i roll 20s

Goodbye Dump Stats! Fighter Edition

2010-10-13T17:58:00.000-04:00

That's it. I've had it. Who came up with the bull shit 'dump stat?' In good role-playing there is no such thing. In good role-playing there is no Rogar with a 4 intelligence (Outrageous!). Even the rolls that suck the hardest can lead to great characters, great games, and great stories.

Starting with the Fighter class, I will illustrate what happens when, instead of treating an ability as a dump stat, you put your best score there instead. And what happens when you put your lowest score in those spots.

Fighters!

Straight Up Strength.
When playing a fighter, it's typical to load your highest ability score into Strength. After all, fighters use their strength to lay on the smack down. Great, straight up strength fighters include the likes of Samus Aran and Captain America. But what happens when you put your lowest score there? You get fighters like Spaceman Spiff and Courage the Cowardly Dog. Proportionally, they are strong based on their body types, however, they are not epic, D&D strong. Their feats of strength are adrenalin fueled at best. Both Spiff and Courage have to use their intelligence, wisdom, and constitution to get through their trials. But no one can deny that they're fighters!

A Little Finesse - Dex Heavy and Light Fighters
So what happens when you dump your fighter's best roll into Dexterity? After a quick pick of the Weapon Finesse feat, you have Will Turner and Astharoche Asran. Will and Asta's entire fighting style is not based on their strength, but their speed and agility. Spend the points and get ranks in tumble (acrobatics for Pathfinder) and you get every character Jackie Chan ever played. So what do you get with a low dex... The Incredible Hulk. Duh.

A Drink Never Hurt Anyone - Constitution Monkeys
Wong Fei Hung is a constitution power house! He doesn't pack much for strength, but he can take a straight hit without batting an eye. Probably because he's drunk off his ass. But that's what con is for! So what does a fighter with a low constitution look like? Abel Nightroad. Abel, a bad ass while the Crusnik is activated, is plague by a constant hunger that's made worse by his refusal to eat what really nourishes him: vampire blood. He's ease to take down just by letting him wear himself out. Sure, his con stat is intentionally lowered by his own doing, but that's a game mechanic you can play with.

Smart as a Whip - Intelligent Fighters
There's one thing I can't stand and that's fighters who use intelligence as a dump stat (Outrageous!). But I guess that's what Rogar's for. He's a meat shield and little more. But an intelligent fighter? They're bad ass on top of being able to figure it all out. A great example is Ash. So he's an S-Mart employee. So what? He shows up with a trunk full of college textbooks and proceeds to make himself a new hand and gun powder.

Wise Beyond Their Years - Wise Fighters
I played one of these once. He had a wisdom higher than all but one of the clerics in the party and he used it. The best fighters, indeed, the best leaders, have a lot of wisdom. They aren't the smartest people in the group, but they know how to take all the information and find the answers with it. Jack Carter is an exceptional example of a wise fighter. He's surrounded by egg heads, but his wisdom always saves Eureka. A great fighter with a low wisdom is Captain Marvel. Billy Batson is still, underneath the powers, a little kid without much experience. His good heart and strength see him through, but he's easily tricked which is the sign of a low wisdom.

A Smile and Wink - Charismatic Fighters
My fav charismatic fighter? Brisco County Jr.! Ah yeah! His mouth gets him out of just as many predicaments as it gets him into. He has the kind of charisma that bards dream of and dashing rogues drool over. A fighter with a low charisma? Castiel. He's short on charm, personality, and anything else that would make him the least bit tolerable to work with on a constant basis.

Average All Around
So what if you roll up a bunch of really average scores? Who ever heard of an average fighter? At that point, it isn't about the stats, but about how you use your skill points.

An average fighter with a lot of lore: Dean Winchester. Where Dean lacks in intelligence and charisma, he makes up for in what he knows, the right solution to the problem.

An average fighter with a lot tactical knowledge: Fin the Human. Fin lacks a lot of strength and dexterity, but he is tactically savvy and trusts his intuition.

An average fighter with a high craft skill giving him lots of gadgets: Batman. (No link. If you don't know who Batman is, get off my internet!)

I'm sure there are a lot of readers ready to kill me because I've only mentioned two female characters in the list. Well, sue me. The list is meant to illustrate what you can do, not represent.

But let's throw some girls in here for shits and giggles anyway:
Turanga Leela is an intelligent fighter with some serious martial arts skill
Helena Bertinelli is a very charismatic fighter whose not above using womanly wiles to get her way.
Rogue has constitution is spades.
Padme Amidala is wise beyond her years, if you over look the fact that she married a psycho.

We are losing The Game

2010-06-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

Do we really need another blog talking about how awesome Nintendo's presentation was and how much everyone elses' sucked? I didn't think so.

Here's something different and proof that my glorious library is losing The Game:

Ann Arbor's Video Game Librarian

Ann Arbor... You B****h!

Free RPG Day 2010!

2010-06-10T14:50:00.000-04:00

Saturday, June 19th is Free RPG day!

Free RPG Day is run like Free Comic Book Day: to give the masses a taste of something new without having to pull out the wallet!

Check out the site for more details on who is giving out what and where!

Great. Now I'm sad. Nittany Line Hobbies was the game shop of State College, PA for many years and now it's gone, a victim of poor management rather than the recession. Comic Swap, which is just around the corner from former Nittany Line, is doing their best to beef up the game selection, but they just don't have the space to carry everything.

From Happy Valley, the closest shop is The Games Keep in West Chester. Here's to hoping they will participate in Free RPG Day!

Spellcasting... Soda?

2010-06-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Indeed!

Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition Spellcasting Soda!

Because we could all use some of Bigby's Crushing Thirst Destroyer as we go full swing into con season!

Geeky Clean!

2010-05-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

Dishonored Dwarf Shaving Soap Kit

Ganked from

But it is that time again: Con Time!

The packing will begin in earnest this weekend. And toiletries must be had.

Take On Me

2010-05-13T09:18:00.000-04:00

Personally, I think it needs more cowbell.

Tetris Border Fabric

2010-05-06T17:29:00.000-04:00

Because I totally need a Tetris skirt for Origins:

Purchase at Spoonflower!

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

2010-04-30T13:23:00.004-04:00

It's Castlevania, so you know what that means for me.

Also, the feeling I got looking at the screenshots may count as cheating on my husband.

*sigh*

Oh Yeah!

That Whole Ebert Thing

2010-04-22T13:54:00.001-04:00

Yeah. I know. Yada yada yada.

I don't care.

Nothing he says will take the power of that first Shadow of the Colossus play through from me or anyone else.

What we have is a "Get Off My Lawn!" moment. Long after the ney-sayers are gone, video games will still be here and, yes, some of them will be considered art.

Seriously. Penny Arcade's got this one.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

2010-04-13T14:55:00.000-04:00

Boy, am I behind... Time to get my review on!

We all know I'm a Castlevania whore. (Lord of Shadows! It calls me!) So the first review in the long list I have to do is for Order of Ecclesia. (Yes, I know I'm waaaaaay behind.)

Amnesiac Shanoa is sent out to bitch slap her brother Albus around in order to get the Dominus glyphs and kill Dracula. The twist: using them will kill her. Of course, it would be a useless sacrifice anyway. Dracula will just pop back up like a bad weed in a century, give or take a few years.

You control Shanoa who has a large array of weapons and magic at her disposal a la Alucard. However, the use of these things sucks up her MP, so when you tap out, you have to wait for the bar to refill. This changes the strategy of the game. You have to go into an area with a sense of timing to be sure your mp doesn't run out at a crucial moment. For Boss fights, it's worse. Of course, you can endlessly revisit a stage to level up, grab new goodies, and knock over the First National Bank of Dracula for the cashes.

And you will revisit stages a lot thanks to all the stupid little quests the villagers have you do. Being a completetist, I finished every god-damned one (and I would like to kill the little kid with the 'lets run around in the dark' bull crap.)

The game play, even with the mp depletion, is smooth. The variety of areas and new monsters to go with the classic standbys makes for a nice venture out into Castlevania land. Even the old standbys got a few new tricks, most notably Drac-baby himself. His typically 2D sprite got some new moves, all of which made him a much more difficult boss. (Remember not to try flying when you have to fight the big guy.)

You never use a particular glyph for too long. As you get new glyphs, you get new abilities and you will rapidly change between glyphs for different situations, so you don't have another Soma Cruz. (I've got three powerful souls and I... only need to use the three of them to beat this game.)

4 Glyphs out of 5

No Twilight Game? THANK GOD!

2010-04-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

"Given how hot a property it is, Twilight could easily present a seven-figure exploitation opportunity," analyst Nick Gibson told the publication, "especially if publishers look at taking it beyond retail gaming and considers network gaming."

"It may well be that the rights holders aren’t aware of the potential benefits as they haven’t explored the games market before,” he said. "It’s not unheard of – although it is increasingly unusual in this day and age."

No. It's not that they haven't explored the games market. There is NO market for it.

The gamer market is geared toward guys. That's why God of War has an uber-manly hero who has sex, albeit off screen, with big breasted women.

Twilight is marketed to teenage girls and while there is a game market for those girls, it is tiny and will not generate 'millions' in revenue.

Let's be honest. The vast majority of people reading Twilight do not own game systems. And the ones that do, won't waste their game dollars on a Twilight game. Seriously, what kind of game would it be anyway? And I swear to the Almighty that if you point to one of those damn Barbie games, I will kill you. Because that's exactly what it will look like.

Very few movies translate into games and those games are notorious for being profit sinkholes (despite what the article in the jump says).

The Dark Knight was not made into a game because Arkham Asylum came out at the same time. EA (who was developing The Dark Knight) would have lost a lot of money. Arkham Asylum not only came out to the praise of critics, but flew off the store shelves. EA made the right call.

"The brand’s appeal could actually extend significantly beyond the expected teen girl market and into the 20- to 30-year-old female market, which has a very substantial crossover into gaming," he said.

Yes, there is a substantial cross over into gaming with the 20-30 year olds, but guess what? They are gamers. Why would they pay for a bad movie tie-in when Final Fantasy XIII is currently rocking their worlds? And the 20-30 year olds who are reading Twilight are, by and large, not gamers. While their kids may have a Wii, that doesn't mean they're going to waste money on a Twilight tie-in game that they won't even know exists because the ad placement will not find its way to the target audience.

To the Twilight Money Machine: The lack of a game tie-in was the right call.

A 3D enabled DS?

2010-03-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

The news reports on it would have us believe that the video below is a 3D enabled DS. Instead, it's "Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda" a DSiware title. Still, well done!

Much better than the Virtual Boy. :P

Origins!!!

2010-03-17T14:23:00.000-04:00

Finally, the decision has been made! Dave, Lily, and I are going to Origins!

If my sister can get the time off and the money for her badge and events, she'll be going too.

The really exciting thing about this is taking Lily. Sure, she'll only be a year old, but she loves people and some time in the play room with other kids will serve her well. Plus, Baby's First Convention!

How is that not the most exciting thing ever?

Microsoft: Making D&D Easier than ever before!

2010-02-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

D&D on the Microsoft Surface from CrunchGear on Vimeo.

Boy am I behind...

2010-02-09T18:10:00.003-05:00

I do need to post more often.

Anywho...

Rumors are circulating. The kind of rumors that, if true, would be both awesome and devastating. Patrick Stewart, who is all kinds of awesome sauce, is rumored not only to be the narrator of Lord of Shadows but also the voice of the big man himself, Drac Baby!

This of course, can lead to only one terrible conclusion. The kind of conclusion that YouTube will have in abundance after the game's release. (Or maybe even before.) It will involve the splicing of the many , many personas Capt. Picard has donned through the years. But the funniest will be this one:

"I am Dracula. Now begins the paddling of the swollen ass. With paddles!"

PS3 Roosting

2009-07-17T06:14:00.002-04:00

A PS3 has finally come to live with us in a permanent sort of fashion.

Yes, yes. I know what I wrote about the PS3 a year or more ago and I am currently eating crow. Luckily, we have a lot of crow out here and the bastards need to die. Penn State has been chasing them off campus for quite some time and hopefully the dead crow effigies all over town and campus will keep them away. The sad thing is, a .22 and a few bullets would have taken care of the problem a few years ago. Over population of crows cause an imbalance in the local ecosystem, but try telling that to a bunch of hippy 'save the planet' idiots.

I am still floored by the fact that many of them believe that milk cows have to be made pregnant constantly to produce milk. Morons!

But I digress:

Sarah bought the PS3 on sale at Target and picked up Assassin's Creed and Folklore used at Game Stop. Assassin's Creed, you've all heard of, but Folklore is a rare little gem. It's a fairytale style murder mystery. Game play takes some strategy and pre-planning. What makes the game really cool is you get to play 'that guy.'

You know, that guy who always shows up to save the day, is mysterious, and a bit of a creeper? You get to play that guy (whose named Keats by the way) and it suddenly makes sense how he just shows up and drops some tidbit of info on the little hero, Ellen. Ellen, for her part in the game, has totally drunk the kool-aid. For a game that looks so pretty, there's a high body count a la psycho serial killer style. Grab a copy of the game or rent it for some creepy fairytale fun.

The best part of Sarah buying the PS3 is that she immediately realized that she hadn't played Xenosaga. Any of it.

So after buying a PS3, she's been playing the PS2 like a mad woman every night after work. My being off with the baby means I actually get to watch the 'best movie ever played.' She's currently in the middle of the second installment.

Birth Announcement!

2009-06-29T01:53:00.002-04:00

My daughter, Lily Michelle, was born on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 at 12:58pm!

I was in labor for 29 hours, which is not as painful as it sounds.

The Saturday before the birth, my water broke before my contractions started. Because this can lead to an infection, the hospital put me on a pictocin (synthetic oxytocin) drip. This pushed my contractions along, but I wasn't dilating. After 17 hours of intense 'pushing' contractions with no dilation, I finally asked for pain medication.

The doctor ordered an epidural for me in order to help me get some sleep. As soon as I relaxed, my contractions evened out and my labor progressed. I was able to sleep and only had a numbness in my legs (epidurals numb you fromt he waist down). I woke up and watched the sun rise over Mount Nittany.

Over night, I dilated 5cm. I dilated to 10cm in 5 minutes! Pushing took two hours and I had an epidural hot spot in my right hip. That means that all the pain of the contractions built and died in my hip. It sucked, but the nurse in charge promised me a Coke if I pushed a baby out.

It was the best can of soda I ever had!

Lily came out, head and shoulders, in one push. She was immediately alert and started looking around for Dave and I whenever she heard our voices.

She was 6lbs. 15oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.

She has a full head of dark hair and her eyes look like they might end up being blue.

She is the absolute blessing we have long hoped for. :D

I was told that I would forget the pain over the next six months. But, honestly, I've already forgotten most of it. I remember the events, but not how painful it was or wasn't. The vast majority of my pain, and even the inconveniences of the pregnancy, were forgotten the moment I held my daughter. Even now, as I type one handed, I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't have wanted her. Lily is an absolute miracle!

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows

2009-06-05T11:39:00.002-04:00

This looks super exciting! It's using the same engine as God of War and the open areas lead me to hope that we won't end up with the squared off castle seen in the last two 3D Castlevanias. Here's to hoping!

And Patrick Stewart for a narrator? SWEET!

The Last Guardian

2009-06-03T11:14:00.001-04:00

Holy Crap, Mother!

Reggae Cthulhu!

2009-06-02T11:16:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of my friend, Larry. You miss read an "Oh Ryleh, Ya Ryleh!" joke. :)

Out of Context

2009-04-30T17:53:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, while walking back from Qdoba with my big ol' belly, I ran into one of the librarians who said,

"You're not allowed here. You're out of context!"

Sure am I, 'mom.' :)

Lately I've been interviewed a lot for student projects. The most recent one was a project on pregnant bodies in public spaces. The project was based on the assumption that pregnant bodies were 'public property.' This assumption stems from the reaction of the general public to a pregnant woman. Complete strangers will touch your belly, give you unsolicited advice, and generally make sure you are taking care of yourself.

Now, if you look at this reaction from a very political stand point, you would come to the conclusion that the pregnant woman is 'public property.' And while you can argue that every person is a political entity, that isn't how we, as individuals, react to the world around us.

When someone sees a pregnant belly they know that a new, unique individual is growing inside. The urge to touch the belly isn't about controlling the pregnant woman, but about confirming what they already know to be true: a new person is growing in there.

Plus there’s great excitement in the chance of feeling fetal movement from the outside; the confirmation of suspicion. Even so, the vast majority of people will ask before they touch. Some will reach out and let their hand hover until they receive permission and will be disappointed, but not upset if permission is denied. Of the many people who have touched my belly, only three people have not asked permission.

So what about all the advice? Again, the advice isn’t about controlling the pregnant woman. It’s about lending a hand. Much of the unsolicited advice is well meaning. It’s just someone trying to help out. And it isn’t as common or as embarrassing as some stories out there would lead you to believe. When it does happen, all it requires is a smile and a thank you. You’ve done your good deed for the day. The person offering the advice was only trying to be helpful, even if the advice was crazy or contradictory to your doctor's orders.

And all those questions about whether or not you're taking care of yourself! They aren't as common as you would be led to believe. The first thing one person will ask another in a basic greeting is how they're doing, whether that person is having a baby or not. (My friend Sam has the best reply to these sorts of questions: "Fair to partly cloudy." This has led to a wide variety of weather metaphors used at work.)

So have I run into anyone trying to ‘control’ my pregnant body? Thankfully, no. Of course, that can’t be said for everyone. There are women who have to deal with well intentioned comments that they are wasting their youth. Or vicious comments that they are ‘polluting’ the world by giving birth. I have a friend who was physically pushed by someone trying to make a statement about pregnancy. How cowardly is that?

Which beings me back to context. I work at a university. Even as little as five years ago, a baby bump was verboten. The librarian in question had her youngest child during those days and many of the older faculty members are of the opinion that pregnancy is out of context on a university campus. That hasn't stopped the younger members of campus faculty, staff, and students from having children and being proud of their pregnant bodies and children. Even an overcast day threatening torrents of rain will seen couples and their children all over campus and especially at the Alumni Center (because that's where the duckies live!).

Pregnancy and motherhood does something for women, something I wasn’t a part of even with my miscarriage. It makes us part of a larger sorority. It’s a secret club the childless will never be a part of or understand. My pregnancy has highlighted that for a lot of my coworkers, who feel like they are privy to a larger conspiracy of love but can't enter into it on their own. Plenty of them are fine just the way they are, being of an older persuasion. But the younger ones are rethinking their assumptions about everything from marriage to parenthood.

The clarion call of being 'traditional' and opting for marriage and parenthood is seeping back into the culture. And not a moment too soon. It's time that we force the world to make room for us instead of making room for it. On a campus full of context, its a radical step. And that's why we stay in academia long after graduation. We want to be radical. Context, here we come!

A Horrible Discovery!

2009-04-30T16:56:00.002-04:00

So I have that itch.

That Castlevania itch.

So I pop Symphony of the Night into the PS2 and switch the new flat screen tv to the game console and...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE MODE IS UNSUPPORTED?!?!?!?!?!

So, my husband, always to the rescue, started testing all our games and we found that our PSX games will not play with the new tv. Apparently, the lack of a digital signal will keep me from my sweet, sweet Symphony of the Night. Julia is already lamenting the loss of Vagrant Story, which she was in the mood to play again.

All of this has come after we tossed out the clunker, which was still in good working order, to make more room in storage. Oh well. I know someone in my complex has taken it in and is loving it better than I ever had.

They may even be playing Castlevania right now.

So last night, in the middle of the night, I popped Castlevania into the PSP and started hacking my way through the castle.

Since Castlevania is my crack of choice, I have already loaded Harmony of Disonance into the DS, fully charged it, and tossed it into the hospital bag. I figure HoD, with two castles worth of butt-kicking action, will keep me sufficiently distracted during labor. And it seems some how appropriate that a Castlevania whore would give birth while playing Castlevania. Of course, when I get to the giving birth point, I'll have put the game down. It's really hard to push when your in the middle of a boss fight.

Watchmen

2009-04-15T11:50:00.004-04:00

I liked the movie better than the novel.

*ducking!*

When I say this, a lot of people assume that I am somehow betraying the entire concept and Alan Moore. I'm not. The movie really brings to life Moore's opus in a way I was totally unprepared for and I now have a greater understanding of the work as a whole.

Billy Crudup's portrayal of Dr. Manhattan brought the character to life. He was always lifeless to me in the novel. He was an extraordinary person in extraordinary circumstances and felt no compulsion to do anything about it. Everything was so tiny and insignificant to him that his change of heart didn't feel right in the novel. It still didn't feel right in the movie, but it was a definite leg up.

Jackie Haley's Rorschach was not only spot on, it was legendary. Matthew Goode's Veidt was also spot on, despite my misgivings from seeing him in the movie posters and stills. He didn't look right (a bit too skinny, ya know?), until you saw him on screen. Ozymandias indeed!

Two things that surprised me:

1. I was uncomfortable with Dr. Manhattan's nudity.

Now, I'm no prude. It's not like I've never seen a naked man before and it isn't like it bothered me when I read the novel. (Hell, I'm a fan of Bastard!!, and Darsh spends more time naked than not.) But I was put off by it none the less.

I think it had less to do with nudity so much as it was male nudity. The female body has long been seen as a work of art, but it's very hard to make the male body a work of art. Michelangelo's David is a singular work because it makes the male body a work of art.

I think it may also have been about expectations. We expect someone who is nude to act a certain way. I'm not sure how I was expecting Dr. Manhattan to act, but it wasn't the way he did. Is this a bad thing? No! Like I said above, Billy Crudup really brought the character to life for me and in the end, it doesn't really matter if he was clothed or not.

2. I was uncomfortable with the violence.

I know: "Wah! Get over it!" Right?

I am no stranger to violence in movies and the novel never hid the horrors of violence. But this, I believe, is a sign of my being a parent. Things I took in stride now bother me a great deal.

Does this mean the movie should have been less violent? No! I instead take this as a sign that I am not desensitized to the horrors portrayed on the screen and that's a good thing. If the violence bothered you, good! It should have. That's part of the point.

My rating for the movie: Win!

flOwing into sleep

2009-04-10T12:05:00.004-04:00

Despite the official move, people keep coming here to the tune of 40 a week. Not too shabby, huh?

FlOw is one of my favorite games to relax with and I downloaded it to my PSP a while ago for constant fun. Lately, I've been using it to help me get to sleep. I've been developing the typical sleeping problems associated with pregnancy and found that a half hour of flOw will knock me out like a light.

The link above takes you to the original flOw. I recommend giving it a shot and seeing what you think. The online version is easier to control than the PSP, but you also have more room. Put on the headphones and veg out for a while.

Moving!

2009-02-26T19:49:00.004-05:00

I am moving!

Not that I have something against 'i roll 20s,' but I have managed to block myself in with the format I'm using here and I'd like more room to work. So catch me at Geek Loaf!

Happiness and more posting will ensue!

I hope...

Don't worry, I'm not shutting down this blog, so you can enjoy any past posts you like as often as you like. (I'm pretty fond of Grant Frank Pronouns! myself.)

Things Heard at the Table

2008-09-05T15:21:00.004-04:00

Everyone has weird stories about things that have happened at the gaming table. These are a list of things that came out of someone's mouth at our table:

*
"So we're in CSI: Cursed Mountain City?"
(D&D)

*
"Bitchlord Vecna"
(D&D)

*
"What are you doing in my room?!"
"You owe me five bucks."
(Iron Kingdoms, courtesy of Boomtongue)

*
It's like watching midgets make out. Which I do.
(Iron Kingdoms, courtesy of Boomtongue)

*
The Frog of Ultimate Justice! What? It's elven and elegant.
(D&D)

*
I know they look like big, red, evil catfish. But that's because they are.
(Star Wars)

*
A vorpal fruitcake?
(D&D)

*
You'll have to excuse my friend. He's just blown our cover.
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
"I know you can only get drunk when you get married, or juggle your first child."
"What?"
"Oh yeah. Your ways are different.
(Iron Kingdoms, courtesy of Boomtongue)

*
What? It's not like encounters escalate according to your level.
(the DM)

*
"I'm going to train it to cook itself. It's an unrepeatable trick."
"You hope."
(Iron Kingdoms, because you can always leave it to the Scharde to disturb you)

*
"There will be an avalanche. It was foretold. Plus the dwarves gave us these great explosives."
(D&D)

*
"Hello, Dangerous. You're coming with me."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
"It's cute now, but when's five feet we have to flush it down the toilet."
(The old Marvel Superheroes RPG. And they're talking about a baby t-rex.)

*
"Boomtongue keeps his family in his cheeks."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
"Eisen-something-German."
"What a lovely name."
(7 Seas)

*
DM: "How do you get there?"
Harley: "I have a five in arcane. I walk."
(Mage: the Ascension)

*
Ambrose: "I have HIT Marks in my class!"
Marc: "So what did you do?"
Ambrose: "I gave them detention. They were programed to act like students so they went. Then they toilet papered my house."
(Werewolf/Mage/Changeling crossover)

*
"Fire. The anti-zombie."
(I don't remember...)

*
"He wants to do biologically impossible things with you."
(Werewolf/Mage/Changeling crossover)

*
"One of the Red Skull's powers is Unearthly Racism."
(Marvel RPG)

*
You've asked two amnesiac superheroes what they want to do. Of course they want to beat shit up! It's all they know!
(Marvel RPG)

*
It's weird that poison Ivy is a vegetarian. You'd think that she'd be the biggest meat eater there ever was: "You! Cow! DIE!"
(Marvel RPG)

*
"I'm not sure I have lungs. Let me look... Nope."
(Marvel RPG)

*
"I wasn't going for industrial espionage, but now you've pissed me off."
(I don't remember...)

*
"Will one of the bad guys start shooting at me so I know which side I'm on?"
(Marvel RPG)

*
I hope that goes down stairs and not some horrible dimension.
(Marvel RPG)

*
Boomtongue: "Ian is wise."
Ian: "That's why I'm the priest."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
Okay. Gregori grabs her ass. (Never let the thief fight a berserker.)
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
Nothing beats a turbo laser by your side.
(Star Wars)

*
"He was a DNA freak. If he found a person with a DNA code, he wanted a copy."
(Star Wars)

*
"He's not safe! There are cows out there!"
(Star Wars)

*
"He ate too much pie and up and died."
(Star Wars)

*
"Go home? I'd rather be set on fire by Thamarites!"
"Don't you mean Mennites?"
"Well that goes without saying."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
"I was keeping a sheep in a catapult for that reason."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
"Hold onto it. I might want to clone that one day."
(Star Wars)

*
"That's right. I'm from Spanish Milwaukee, chico."
(Werewolf/Mage/Changeling crossover)

*
Reedan: "How do we get Z out of the armor?"
Oola: "Get a few drinks in him."
(Star Wars)

*
"I'm not killing that cow. But I am saying goodbye to a few sheep."
(Star Wars)

*
"I have so much money I don't know what to do with it. So I rob other people of their cash."
(Star Wars)

*
"She's extremely organized and useful."
"So, she's a spy."
(Star Wars)

*
"It's Pendrake. Someone has to go and protect the students."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
Camden: "It's not a curse! It's a hole in your soul!"
Gregori: "What's the difference?"
Camden: "I can fix a curse!"
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
Student: "It smells bad down here."
Braeden: "That would be the dead body."
(Iron Kingdoms)

*
Pardon me. I have to kill my friend.
(I don't remember...)

*
"We are not threatening prisoners with baked goods!"
(Star Wars)

*
I just massacred that word.
(Star Wars)

*
I don't live in a hostel. I live in a hostile.
(Star Wars)

*
You made a new tradition: the Wuss-tini.
(Werewolf/Mage/Changeling crossover)

Have we gone too far?

2008-08-05T11:56:00.001-04:00

I think it's snazzy.

If you want the country

2008-08-05T10:48:00.002-04:00

Okay. This just pisses me off.

Word of warning: this has nothing to do with gaming. So feel free to jump elsewhere if you're just here for the games.

Hit the jump. I'll see you in a few.

What the hell is it with people who move out to the country and don't want the country?! Seriously! This is ridiculous!

Listen up, city slickers: The country is NOT for you. Stay in your nice safe city and don't bother the people who are growing your food.

Everyday, more family farms, which are the backbone of organic foods I might add, die because of things like this. Sure, the country is pretty. The country also smells. The country is also noisy. The country is filled with things like wild animals that will roam on your property, and farmers who don't appreciate people telling them that they can't make their livelihood because manure smells.

Hell, just last week a BIG black bear walked across the parking lot of the movieplex a couple miles from my house. And that's normal. In another week, this place will stink to high heaven when the manure is laid out on the fields just after first harvest.

The country is not for the weak of heart. Even if you can live with the noise and smell, nature has full reign out here and nature is dangerous. Dear aren't so pretty anymore after they've busted up your car and sent you to the emergency room.

You want to have the pretty country? Fine. Buy a painting, put it up in your living room, and stay the hell away from us. It will save you money and heartache.

When In Rome...

2008-06-16T19:40:00.001-04:00

Game like them!

Is it not nifty?

Picking up the Phone

2008-06-13T07:46:00.002-04:00

My long time email penpal sent me this link and I can't believe I didn't know about it until now. Shame on me!

Here's Thorne Scratch and Twig Collins with:

229 Things Sephiroth Never Thought He'd Say On The Phone

My Brain! It burns!

Why the 8-5 shift isn't all that bad

2008-06-13T07:40:00.005-04:00

Check out what I saw this morning!

The balloon was right above our heads this morning. Totally awesome. :)
Sorry about the pixelation. I took the photos with my phone.

Be Still My Beating Heart!

2008-05-30T17:04:00.001-04:00

Check this!

Oh Castlevania! How I love thee! Let me count the ways!

Even My Tissues are Geeky!

2008-05-22T12:39:00.002-04:00

Check out my awesome mini tissue holder!

It is plastic canvas with Caron Simply Soft yarn.

The basic pattern is this:

Cut 1 piece of plastic canvas 25 x 38 for back.
Cut 2 pieces of plastic canvas 11 x 38 for front.

With yarn and yarn needle, stitch whatever you want on the front and back before sewing pieces together. Stuff with tissues.

You get extra points for eye sore-ness. ;)

oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!

2008-05-15T11:49:00.003-04:00

Darth Vader Spared Jail in Attack on Jedi Church

The Associated Press

HOLYHEAD, Wales -- A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.

Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones -- aka Master Jonba Hehol -- with a metal crutch, hitting him on the head, prosecutors told Holyhead Magistrates' Court.

He also whacked Jones' 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones -- known as Master Mormi Hehol -- bruising his thigh in the March 25 incident, prosecutors said.

The two cousins and Barney Jones' brother, Daniel, set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the "Star Wars" films.

The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its Web site that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life."

"We all love the films and what they stand for. Obviously some people are going to laugh about it," the Wales on Sunday newspaper quoted Barney Jones as saying last month. "But a lot of people do take it seriously."

Unfortunately for Hughes, his March attack was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle.

"Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached.

Hughes claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 2 1/2-gallon (10-liter) box of wine beforehand.

"He knows his behavior was wrong and didn't want it to happen but he has no recollection of it," said Hughes' lawyer, Frances Jones.

District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.

In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 -- 0.7 percent of the population -- listed Jedi as their religion.

Oh Wow, Man!

Video Game to Find a Cure for AIDS

2008-05-13T16:29:00.002-04:00

The game is, apparently, an elaborate form of Tetris.

See? Video games are not only good for you, playing them helps others!

Violence? Check! Bloodspray? Check!

2008-05-09T09:58:00.003-04:00

Ninja Gaiden II screenshots over at Destructoid.

Kindred: The Embraced

2008-05-08T13:05:00.003-04:00

Not the game. The show.

Remember that piece of crappy yet oddly intriguing thing from the 90's?

In my convalescence last Thursday, I was a captive audience for this travesty and found it eminently more enjoyable the second time around. I believe that this is because I have many years of role-playing the game that spawned it (spawned is the correct word) under my belt. You have a totally different perspective on things after you've spent game after game telling the same player that "Tastes Great!" is more important than "Less Filling." (I'm not kidding.) Suddenly, Julian Luna's insta-wolf transformations don't look so garish and even the crack-pot, conspiracy theorist-slash-detective that everyone argues with rather than kills is acceptable.

With Mark Frankel's premature death, the series died. I think, in the end, that's a good thing. It was one of the few things not touched by meta plot. We had a totally different, if nonsensical, San Fransisco crew. Watching it was a refreshing reminder that not everything was totally ruined by meta plot and it gave players license to be creative.

Hell, my first white wolf experience involved the death of Baba Yaga and the infiltration of Russia by the Camarilla. (No. The old hag wasn't done in by a vampire.) So not meta plot.

If you have the chance, pop on Sci Fi channel and catch some old episodes. You may find, like myself, they are so much better after The Masquerade's implosion.

8 Gaming Items that were made to be Lost

2008-04-29T13:54:00.001-04:00

Quick Link!

Speaking of Silent Hill

2008-04-25T10:06:00.003-04:00

We now have Silent Hill 5 screenshots!

Originally, the game was called 'No Escape' and it's been changed to 'Homecoming.' This works better as calling the game no escape would be a little redundant.

I keep avoiding the purchase of a PS3, but since it Sony won the hi-def wars (and by extension, I'm eating crow), I know I won't be able to put it off for much longer. I am already sold on the 360, and since Homecoming will be coming out on both platforms, I may avoid it just a little longer.

In a strange twist of fate, Europe will see the release of the game before us. And though I don't begrudge them that, it may kill the U.S. release. Game companies complain about theft, but they don't take the obvious step to stop it, which is simultaneous release. By the time the game hits shelves here, most fans will either have bought the European edition or stolen it.

Anyway, it looks like our new everyman, Alex Shepherd, is hitching a ride with an older Travis Grady, the star of Origins, in the screenshots. This isn't official, just what it looks like in what we've seen so far.

Silent Hill Origins

2008-04-23T18:42:00.003-04:00

As soon as I found out the prequel was available for the PS2, I nabbed it for my husband. He's only just started it, so I a proper review will have to wait.

I do want to say that the map function is 100% better than previous games.

The graphics are pretty darn good for a hand held port to console. I don't ever begrudge Silent Hill looking nothing like Final Fantasy because the crispy visuals just aren't good material for Silent Hill's sort of horror. In fact, the visual gets grainy and the tracking goes wiggy when a monster is close by. It makes it easier to know when to look, though some of the monsters are harder to kill.

Big Hint: Grab every IV stand you can find. They kill things fast and resist breaking for a while.

Oldest and Youngest

2008-04-17T16:35:00.003-04:00

Here's me and Noah! Noah is the youngest of my cousins. I'm the oldest of all the cousins. I turn 30 this year and Noah is barely pushing a year.

Isn't he adorable?

Aquarius Training

2008-04-16T21:29:00.003-04:00

With Origins on the horizon, I've been debating whether or not Everybody vs. Andy would be enough for me in the Looney Labs events. I love watching Andy run around like a chicken with his head cut off and still manage to beat 20-30 people at 20-30 games at a time. Last year was the first time I managed to beat Andy and I did it with Aquarius.

This is kind of a shame because Fluxx is my love. It's also cool, because he has the longest hair and it shows my skill that I beat him anyway.

So now I'm Aquarius training in the hopes that I can compete in the Origins Aquarius tournament. I'm even growing my hair out to give me an advantage. I'm after a flower this year and I'm going to get one!

I'm also hoping the Ice House Champion will teach another Ice House seminar. I had a great time last year and want to learn more about the nuances of a deceptively simple game. Oh, for those of you who hit the jump, it takes you to Tree House, which is the game you can play with a single Ice House set. The "Playing With Pyramids" book has the rules for Ice House.

Of course, a late night game of "Are you the Werewolf?" is always a riot. I have a friend who took the werewolf deck and made characters for each of the villagers to act out. Because, as we all know, it needs to be even worse than it was before. Andy was pretty impressed with the idea at last Origins... Well, that was until we declared him the werewolf. XD

If you head to Origins this year and are the crafty sort, I suggest hanging out with Kristen in the Looney Labs. She'll teach you how to make a carrot headband.

Giving In: Again...

2008-04-16T19:12:00.002-04:00

Castlevania, my gaming addiction of choice, has called to me, and I am now looking to buy a PSP for my sweet, sweet Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles addiction. The announcement that flOw would be ported to the PSP earlier had chipped away at my resistance, but Castlevania drove the stake into the heart of it all.

So now I'm pricing PSPs. I stopped into the local Gamestop to have a look at the used ones and checkout FF7: Crisis Core. I found the used PSPs, but did I even find a hint of Crisis Core? Nope.

Now I understand that Gamestop makes the vast majority of their dough on used games. That's fine. But if you don't sell some new games, there won't be any used ones to sell back to you. Right?

Right.

Maybe.

I walked over to Wally-World to check out what they had in PSP games. Keep in mind that this is a 'big blue box' in the middle of 'college town gamer central.' They had a total of five PSP games: Spongebob Squarepants, Sega Genesis Collection, Harvest Moon, Tiger Woods PGA 08, and Patapon.

Wow. I thought I remembered Sony saying the PSP was going to be a 'grown-up' DS. Yet another thing they have to take back. Granted, Patapon looks cool, but do we really need another Spongebob game? Have we not suffered enough with the massive amount of Pokemon?

Again, I am stuck with buying what I want off the net. Ebay, my on again off again lover, would be great if all the gamers on the damn thing would agree that we would never bid over a certain amount for anything and therefore drive the prices of what we want down. Seriously! You're not shopping victoriously when your paying more for something (+ shipping) that a quick trip to Best Buy wouldn't get you cheaper. Do yourself a favor and check the retail price at a big box store before bidding!!!

So, I am still sans PSP, though I will have one on April 30th (aka payday!), as it is my promised reward for kicking ass and getting a new job. And I will also be getting the nifty little hook-up that will let me play on the big screen tv in the living room. Because we need to see why the travesty that is Sephiroth went so badly. (Oh technology! How I love you!)

Super Smash Brothers

2008-03-30T17:47:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, a bunch of the kids came over for a night filled with Mr. Game and Watch turning into an octopus and Jigglypuff (Did I spell that right? Dear Lord, I hope not...) expanding faster than a helium balloon. So the boys could play, I did all the running around. I did, however, get in on the last round of horror and learned something fascinating about myself:

I am still able to pick up any fighter and kick ass with it.

Go Me!

Of course, it wasn't that hard to do. The custom stage sucked and it's easy to avoid death when the bottom of the stage is covered with spikes. Spikes won't kill you, but your percentages will go to hell.

Yes. I played Zelda/Sheik. I am a fangirl through and through.

Back to fighters.

Remember this?

Ah yeah, baby! I love Mortal Kombat! Even as a little kid, I could never understand what people were so up in arms about with the blood spray. I thought the blood spray was cool. No other game I had at the time had blood spray. My cousins and I would play Mortal Kombat into the wee hours. Fast forward to Mortal Kombat 3 and the massive MK3 tournaments and I was in hog heaven!

I have fond memories of handing men of all ages their asses when they tried to "teach" me that Mortal Kombat was a "man's game." Yeah right.

Anyway, I am salivating over the rumors of a Final Fantasy Fighter. The chance to whoop Sephiroth's girly butt with Aerith is very appealing. Then there's just playing Sephiroth. I know he's a pretty-mouthed pansy, but remember: Fangirl talking.

I'd love to see some of the Castlevania men appear in a fighter: Simon, Leon, Soma...

You were waiting for Alucard, right? He goes without saying.

What if we could have an Ubi-Soft fighter?!

Rayman vs. Altair
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Atsuma
Prince of Persia vs. Rabbids
Jade vs. Travis Touchdown
Bomberman vs. Rianna Saren
Winnie the Pooh vs. Lloyd

Wow. That got weird fast. I didn't even add in all the Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six stuff.

Can I have a fighter with Yuri from Shadow Hearts and Dante from Devil May Cry, please?

Cheat Sheet!
Rayman/Assassin's Creed
TMNT/Enchanted Arms
Prince Of Persia/Raving Rabbids
Beyond Good and Evil/No More Heroes
Bomberman/Star Wars Lethal Alliance
Winnie the Pooh/Astonishia

Giving In

2008-03-24T12:04:00.002-04:00

Well, I've finally done it. I now have a cell phone.

I'm so disappointed in myself. I've been playing with the damn thing every night.

In an attempt to assert my dominance over it, I added Bejeweled (also known as crack) and Poppit! (also known as uncut crack). I am so screwed.

I have to say that I'm proud of myself for resisting the entire 'perfect background and/or ring tone' insanity that has taken over the rest of my household. While my husband scours the net for Dr. Who backgrounds and ringtones, I just took a picture of my favorite fabric and set it as my background. In some way, I'm hoping this will help motivate me into starting my new backpack. The one I've currently got is killing my shoulders, and, as a bursitis vicitm, I need to watch that.

That's right. No pictures of Joachim Armster or Albel Nox or Sephiroth. Just fabric. Let my husband struggle to find a pic of David Tennant that isn't distorted by the phone. I'm happy.

All that said, I haven't actually used my phone that much. And watching the way the students in library use theirs is kind of disturbing. A whole gaggle of girls walked in. They were obviously together as they stopped and waited as a group when one had to break off to do something. The weird part was that they never spoke to each other. They were all on their cellphones, talking to someone else.

It's things like that, that make me envy my grandmother's generation. They understood the value of actually physically seeing a friend to talk. But maybe that's the difference. These kids don't have friends. They just have a large group of acquaintances that they talk to so they don't feel lonely. It's simultaneously creepy and disheartening.

Grieving

2008-03-05T12:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the father of role-playing left us. E. Gary Gygax left us too young at age 69.

It was extremely surreal. You never know what kind of impact a person has one your life until they're gone.

I was working on some D&D stuff for my DM when I got the news. And I was much more devastated than I thought I'd be.

Gary's the reason for a lot of things for me. He's the reason a relationship even developed between my husband and I when we started dating. He's the reason I made it through the toughest times in college. He's the reason I became so interested in religious studies. He's the reason I go to Origins every year to hang out with total strangers and leave with new friends.

Gary's the reason for a lot of other things. He's the reason people have become doctors, actors, and writers. He's the reason people who have nothing in common gather around a table together. He's the reason games aren't just about winning.

He's the reason for a world wide community of gamers, all of whom mourn him today.

Today, I'm at work, with tears in my eyes and a sniffle in my nose. I know that gaming will go on. It's so much bigger than one person. But the person who encouraged our imaginations from the beginning is gone. And now there will always be a Gary shaped hole in our hearts.

We miss you Gary.

News!

2008-02-18T13:36:00.002-05:00

Eek! I haven't posted in, like, forever, right?

I am working on a bunch of dice bag posts that will teach you how to make a variety of different dice bags from really simple to really complex. As soon as I get the new memory card for my camera, we'll be having dice bag fun! I promise that it won't be super-girly. ;)

I'm in the process of applying for a new job. Of course, I'll only be moving into an office in the west end of the building should I get it. If I do, I promised myself a 360 as a reward.

Of course, I may amend that and also be getting a PSP. Not that I'm interested in PSP games. They tend to suck and I'm hoping that changes. The driving factor behind buying the PSP is flOw, which is being ported to the PSP and I'll take mobile relaxation any day of the week.

If you've never played flOw, you can love it online here. Remember to turn the music up.

The new job promises more money which means more games! Of course, I've had that hankering to play Shadow Hearts again, so I should probably just pop that in this weekend and let Yuri kick the crap out of everything in site.

Put Some Clothes On!

2007-12-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

Wee! An update!

Sorry... I've been distracted by... things...

On to Odin Sphere!

I actually finished Odin Sphere a few weeks ago and engaged in letting the deliciousness of it simmer for a while. My only major complaint, as noted before, is the lack of decent clothing on Odin's favorite people.

For a game that recycles the vast majority of its scenery and level design, it never got old. I ran around for hours on end without getting bored. Once I figured out how to make quick cash and turn over elixirs left and right, the game went very smoothly and let me get every part of the bonus ending material.

Does that mean the game was easy? Oh hell no! I got my butt whooped a lot before I learned how to attack properly. (I'm one of those 'run-in-and-kill-them-all' types.)

So what complaints do I have besides the lack of clothing on Velvet and Brigan?

* Battles slowed down when too much was happening on the screen.
This happened a LOT when fighting Odette. She summoned so many monsters that the frame rate slowed down to "Oh My God, Kill Me Now to End This Torture" levels.

* Saying Velvet is a prime contestant for American Idol: Pr0n edition does not make you a prude.
Not only could she not dress herself, she couldn't act with decorum at any point in time. Now, the poor thing has gone through massive psychological trauma (abandoning her mother to a gruesome death, physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her grandfather, finding out her brother is a raving lunatic), but none of these are a reason to fall on all fours and beg someone to do something when you can beat them to death. And the Phozon gathering/release for her weapon is just wrong. (Or maybe my head is too far down in the gutter.)

Velvet aside, I really enjoyed the game and the plot intersection did not confuse at all. Stories wove around each other without ever getting in each other's way, which is a feet in and of itself. Atlus gets full marks. Though the dialog poured over you like soap opera bath water, it was never too cliche.

Lack of foul language and as much violence as Kingdom Hearts makes this a good story for the family to sit around and play.

Just don't let your daughters grow up to be Velvet.

Halloweenie!

2007-11-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Yes. I know I'm behind, but I have pictures!

Here is Sarah, as the Library Jedi, attacking the head of her department, Larry.

And here is me, as an Infernal from Iron Kingdoms. Check out the awesomeness of my two tone hair and nifty Halloween socks!

Sarah's costume took me a few days because the tabards were such a pain in the butt.

My costume took four hours. It's not exactly finished, but was good enough for Halloween. I need to adjust the 'corset' top so that it fits better. You can't see it in the picture, but the vest is embroidered and needs more work to be uniform. I also need a longer skirt, the 'armor' that goes over the purple sash, and the sigil that goes on right where the front of the costume opens a bit. Still, I'm happy with the current results. The next costume project is an 'authentic' Jedi costume for Sarah and a Jedi Librarian costume for myself.

Yes, I will have a lightsaber. Sarah is making it for me! :)

My geekdom knows no bounds...

2007-10-28T18:48:00.001-04:00

A Decent Pair of Pants

2007-10-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

This isn't the Odin Sphere review yet, but it is a comment I have.

What is it with Odin and the mostly naked? He only likes people who need a decent pair of pants.

Two of his daughters fight for him, one till death, and the other to the edge of sanity. Which daughter does he love? Velvet. The one who hates him and wants to see him dead. She does not wear pants. In fact, she barely wears anything.

And then you have Lord Brigan. This tub of lard is a traitorous moron. So why does Odin keep him around? Is it that they are both deceitful peas in a pod? No! I submit that it is because Brigan doesn't wear pants. And I don't count the two dead wolves he wears for shoulder pads as clothing.

Odin's problems can be summed up very neatly: He is too distracted by naked people. If Odin said he wanted them oiled up for a battle royal (or maybe mud wrestling), I wouldn't be surprised. That's not a boss fight. It's a travesty!

For God's sake, someone put some clothing on these people!

Pucca

2007-10-21T12:10:00.001-04:00

Dave and I just celebrated our 4th anniversary! Yay!

To celebrate, he gave me a Pucca purse. I loves the Pucca!

And then we watched Star Wars: Clone Wars.

We are such geeks. :P

Does she know how to use a computer?

2007-10-14T15:34:00.001-04:00

Poor Sarah.

I've posted on her before, but this one is a doozy:

Sarah is a scanner monkey for Digitization and Preservation. Her office address is in the Digital Resource Center. She works on huge projects that involve a lot of coding and programming. She spends her entire day in front of a massive computer screen. She was hired for her computing skills.

When the head of Digitization and Preservation asked for people to help out on a digital project, Sarah's supervisor recommended her.

Guess what the head of the department asked.

Go on.

Guess!

Keep in mind that the head of this department has seen Sarah do nothing but use a computer.

Guess what she asked!

Are you ready for this?

"Does Sarah know how to use a computer?"

Go ahead and read into that statement. The head of a computer heavy department is so computer illiterate, she doesn't actually know what a computer looks like. She has a laptop that she has never turned on and does not know how to use. She considers it a status item and won't requisition any for her staff, who desperately need them I might add, because they aren't good enough to have laptops.

We pray that Sarah will find a better job soon.

:P

Back! Or something similar...

2007-10-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

I'm still alive! I swear! I think...

It's nice to know that people are still stopping by to read, even when I'm not posting.

When last we left, it was August and I had almost nothing to say. I still don't have much to say, but I have been busy. I finished two crocheted blankets, most of my Christmas shopping, learned to knit, and am working on a new coat.

I am in the middle of Odin Sphere. Which is totally awesome! I'll say something about it when I finish it. Don't avoid it because it's a true 2-D platformer. It rocks!

The composer who worked on Odin Sphere's score also did Vagrant Story, which is my friend Julia's fav game. Vagrant Story, for those who missed it, is a PSX game from the people who bring us Final Fantasy. The poor main character, Ashley, spends the entire game being screwed over mentally and emotionally. Think Cloud, but actually being tortured. This has caused a resurgence of Vagrant Story love in the house. We come home to Vagrant Story and wake up to Odin Sphere. It's all good.

I'm also playing Dawn of Sorrow for the 80th time. When I travel, I take the DS with me and I've been traveling a lot lately. I've been to the Stroudsmoor, which is awesome! If you want a great place to stay and really want to feel like you're in the middle of no where (but not actually), this is it.

I'm currently reading 'Mysterious Journey to the North Sea Part Two' by Kikuchi. Yes, I need my vampire hunter D love and Kikuchi never fails to provide in an overly fanboy way. The only writer I've ever seen who loved their own character that much is Anne Rice. She's gotten over Lestat in recent years, but a quick browse through any of her vampire novels will reveal a long time love affair with her own imagination.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I just got tired of hearing about Lestat.

Old Grandma Hardcore

2007-08-09T13:24:00.001-04:00

How did I not know about this?

For those of you who are new, Old Grandma Hardcore is the blog of a kid named Timothy who likes to film his grandmother playing video games. She also reviews games and talks a lot about how the game play handles.

Watch out! She's got a mouth that would make a sailor blush.

1408

2007-07-01T17:24:00.000-04:00

I have that nice little note about reviews on the side. Please note that it does not apply to movies. ;)

Gamer's Movie Review of 1408.

Jump over to Rotten Tomatoes to check the score, read a few of the one line reviews and jump back.

A Fresh rating?

Sure. If you consider 70-79% a C for average.

I love classic, no gore, horror movies. The kind that made the genre that Saw and Hostel ride the back of. Being in a Silent Hill mood, I looked around for a good movie to fill the Silent Hill shaped whole in my brain until Origins comes out. While in a hotel room the night before my brother's wedding, I saw a trailer for 1408 and promptly had a nightmare. I'd found what I was looking for.

Not.

1408 introduces us to a ghost hunter who, after years of looking for some evidence of the afterlife, has become a cynical occult writer in need of a therapist and a few AA meetings. He needs a hotel to fill the last chapter of his latest book. And a postcard from the Dolphin hotel with "Don't Enter 1408" calligraphied on the back falls into his hands.

1408 (which adds up to the number 13) is the 13th room on the 13th floor of the hotel and in the words of Samuel L. Jackson, "It's a f--ing evil room."

I agreed... for about 30 minutes.

There was a very intense Silent Hill feel to the first 30 minutes of Cusack's stay in the room. After that, the movie continually and seriously dropped the ball at every opportunity. Instead of continuing the creepy vein, they went for explosions and cheap trick twists. The 'ghosts' looked like George Lucas was allowed to touch the original film, and the moving paintings reminded me of Halloween at Hogwarts. I only jumped once the entire time and it wasn't during the genuinely creepy crawl through the air ducts.

I drove home with my husband in the passenger seat coming up with a hundred ways that the movie could have been better.

The best part of the movie was the end when Cusack's character man's up and decides to fight fire with fire. Literally. It was tense and funny in a very creepy way.

I give it a weak three out of five.

Why three? Even with it's flaws, it still makes for a good cult flick.

Mom's Mini Van

2007-06-25T17:46:00.000-04:00

Yes. I know I'm behind with the posting.

:P

Here's a gem filled with travel games to keep your little ones from driving you nuts on that long car ride:

Mom's Mini Van!

Castlevania Movie

2007-06-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

Good News: Paul W. S. Anderson is NOT directing it. (Yay!)

Bad News: Silvain White is directing it. (Crap.)

Well, at least we have this.

Oh My God...

2007-06-12T17:12:00.001-04:00

If you read my fics, you know what this means. The pic is the jump. Hit it.

Gaming and National Parks

2007-06-06T17:27:00.000-04:00

Christian Science Monitor is reporting a decline in national park attendance. While some sites are saying that the article claims that games are specifically to blame, the article takes issue with a problem much broader: Technology as a whole.

I live in the wilds of PA and typically sees things like deer, bear, and the occasional mountain lion. Everyday, I go to work and help kids that don't remember what life before their cellphone was like. Many of them could tell you what a cow looks like, but sheep? Talk about a total freak out when they see the campus flocks.

Children today are very nature illiterate. It started with the rise of computers and the consumer/disposable society. Parents want to give their children they have the best. Unfortunately, that means less discipline and more toys. It means less siblings and more high end gadgets. It means less cheap camping trips and more expensive vacations.

In wanting to give them the best, we gave them the worst.

For example: The best man at my wedding, who is an Eagle Scout by the way, is dating a very nature illiterate young woman. She saw a deer and asked if it was going to attack her. *sigh*

Here is a comparison of their lives:

Best Man	Girl Friend
Many Siblings	Only Child
Summer Camping Trips	Summer Cruises
Grew up in Rural PA	Grew up in City

This girl thinks her boyfriend had a horrible childhood because he grew up in the middle of nowhere with a lot of brothers and sisters. It never occurs to her that his life is richer by far because he has a larger experience of the world and a large family support system. It's sad that the girl who grew up rich in money is so poor in worldliness.

Her parents, in attempting to give her the best, short changed her. A nature walk, complete with natural wildlife is only half a mile from her house. Yet she never knew it was there until her boyfriend found it. There's no sense of adventure in her. The idea that she might have to take a chance and risk something in the future terrifies her.

Many kids play video games because it simulates the adventure they need to have in order to grow both creatively and physically. Even on playgrounds, kids sit around with a device, rather than play with each other. The less family a person has, the less likely they are to experience the Great Outdoors. Siblings drag you outside if your parents don't kick you out into the sun first.

But solving nature illiteracy is easy.

Find the closest national, state, or local park.
Go there with a picnic lunch. (hike, bike, walk, skip, jump, somersault, etc.)
Enjoy.

You could also:

Go to a Zoo.
Go to an Aquarium.
Go Camping.
Help out your local boy and girl scout troops.
Sign your kids up for the local boy and girl scout troops.
Just turn off the electronics.

To help yourself and future generations become nature literate, start right now. Turn off your computer, walk outside, and hug a tree.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's an awesome little parklet behind the spiritual center that's calling my name.

Origins!

2007-06-06T13:22:00.000-04:00

Origins is comin' to town!
Origins is comin' to town!
Or-i-gins is comn' --- to town!

The movie time snafu aside, my itinerary is ready for Origins!

Now for the basic preparations:

Grocery List (I learned my lesson last year: Bring Food.)
Beaded Lanyards (I am female after all.)
Costume Prep (I didn't manage this last year so I'm not going to feel bad if I blow it this year.)

Star Wars LEGOs

2007-06-06T13:21:00.000-04:00

Still playing Star Wars LEGOs... Can't stop playing...

Adam, Jamie, and a Ninja

2007-05-07T18:58:00.001-04:00

Well, it was bound to happen...

2007-05-06T21:03:00.000-04:00

Super Hero Comic Covers Best Forgotten

I Can't Live Without You

2007-04-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

Destructoid has a great question for the gaming masses. It is not "What are the best games?". Rather, it is "What are the games you can't live without?"

I cannot live without:

Shadow Hearts
The creepy, creepy original! I've played this game, including all side quests, somewhere around 20 to 30 times. If I'm bored, and want to play a game, Shadow Hearts goes in the PS2 and I don't look back. Sometimes I'll only play the first half of the game. Sometimes I'll go back months later and play the rest. It doesn't matter. Shadow Hearts is my fall back for any video game down time.

Shadow of the Colossus
I haven't played this game into oblivion, but you really can't. You have to wait for it and let the need to play sneak up on you. If I didn't have this game, even when not interested in playing, I would cry. How much do I love SotC? I have a coat, necklace, and rubber stamp with the weak spot sigil on them. That's right: a rubber stamp. My mail goes out in Colossus Style.

Castlevania
Any of them. Seriously. Occasionally I get this urge to kill vampires and zombies with nothing but a leather skirt and a whip with a vampire's soul in it. Or maybe just the Coat of Pimping (+2) and the Claimh Solais. Anyway, when I get into a Dracula killing mood, any console becomes my friend and the DS lets me have my Castlevania anywhere, including conferences for work. ;)

What games can you not live without?

Typing of the Dead II

2007-04-22T11:15:00.000-04:00

Man, if we had this back in high school, the typing teach would have had a run for her money when the guys challenged her.

Thanks Sega Nerds!

Dying Bees and Monsanto

2007-04-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

As a gaming blog, I don't normally comment on things outside of gaming here. But this warrants it.

Many blogs and news agencies have been noticing that bees have been dying off left and right without warning. A few have written that genetically modified corn may be the cause.

They hit the mark.

Monsanto, the company that brought us Agent Orange among other horrors, has created a genetically modified corn crop called Triple Hybrid GM. The corn grows its own internal pesticides, which kill bees. Genetically modified crops must have a 'stop gene' encoded into them. This gene keeps the pollen of modified plants from poleenating unmodified plants. Triple Hybrid GM doesn't seem to have this insurance measure.

In Germany, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Italy, bees are dying at an unprecedented rate. Bees are starting to die in the US as well. Bees pollinate our crops, and provide us an important food source. Without bees, are food supply dies.

And you thought Pentex was made up.

Source Help:
News From Underground
Monsanto's GM shows Liver and Kidney Toxicity
Colony Collapse Disorder

Oh Yeah!

2007-04-11T20:37:00.001-04:00

Here Zombies! Come get your nummies!

Clever Cuties

2007-04-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

Look, Honey! Clothes for our kids!

Playing Video Games...

2007-04-11T17:23:00.001-04:00

Improves Your Eyesight.

This may actually explain why I have better vision now than I did in high school.

Hmm...

Seraphim's List of Totally Free PC Games

2007-04-11T17:19:00.000-04:00

Totally Free and Totally Good!

Made With Molecules

2007-04-11T17:03:00.000-04:00

We are so geek.

I particularly like the DNA transcription Tree Card for Christmas.

Study Shows

2007-04-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

You have to be aggressive before you play to be aggressive after.

Thanks to Game Politics.

Subway Commercial

2007-04-03T14:37:00.000-04:00

I have one thing to say about the Subway Commercial:

Everyone, GROW UP!

So we have a commercial about a young gamer's bad eating habits. Who cares? The commercial makes a good point. Childhood obesity is a major problem. Teaching kids to eat properly is important to having a long and healthy life.

Don't scream about DDR groups. DDR is only ONE game and not everyone likes it.

We have bigger fish to fry in the game industry:

Unnecessary video game legislation
Stereotyping (which the commercial is not)
Jack Thompson

Put things into perspective, people. This commercial is going to be around for, what, 4 weeks?
Get over it.

BattleBricks: WiigoBot

2007-04-01T19:03:00.000-04:00

BattleBricks having way too much fun with Wii Sports.

Crazy Games!

2007-04-01T17:22:00.000-04:00

Jelly Jumper
Created by Logitech for some nonsense fun.

Snapalope Hunting
The Slim Jim comercials taken to another level.

The Adventures of Fancy Pants Man
An interesting take on games like Sonic.

Flight of the Hamster
Hamster flinging. What? You need more of an explanation?

Shatner Serenades Darth Flannel

2007-04-01T11:21:00.001-04:00

Star Wars?

NOOOOOO!

2007-04-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

My poor geek heart! It's giving out!

Gillian, Come Back!

Totally Horrible!

2007-03-30T10:36:00.000-04:00

Which makes it so Terribly Awesome!

I can't decide which is the worst!

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix

2007-03-30T10:33:00.000-04:00

You Bastards...

My Day Has Come!

2007-03-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it." - Voltaire

Thank you Game Politics!

Lunch Break

2007-03-22T12:18:00.000-04:00

Anakin is SO emo.

Stormtroopers are cool though.

Getting Girls into the Game

2007-03-21T21:22:00.000-04:00

I could not resist this one. Read it and jump back over.

Now, read the Gamer's Manifesto.

That's what female gamers want. Hell, that's what ALL GAMERS want.

Is it that hard to understand?

R2D2 Goes Postal!

2007-03-19T19:36:00.000-04:00

So I'm a little behind on this. It's still totally awesome.

