Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

The MMO Times: The Daystar Burns Us!

By

On July 15, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

hot-weatherIssue 102 – Greetings and Salutations, Friends!! Ah, the sweltering days of summer are upon us and what is there better to do on a hot day then sit in the air conditioning and game. Of course you could go to the pool to ogle the bods … err, I mean get some refreshing exercise – but you can’t slay Orcs while wading in the deep end! While keeping cool in this infernal days of summer, check out what’s going on in your favorite MMO titles.

Sony is teasing us again with some new trademarks, and speaking of trademarks, we finally know what “The Dark Below” is. Blizzard has some news for Hearthstone fans and for the folks still playing WoW (while eagerly awaiting Warlords of Draenor). WildStar is making an effort for players to better secure their accounts; I always suggest taking advantage of extra security.

Read More

Book Review: Timebound

By

On July 14, 2014

In Book Review

Timebound (The Chronos Files, #1)Timebound by Rysa Walker

My rating: [rating=4]
(See this review on Goodreads.)

This was a really fun book to read. I know whenever you read a book that deals with time travel you always have to wonder whether the author considered the downstream affect of altering the past. I think the author did a pretty good job of taking that into consideration. In fact it a small theme in the plot of the story. I often try not to get too hung up on the quantum details of time travel unless the author blatantly disregards all science and logic, and this author does not do that.

Basically the book is about this girl (another female hero – I guess that’s been a theme with me lately) who realizes she has a genetic ability to time travel using a special medallion. She is among an elite group of people that have this ability and all time travel is regulated by an organization called CHRONOS. When her estranged grandmother suddenly reappears in her life, she learns that someone is trying to alter the past for, none other than, power and glory. Her very existence depends on her ability to stop them.

A few years ago I read a book called Devil in the White City, which uses actual historical events to tell the story of the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair, and the world’s first serial killer. It’s a fascinating book about a fascinating time in Chicago’s history and one of the climatic moments of Timebound will take you back to the 1893 World’s Fair, which involves said serial killer, and that was one of my favorite parts of this book.

View all my reviews

The MMO Times: Independence Edition!

By

On July 7, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

4th_fireworksIssue 101: Happy Independence Day (for those of us in the U.S.A.)!! I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I celebrated our country’s birthday on the beaches in Maryland which means I took a week off of gaming. My vacation also explains why this post is delayed so hopefully there is still something in here that will amuse and/or excite you.

There are quite a few exciting headlines, especially for fans of WoW and SWTOR. There are also details about the Pathfinder Online MMO that is incoming and some exciting news for Asheron’s Call (for those nostalgia MMO fans). Also, not to toot my own horn but I am in the beta/alpha for two of Blizzard’s games now (Heroes of the Storm and WoD) so hopefully I will be able to talk about those games though probably not in too much detail because of the NDA associated with all closed beta/alpha invites. I know a few of you have also received a WoD invite as well so we could probably talk in secret 🙂

Read More

My First Hurricane

By

On July 6, 2014

In General Cogitation

arthur_ocmdI wasn’t really in the worst part of the storm. I was in Ocean City, Maryland which was just on the very, very edge of Hurricane Arthur. My in-laws had another sandy vacation for the family, this time in the penthouse on the 17th floor of a place on the beach in Ocean City. I don’t know what it is about fireworks on the beach that makes the 4th of July so much more spectacular. (If you have access to the gallery on the family website you can see some of the pictures I took).

The picture on the left is taken from the balcony that overlooked the beach on the day that Hurricane Arthur was moving north of the Carolina’s. The worst that we really got of the storm were some high winds (which were only about 25-30 mph) and a bunch of rain. Be that as it may, it is the closest I have come to being in an actual hurricane.

I’m not really a beach person, something about sand getting everywhere, but there is plenty of other things to do in Ocean City, MD that even I enjoyed. Of course I got an opportunity to grill out which I always enjoy doing with the ocean splashing in the background. The boardwalk is kind of fun to walk, granted there are quite a few people there that like to do the same thing. There are so many putt-putt courses you could literally play a different course every day of the week.

I tried golfing for the third time in my life. I do think I can really get the hang of it so I may be trying to find a decent set of clubs on Craig’s List to start practicing. I really don’t want to spend a bunch of money on clubs when I’m still learning to play the game. I think playing a round of golf with both of my brother-in-laws during these family vacations could become a great tradition.

It was a great week to spend up in New England, I hope my nieces had as much fun as the rest of us.

Open Season on nook

By

On June 26, 2014

In General Cogitation, Technology

easton1I’ve had a Barnes & Noble nook e-reader since the first year they came out and today I probably have more books on it than I own in printed format. I always knew, however, that Barnes & Noble was struggling with the sales of their nook devices. Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBook app are just too strong for Barnes & Noble to fight. It sucks because I really like my nook.

Now I read today on CNET that Barnes & Noble will be splitting into two companies, one will be it’s regular retail business and the other their Nook Media business. I think what is most suspicious about this move is that just a few weeks ago it was announced that Samsung will be teaming with Barnes & Noble to provide a new nook using the Samsung Galaxy hardware (named the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook). I suspect that what is really happening here is that Barnes  Noble Nook Media isn’t just splitting off, I think it will become a divestiture in which Samsung will purchase the new company. This just seems to coincidental so mark my words, Samsung will soon be the new parent company of Nook Media.

I just hope that my boring nook e-reader will not become completely obsolete and the sole focus will be just on the nook tablet. Unfortunately, I think I know the answer to that.

Biggs On: Game of Thrones (HBO Series)

By

On June 18, 2014

In Biggs On, Geek Canon

The latest TV phenomenon is the HBO “perspective” of the Game of Thrones books. I actually have not been watching. I’m not really a fan of the deviation from the books. I realize that the author, George R. R. Martin (GRRM), is heavily involved with the retelling of his books. Perhaps his reasons for changing the fates of some characters or emphasizing certain character elements is his way of “correcting the flaws in the books”. Well then he should have fixed them before publishing the books. GRRM must be the worlds most A.D.D. author, or the most indecisive author.

I’m actually somewhat reluctant to read books 6 and 7 (if he ever gets around to publishing them) because I’m worried about the continuity with the first 5 books. He has already altered the fates of a few characters from the books. How will that affect the next book? If he uses some lame flashback mechanic or character recollection of the Red Wedding (**SPOILER**) to explain why suddenly Rob’s wife is dead (because she wasn’t killed at the Red Wedding in the book – in fact she wasn’t even at the wedding – and is the source of much controversy that she is carrying an heir), I will be quite upset and GRRM will be quite the sell out (and I know sell outs, I’m a George Lucas fan).

The old adage “the book is always better” definitely applies in this case but since the author has direct influence of the story told on HBO, then personally they will be two different entities. The HBO series will be a *cough*bastardized*cough* re-telling of the books and not worthy of my patronage.

Am I really the only one that feels this way? Is everyone else so taken in by the HBO series, and too intimidated to actually read a book, that these differences are not that troubling??

I think what pisses me off the most is that GoT was actually declared the best HBO series since The Sopranos!! REALLY!! The Sopranos was an original concept, not an adapted screenplay. There shouldn’t be any comparison. Oh, and aside from Peter Dinklage, the casting of GoT is terrible.

Page 122 of 181

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén