Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

The Chuck Norris ..er MMO Times

By

On November 28, 2011

In Gaming, General Cogitation, MMO Times

Issue 22

Hello Gamers! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Here are some of the postings I found during my various opportunities to peruse the internet during my holiday. I hope you enjoy.

F2P DCUO Pays Off

I find the shift to Free-2-Play paradigm fascinating. Some of the games that have converted to F2P were met with failure, recently Lego Universe suffered this fate. Recently Sony decided to take DC Universe Online Free-2-Play and it looks like it paid off. I’m glad to hear that this worked out well for them. I found an interesting read at Venture Beat.
Venture Beat article

Chuck Norris Commercial

Blizzard aired a new WoW Commercial during the football games the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Yes, the newest celebrity to don a World of Warcraft character is the iconic Chuck Norris. Below is the video but for the e-mail I have a link to the WoW Insider post that contains the video for you to watch. Iconic, yet a bit corny. Enjoy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKpdxjHamI[/youtube]
WoW Insider post

Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculators

Blizzard unveiled the Mists of Pandaria talent calculators. I suspect WoW Head will have theirs updated to match the official talent calculators. I haven’t been able to look at them too much yet but its exciting to get to play around with them early.
WoW Insider post

TORHead Beta

One of my favorite websites for World of Warcraft is WoW Head. I love the information about all the loot and the talent calculator. Last week the beta of TORHead went live. It also has talent calculators, item details, crew skills, all the stuff you would expect it to have based on WoW Head. I’m very excited.
TOR Head website

WoW Patch 4.3 Live

The final patch for the Cataclysm expansion hit the live servers this week. The final raid, Dragon Soul, is now available to raiders. This is the final showdown with Deathwing. Players will also receive Transmog, Void Storage, three new instances as well as a few other goodies. The post from MMO-Champion has an excellent summation. WoW Insider has the official announcement from Bashiok.
WoW Insider article
MMO-Champion post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

Giving Thanks

By

On November 23, 2011

In General Cogitation

So I’m sitting here with my in-laws on the eve of Thanksgiving. We’re just chatting, watching random stuff on TV and it does occur to me to think about what I am thankful for, so here is a post about that very thing.

Foremost, I am thankful for my wife. She makes me a better person everyday.

Obviously I am thankful for my family. The ones I’ve always had and the new family I have had going on four years now. All of my family is amazing and I’m very fortunate to have them and I’m also very fortunate that we all get along. I know there are some families out there where that isn’t the case. Therefore I’m thankful for even the small things.

After family I’m very thankful for my friends. Although in quite a few cases its hard to distinguish between family and friends but I feel friends still deserve to be singled out. I wouldn’t be who I am today or where I am today without my friends. They have been there through hardest of times and the joyous of times. I couldn’t have survived high school, college and life without them.

There are many other blessings I am thankful for and the Lord knows what those are but I don’t feel like going into much more then family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Very Sparkly

By

On November 22, 2011

In General Cogitation, Movies

I am probably going to have my man can revoked but I watched the first Twilight movie on Monday. My wife wanted to watch them because of all the hype so I told her that I would watch them with her.

I am somewhat of a fan of vampire lore. I love the True Blood series. So I do have a few expectations when it comes to vampire lore. I think the first movie was alright, not quite as bad as I expected but there are two things that do bother me about the “alternative interpretation” to some of the vampire lore.

I know everyone has already mocked the Twilight movies about vampires sparkling. I’m sure Stephanie Meyer was just romanticizing the vampire lore to tell her love story but nearly every other vampire story will depict a vampire bursting into flames when they come in contact with sunlight. Vampires also do not have a reflection, and the climatic scene in Twilight takes place in a ballet studio and all the vampires have reflections in the mirrors. I think these two are some pretty core vampire lore, much like pointed ears on elves. While I can let the reflection thing slide, I’m having a hard time letting go of the sparkles.

So, while I’m definitely not a fan of sparkling vampires, so far I don’t think its a terrible movie. I told her I would watch the remainder the movies with her so I am interested to see how things transpire. The reviews I have been hearing about the one currently in theaters is that its much darker. Perhaps we will see the true brutality of vampires.

The MMO Times: Let’s Make Everything An MMO!

By

On November 17, 2011

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 21

Hello gamers! This issue is full of more announcements of things that are, and some that never should be, MMOs in the making. Enjoy.

Ignited Games Vampire MMO

We have come full circle. Last time I found details about a Zombie MMO and now Ignited Games has a closed beta for their Vampire MMO called DarkEden. You can sign up for the beta at the official website which I have also provided.
Massively article
Ignited Games website

A Total Recall MMO in Production (Unfortunately)

There are just some days when you read something like this and all you can do is /facepalm. Why in the world of Azeroth would someone want to make an MMO based on Total Recall?!? Its not like that was the best movie ever made, its just popular because of “tri-boob chick” (WARNING: NSFW!!!). Anyway, I found this post on a website called Gamasutra that Sony Pictures is behind this atrocity.
Gamasutra article

Game of Thrones MMO Announced

I haven’t read this series yet, but its on my ToDo list. I’m not surprised, based on the success of the novels and the TV mini-series, that the possibility of an MMO would emerge. Bigpoint has announced that they are working on making an GoT MMO.
Massively article

Lineage Eternal Announced

NCSoft announced that there will be a third installment of the Lineage universe called Lineage Eternal. It was announced at the Korean equivalent of E3 and the author of the article feels that there will be no doubt Lineage Eternal will be release overseas.I found the announcement at a website called The Sixth Axis but Massively also had a trailer.
The Sixth Axis post
Massively article

STO Will Be F2P 01-17-2012

Finally something to talk about that doesn’t refer to a new MMO. A few months ago I found an announcement that Cryptic would be making Star Trek Online Free-2-Play. I found an article from a website called Ology that gives the date STO will be F2P, January 17, 2012. I think I saw somewhere that Tom’s Hardware also had the announcement.
Ology article

Aion Double XP Weekends

In an attempt to bring players back, every weekend from now until December 6th NCSoft is offering Double XP weekend from gathering, crafting and killing mobs in Aion. Massively has more details and a trailer called the Shugo Event Showcase.
Massively article

4.3 Valor and Conquest Point Changes

WoW Insider has an article about what to expect in regards to acquiring valor points when 4.3 drops. It looks like Firelands will still drop Valor Points, just fewer valor points and Dragon Soul will drop twice that. Check out the article for more details.
WoW Insider post

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since the next MMO Times won’t be until the week following Thanksgiving I want to take a moment and wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

The Amazing Impact of Novels

By

On November 14, 2011

In General Cogitation

I just finished reading the last book of the Inheritance Cycle (which I highly recommend, seriously, read it!) and I cannot remember the last time, if ever, I felt such heart ache at the end of a series. You can call me whatever you want, a dork, and pansy; but Christopher Paolini created such a connection between the characters and the reader you would swear the inspiration was taken from the relationship between Rider and dragon.

The series ended the way they should have ended and I was still nearly moved to tears. I still find myself (even hours after having finished the book) yearning for a different ending. I keep amusing myself with the thought that maybe if I read the last one hundred pages again the ending will be different. Rarely will a novel make such a profound impact on me.

Despite my longing for the proverbial “fairy tale ending” I think its the sign of a great author to leave me feeling the way I feel. I think Christopher Paolini has an amazing career ahead of him. The Inheritance books are an amazing series, so amazing that I find it difficult to pick up another book until these feelings have passed.

Forever “Eterno Paterno”

By

On November 10, 2011

In General Cogitation

Before I express my opinion of the firing of Joe Paterno, let me make one thing very clear. Jerry Sandusky is a scum bag of the worst kind. What he did is reprehensible! Any kind of sexual abuse where the victim is of any age is reprehensible, but his egregious acts are of a different level. A level that has a special place in hell. He should be castrated and imprisoned with cell mates convicted of similar crimes. I’m sure his pretty face will be quite pleasing to the other sex offenders.

So what about Joe? First of all I am not a Penn State fan by any means. As a Purdue grad, I loathed playing Penn State because they were always tough to beat. The reason they were tough to beat was Joe Paterno. Despite the fact that I wasn’t a fan, I respect Joe Paterno for what he has done for the university and for his acolytes as a college football head coach. His accomplishments will be insurmountable.

Nine years ago Paterno learned about Sandusky’s crimes and reported him to the university authorities. Many would agree that he should have done more, perhaps even fire Sandusky on the spot. Nobody, except Joe, knows why he didn’t do more. Perhaps he was so offended and revolted by the crime that he wanted nothing more to do with Jerry Sandusky.

Yesterday Joe Paterno announced that he would resign in light of the scandal, stating that he wish he had done more. A respectable exit, for a respectable man. Before his signature had time to dry the board of trustees had an emergency meeting and fired Joe Paterno under the guise of sparing the universities’ reputation further damage.

This is how they treat a legend?!? In my opinion their actions have tarnished the reputation of the school more than what Paterno allegedly should have done nine years ago! Again, nobody knows the real reason the board fired Paterno but my guess is they just needed to flex their muscles for everyone. They wanted to illustrate that they are doing something to calm the swell of controversy.

Pfft!!! Tell that to the 2,000+ students that rioted in retaliation for the board’s decision!

Obviously the board was just looking for a scapegoat. So why does Joe Paterno have to be the one to bend over and take it up the ass? (Too soon?)

In my eyes Joe Paterno’s impeccable reputation remains in tack. I don’t think legendary status should be tarnished because some staff member couldn’t keep it in his pants!

Page 164 of 181

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén