critiques of the game, I don't think I will be playing this. The artwork isn't too inspiring or especially beautiful. I did like use of the Voice of the DM in the game, because it added a little descriptive depth to play.

One of the things that put me off is the fact that the only city you have access to is Stormreach. All adventures begin and end in Stormreach. I don't know if that will change for the final release, but I haven't read anything about additional cities. The story is exactly the same no matter what Classes you choose to replay the game with. The PvE story of Guild Wars is like this, except with GW, there is no monthly fee, you get a deep PvP system, you can solo most of the time, you travel to a variety of different countries and locations, and GW is much much prettier.

I'll already be paying monthly fees for WOW, so that is another factor in my decision. Speaking of WOW, I didn't get to play this weekend. Somehow the download of the 1.9 patch got corrupted. I used Blizzard's repair utility, but that did not work. So I need to reinstall the game tonight. Plus, I was super busy with D&D, Guild Wars (I'm not addicted, honest.), and other stuff.

Tagged: d&d, ddo, dungeons & dragons online, table-top gaming

The Guild Wars Guild Ladder, which shows global guild rankings, has been reset. The 2006 Guild Wars World Championship is underway. Here is the schedule for the Regional Playoffs. You can watch the action by using Observer Mode. Simply go to any town and press "B" to pull up the Observer Mode menu. A list of matches will be displayed. Matches play on a time delay, to prevent cheating. You can also chat to others who are watching the match.

[Via The Average Gamer]

Tagged: guild wars, guild wars world championship

Not even the possibility of seeing a hot (Kristanna Loken is not all that) half-vampire woman kicking ass will make me go see the BloodRayne film. Please do not see it or else it will encourage Uwe Boll to commit even more atrocities. I beg this of my small audience. If you have such horrendous taste in films that you would actually subject yourself to the train wreck that is BloodRayne, at least don't see it at the cinema. Use some other means of seeing it. Wait for the DVD. The cinema for BloodRayne would be a total waste money, which you could put towards, I don't know -- buying a cheap used copy of the BloodRayne video game. The play experience would be a damn sight better than the film experience, I'm sure. I like vampires and the vampire mythos, but not enough to see an Uwe Boll film.

I have no idea how Boll gets his hands on all these video game properties, but the guy is a pox on the video-game-to-film adaptation business. It's true that we don't have many great adapations to start with, but Boll isn't doing any good, either. And it's only getting worse. There currently five more video game films that Boll is slated to direct!

I'm going to see Underworld Evolution for my dose of hot lady vampire (Mm, Kate Beckinsale with fangs...) ass-kicking action. I encourage you to think about doing the same. Underworld is not related to video games, although White Wolf, publishers of the horror/supernatural-themed World of Darkness (table-top and LARP) gaming creations, tried to sue Sony Pictures for copyright infringement. As I recall, White Wolf were not successful.

I liked the first Underworld film, so I hope the sequel will be all right. It's not high art, admittedly, but could be entertaining. At the very least, I know I won't be cringing in pain whilst watching Underworld Evolution.

Tagged: bloodrayne, underworld, underworld evolution, uwe boll, video game movies, white wolf

New continent (Cantha) with three nations. Two factions: Luxon and Kurzick; choice of faction affects storyline. Two new Professions: Assassin and Ritualist. Faction wars. New Guild Halls. Practice areas. Change Second Profession to Ritualist or Assassin.

Cover shot. That is definitely the Rogue-ishness that Guild Wars has been missing. I will definitely have to create an Assassin Primary. Definitely. Guild Wars: Factions, huh. Is that the title for Chapter 2?

[GuildWarsGuru.com via Guild Wars LJ Community]

Tagged: guild wars, guild wars chapter 2, guild wars: factions

I opened up the case and cleaned everything out, including the graphics card. It wasn't too bad inside, though fan on the graphics card did have a bit of dust. The compressed air solved that bit. I played Guild Wars last night for quite a long while, and a little while this morning. So far, no crashes or hangs. *crosses fingers* Maybe it just needed a little cleaning? I'll continue to monitor the situation.

Tagged: ati radeon 9800, computer problems, graphics card

When I started playing Guild Wars, it was hard to juggle the need to communicate via the chat window with the requirement to stay alive and kill things. One of my guildies and I thought that we should look into some sort of voice communication system. A lot of online gamers use voice chat programs, and successful teams/guilds/squads require them. TeamSpeak and Ventrilo seemed a little too complex and paying for a server didn't seem to be worth the effort. Eventually we got used to the chat system, so the voice idea stagnated.

We didn't find the lack of voice chat as much of a hindrance as before. However, even if people how to use the in-game commumications tools, it does not put a stop to n00b-ish behaviour! I discovered this other night whilst questing with a guildie and a friend (both of whom I know IRL). With all the action happening on-screen, sometimes one can miss directions from one's party members. Maybe other factors were to blame for the regression to n00b-ness. All I know is that my frequent directions (e.g. "Wait! Stop running ahead! Check the map! Stop aggro-ing mobs! Wait, the (NPC) Healer's dead again; Rez her! I think this is the wrong way!") via chat either went ignored or there was a delay in action, to the detriment of the team.

In general though, the in-game chat function, combined with use of the Left CTRL key and using the Compass Mini-Map to draw routes has worked pretty well. Using the Left CTRL key is possibly one of the more important combat techniques to learn in Guild Wars. Holding down Left CTRL and using it with other key commands can make party-wide announcements such as:

• How much Health you have -- Left CTRL + Click Health Bar


• How much Energy you have -- Left CTRL + Click Energy Bar


• What enemy you are attacking (Called Target) -- Left CTRL + Space Bar -- Usually you will have the Target already selected at this point. Space Bar is used for Default action, in this case, Attack. Called Target will automatically flash that enemy's location on the Compass Mini-Map so the party knows which one you are attacking.


• The fact that you are using a Skill on an enemy or party member -- Left CTRL + Click Skill -- Again, the Target would already be selected at this point.


• What Conditions you have on you -- Left CTRL + Click Icon -- The Conditions you have on you are displayed at the top-left of the screen.


• The fact that you are talking to an NPC -- Left CTRL + Click NPC


• How close you are to leveling -- Left CTRL + Click XP Bar


• The fact that you are following a specific party member -- Left CTRL + Double Click Party Member's Name in Party List

These announcements will be displayed in the Chat Window (or Chat Bar if you have the window minimised).

Pick-up groups will not have voice chat. All (or at least most) party members of successful PUGs that I have grouped with were able to use the given tools properly to communicate. In these cases, game play went very smoothly, in fact. For PvE, the lack of voice chat does not make game play impossible if you know how to use all the communication tools.

A friend of mine recently got Guild Wars. For months, I'd been interrupting a lot of our MSN conversations with "I'm going to go play GW now. I'll talk to you later". And then I wouldn't actually talk to him later, because I'd be playing so long that he'd go AFK to do other things. And later on, I'd talk about Guild Wars to him. This made him curious, so he started playing. He now "sees what all the fuss was about" and he is enjoying the game, but he is also experiencing the learning curve that comes with using the in-game communications tools. He asked me about voice chat programs, and I thought, "Why? In-game chat works well". But I'm used to the user interface now, and I forgot that he isn't yet.

I was reminded of Xfire when I saw Joystiq's entry on PC and Mac applications every gamer should have. This further reminded me that the Store Manager at the GameStop I worked at last year also mentioned that he uses it to communicate whilst playing online games. Since Xfire appeared to be easy to grasp, and my friend is not as computer-inclined as I am (not that I am some super computer person to start with), I decided to download the app and let him know about it.

I've used it a couple of times this week, and in short, voice chat makes questing in PvE much easier. In reference to the anecdote above, had everyone in the party been on voice chat, rather than just two of us (out of three), perhaps the minor fiascos that occurred the other night might not have happened. It would certainly be harder to ignore vocal commands than on-screen commands. One would hope. Anyway, I think we'll try to use Xfire if we can, but I wouldn't be upset if people continued without it.

Tagged: guild wars, in-game chat, voice chat, xfire

Apparently my graphics card is acting up. Guild Wars has been crashing lately, usually when a lot of shit is happening on-screen. An error message told me that my graphics card was to blame, so I updated my card's drivers. The driver install last night did not go successfully for some reason. It froze in the middle of the installation. Files were downloaded all right, though. I had to cancel the installation, because the thing wouldn't finish.

This evening, the bloody computer went into this horrible restart loop and it wouldn't let me start up normally. The sounds that the computer makes when it's trying to start up, and can't do it in Normal Mode, just put the fear in me.

Anyway, in Safe Mode, I uninstalled the driver, and reinstalled it. I'm no longer in Safe Mode, so that all seems okay. However the thing crashed again (randomly restarted) and I wasn't playing a game. I had FireFox open, WinAmp was playing a song, and MSN Messenger was up with two chat windows. The computer didn't make me go into Safe Mode after restarting, though.

Then a little while later, I decided to test my luck with Guild Wars. This time, the card just stopped responding (said the error window), though I wasn't doing anything complex. I was just standing in Bergen Hot Springs (a town in Guild Wars) and configuring my Skills. The screen went black, though I could still hear things. I minimised the Guild Wars screen, and everything else was okay. ATI's Catalyst Control Center automatically opened this error reporting thing, so I guess it really must be the graphics card. At least the computer didn't fully restart.

Yargh. My computer friend said earlier that perhaps my problem might be overheating or RAM. How do I know if this card is overheating or not? I can't very well touch it and be like, "Oh yeah. It's too hot, all right!" And if it's RAM? Tomorrow night I'll have a look around the internets for information. I managed to troubleshoot a problem last summer (practically) all on my own. The aforementioned computer friend was really impressed with me, in fact. Maybe I can do this as well.

I hope I get this fixed soon, because I really want to finish the "A Very Grentchie Wintesday" quest before the Wintersday content goes away. I might just be able to do it if I have one of my friends to help me get to the Temple of Ages.

Tagged: ati radeon 9800, computer problems, graphics card

Guild Wars was ranked at number 24. Kieron Gillen, who reviewed Guild Wars for Eurogamer comments:

Kieron: I suspect this comment will be surrounded by the WoW massive bitching. Let's assume it is, and so, well, they said that the static nature of a classical MMO removed the ability to tell a narrative, but when a game embraced that they were upset they couldn't jump down cliffs they just stormed off in a huff. They said that they were sick of being outclassed by people purely on how long they've played the game rather than any expertise, but in the end they preferred being ganked by pubescents in contested zones rather than risking a fair fight. They said that the slow bleed of a monthly fee was elitist, but - in the end - actually, they liked it that way. We are the generation who bought more steeds, and we'll get what we deserve.

And if this comment isn't surrounded by WoW massive bitching, Guild Wars is just lovely and deserves to be at least twenty places higher than this.

[Via GWOnline.Net]

Gillen's Guild Wars review at Eurogamer -- Which I'd read months ago, but I'll link to it here for the sake of completeness.

I've had one of the "WOW massive" bitch to me once in a while, but it mostly consisted of "Guild Wars sucks! Play WOW!"

I promise I'll play WOW for at least a couple of hours this weekend. Honest. If I can pull myself away from Guild Wars. Hehe. Might be a time stretch though, because my table-top D&D group is starting back up again after a brief winter break. Argh. Are there really only 24 hours in a day? No, really, I will make an effort to play WOW. It's just overwhelming, though! I feel like there are so many things to keep track of! At least I don't have to make sure my character goes to the toilet. Right?

Tagged: eurogamer, guild wars, world of warcraft

Three enlightening pieces that I have read recently:

Jim Rossignol visits Korea and writes about their games culture: "Sex, Fame and PC Baangs: How the Orient plays host to PC gaming’s strangest culture".

Nick Yee from The Daedalus Project draws parallels between entrenched American prejudice against Chinese labourers in late-1800s San Francisco and in-game anti-Chinese comments and behaviour perpetrated by Western players in MMORPGs (The Chinese players are assumed to be gold farmers by virtue of their nationality.): "Yi-Shan-Guan".

On 4colorrebellion, an American gamer living in Japan voices criticism against American Xbox 360 fanboys for their anti-Japanese comments due to the tepid Japanese response to Microsoft's new console: "The Xbox 360 and Japanese Nationalism".

Tagged: china, games culture, gold farmers, japan, korea, mmorpgs, pc games, nationalism, xbox 360

In video games.

[Via Joystiq]

Tagged: barrels, crates, games culture, pc games video games