Math Team Solves Unsolvable E8

2007-03-19T17:36:00.000-04:00

Article by Stephanie Olsen!
If you thought writing calculations to describe three-dimensional objects in math class was hard, consider doing the same for one with 248 dimensions.

Mathematicians call such an object E8 (pronounced "e eight"), a symmetrical structure whose mathematical calculation has long been considered an unsolvable problem. Yet an international team of math whizzes cracked E8's symmetrical code in a large-scale computing project, which produced about 60 gigabytes of data. If they were to show their handiwork on paper, the written equation would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

David Vogan, a professor in MIT's Department of Mathematics and member of the international research team, presented the work Monday on MIT's campus. His talk was called "The Character Table for E8, or How We Wrote Down a 453,060 x 453,060 Matrix and Found Happiness."

"What's attractive about studying E8 is that it's as complicated as symmetry can get," Vogan said in a statement.

Project leaders said that the work is important for several reasons. First, it brought together 18 math professors who typically work alone, in a landmark project sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Second, that large-scale computing factored heavily into solving the equation means that other difficult and long-standing math problems could be understood this way. And the work might lead to new discoveries in mathematics and physics.

"Understanding and classifying the representations of E8 …has been critical to understanding phenomena in many different areas of mathematics and science including algebra, geometry, number theory, physics and chemistry. This project will be invaluable for future mathematicians and scientists," said Peter Sarnak, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University who was not involved with the work.

E8 was discovered in 1887 and it's an example of a Lie (pronounced "Lee") group. The 19th-century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie invented Lie groups as a way to study the symmetry of inherently symmetrical objects like the sphere. With its 248 dimensions, E8 is the largest of the higher-dimension Lie groups. Under a project called Atlas, mathematicians are trying to determine the unitary representations (or symmetries of a quantum mechanical system) of all the Lie groups.

"There are lots of ways that E8 appears in abstract mathematics, and it's going to be fun to try to find interpretations of our work in some of those appearances," said Vogan. "The uniqueness of E8 makes me hope that it should have a role to play in theoretical physics as well. So far the work in that direction is pretty speculative, but I'll stay hopeful."

The 18 researchers included mathematicians from MIT, Cornell University, University of Michigan, and the University of Poitiers, in France.

Ready Mech

2007-03-16T15:26:00.000-04:00

Bored?

Build a Ready Mech.

Raaaarrrr!

It shouldn't take someone with a PH.D to figure this out

2007-03-16T08:01:00.000-04:00

Dr. Christopher Ferguson of Texas A&M did a little research into the research. He found what gamers already know: Video Games Do Not Cause Violent Behavior.

Article by Colin Campbell.

Top Ten Beat-Em Ups!

2007-03-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

I totally agree with the list!

Man...

I miss Double Dragon.

Oh please...

2007-03-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

Give me a break...

Q: Isn't TIGRS just like the ESRB™ ratings?

A: No. In fact, the two rating systems have very different goals. TIGRS can never achieve the level of respectability or credibility that the ESRB™ ratings have. This lies in the fact that the TIGRS ratings are unregulated, whereas ESRB™ ratings are governed by an external body. If you want an industry recognized rating on your game, then you should contact the ESRB™ about a rating. If you cannot afford an ESRB™ rating or choose not to use one for ethical reasons, then you are welcome to self-rate with TIGRS.

Let's add some unregulated ratings to games!

W00t! What a great idea!

morons...

Video Games Growing Up... noticing girls...

2007-03-15T08:42:00.000-04:00

Read this, then jump back over.

Video games aren't just for the kids anymore.

No. Really. I missed that. I can think of several games that were made for kids, but honestly, the bulk of the industry is geared toward adult gamers who want good games. I love the assertion that the consoles are being bought by 'Nintendads' for their kids.

Bullshit.

We buy the consoles for ourselves. Maybe, just maybe, the kids will be allowed play time. Video gamers aren't interested, for the most part, in introducing others to play. Occasionally, we stumble on a game that somebody we know must play. But not that often. We play video games with other, previously introduced, gamers and leave it at that.

With all the uproar about violence in games, we often forget who buys the games in the first place. While certain retailers are selling games they shouldn't to children, we have to ask why a child (someone under the age of eighteen) might want to play a video game that is not meant for them:

Control Over Reality - Kids will choose a game that makes them feel, briefly, like they have control over their lives. Kids in bad neighborhoods play Grand Theft Auto. Kids who have underdeveloped social skills play RPGs. Kids who don't do well in math play platforms (where math doesn't seem like such a big deal).
Media Coverage - ESPN's Pardon the Interruption asked which was worse: Media violence or Grand Theft Auto. After a scathing rant about GTA, my cousin turns to his mother and says, "Can I have that game?" The more you bitch about something being forbidden, the more kids want it. (By the way, my cousin got the game for Christmas.)
All their friends have it.
Mom and Dad said NO.

The only thing this article points out is that the video game set is much older than Capitol Hill likes to imagine. With people like Jack Thompson running around, trying to convince the world that video games produce killers, it's no wonder that video games are going to become a platform issue next election. (Rather than important things like taxes, the deficit, or, I don't know, THE WAR.) Even though the statistics show that the ESRB works, and works well, the government still wants it overhauled. Even though the biggest seller of video games (Wal*Mart) has a perfect track record with keeping M-rated games out of the hands of minors, people are still griping.

It's time to step back.

Parents! Parent your kids. Stop letting (or making) someone else do it for you.

Kids! That game is not going to be popular once you're old enough to play it. It just isn't that cool anyway. Get a copy of Rogue Galaxy and shut up.

SotC gettin' some Hollywood love!

2007-03-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

Check out the preview for the movie Reign Over Me.

Can you spot my obsession? ;)

Why do I suddenly have the urge to see this movie?

Team ICO and the PS3

2007-03-04T20:05:00.000-05:00

Famitsu, the Japanese magazine where all things video game radiate from have annouced that the team who gave us ICO and Shadow of the Colossus is working on a PS3 title.

Dammit. Now I have to buy a PS3.

I'm still waiting till the last minute.

urge to buy console rising....

Harker

2007-03-04T19:57:00.000-05:00

While lamenting the port of Rhondo of Blood to the PSP, I have some consolation with a new PS3/360 game: Harker.

A survival/horror game that gives you the up close and personal fighting of we see in games like Devil May Cry while combining the creepy aspects of games like Silent Hill.

I can't wait to make Dave play it for me.

1Up on Harker
Creator's Concept Interview
GameSpot
PS3 Game Zone

And last, but not least...

The violent trailer.

And I do mean violent. Cait, you probably don't want to look at it.

Driving Recklessly without a Car...

2007-03-04T11:35:00.000-05:00

Human Pixel Stop Motion that resembles a whole lot of Spy Hunter. Enjoy!

Condoms and Cancer

2007-02-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

Condom companies have known this for years. You should know it too.

Condoms Cause Cancer.

Steampunk Keyboard

2007-02-26T12:23:00.001-05:00

Check out this sweet sweet keyboard.

I wonder if I could do the same thing with scrapping...

Holy Crap Mother!

2007-02-22T19:45:00.000-05:00

The future of computing!

I seriously can't wait!

5 Most Influencial People in Gaming Who Never Lived

2007-02-21T19:00:00.000-05:00

My husband caught this great book today as it came in from cataloging: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. The book is fun, but that's not the point.

The point is, in gaming, we have our own list of people who are not real, and yet, have influenced us heavily. Here's a list of the top five, though they are in no particular order.

1. Mario (Super Mario Brothers)
Momma-Mia! Who doesn't love this little pisan and his brother, Luigi? Jumping, bouncing, kicking, flapping, flying, and wearing a raccoon suit, Mario has been with us as long as many of my readers have lived.

2. Link (Legend of Zelda)
The first epic hero on an epic quest, Link has seen reincarnation after reincarnation and everytime he has made a 5 on the Wolverine Scale, which is no mean feat. As the first group of gamer girls and boys collectively swooned over this hunk-a-hunk a burnin' heroeness, a star was born; one of the two that would carry Nintendo into the future.

3. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
With both sets of bazookas blazing, Lara Croft came out of no where to capture the imaginations, and libidos, of gamers every where.

4. Pac-Man (Pac-Man)
His legend endures! Though we are long passed the time when we had to pay to play the little yellow guy, we still do with millions of hits a year to sites that host him. He's showed up in webcomics and on super highways. And all of us know him by name.

5. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7)
Say what you want about this bad, bad pretty boy, Sephy's gotten under our collective skin and won't get out. Whether impossible to beat or impossibly easy, he has spawned his own sort of mythos and run amok with it. With references to him everywhere, even if just in passing, we can't get rid of him.

Oh Yeah...

2007-02-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Julia for sending me this dose of wrongness.

1992 TV Commercial for the Legend of Zelda

Son of a...

2007-02-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

I am NOT buying a PSP!

It couldn't have been ported for the DS, could it?

grumble grumble grumble...