Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

The MMO Times: The Horde Is Coming!

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On August 15, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Grommash HellscreamIssue 105: The world lost a wonderful and extraordinary soul this past week with the passing of comedian Robin Williams. His television shows and movies have been a part of my life since I was a kid and I feel utterly heartbroken by his passing, and even Blizzard responded to his death. RIP Oh Captain, My Captain! On a lighter note, Gamescom is happening this week in Germany. If anything noteworthy to the MMO community comes out of it, you should see something about it below.

Blizzard has finally released the official cinematic for Warlords of Draenor as well as the release date for the expansion. Bioware has some new things to show regarding the Dragon Age franchise and more about the Star Trek Online expansion that was announced last week. I’ll be honest, there is a lot about World of Warcraft in this issue because there are quite a few new details coming out about the upcoming expansion. There seems to be a lot more pomp and circumstance around the fifth expansion (probably because Blizzard has been bleeding subscribers). In any event, there are other things below that are not related to World of Warcraft. Enjoy!

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Genie, You’re Free

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On August 12, 2014

In General Cogitation

rip-robin-williamsThe title and image of this post was originally a tweet sent out by The Academy (@TheAcademy). It’s simplicity and message is so brilliant that I had to use it for my post to a great man. It’s amazing how the death of a famous Hollywood actor, like Robin Williams, seems to have such a profound impact me. I truly feel sincerely devastated by his passing, and I never knew him personally and he never knew I even existed. I don’t feel this way about every Hollywood actor that passes away, but Robin Williams’ passing is different. I’ve been watching him since I was a kid. I grew up with him in my living room every week as if he were a relative or close family friend.

“Mork & Mindy” was one of my all time favorite shows growing up. He had me on the floor laughing in every episode and even today I could watch that show over and over and still laugh just as hard. His movies are timeless, from Aladdin to Hook, Mrs Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Good Will Hunting … I loved so many of his films! His role as the Genie in Aladdin is one of the reasons that movie is one of my favorite Disney movies. I loved hearing about how most of his lines in the movie Father’s Day was adlibbed and I have a fond memory of watching Good Morning, Vietnam in French class back in high school. I was at Purdue when he was on one of his comedy tours. A bunch of my friends and I went to see him at the Elliott Hall of Music on Purdue’s campus and it is one of my fondest college memories.

I was surprised to learn back when he was filming Good Morning, Vietnam that he was taking medication for manic depression. I mean, how could a man that provided the world with so much humor, be so sad?? Depression is a frightening and awful disease of the mind. It leaves friends and family and fans feeling so helpless when they learn of tragedies such as the taking of ones life. We all wonder what we could have done to demonstrate how much Robin William was loved; how much he inspired all of us to laugh everyday, especially when life was at its most difficult. The Apple “What will your verse be” commercials he lent his voice to even felt inspirational.

I think I will be going on a Robin Williams movie binge for a while. I don’t know any other way to honor the memory of such an amazing person. I will pray that I will one day see him in that great comedy club in the sky.

RIP Robin Williams, you will be missed more then you can possibly imagine.

Biggs On: Gunnars

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On August 12, 2014

In Biggs On, Gaming, Programming, Technology

gunnarsSince the first time I saw Gunnars at Micro Center I had wanted to try them out. Granted at the time I was wearing glasses so unless I was willing to pay the ridiculous price for prescription Gunnars, they would remain on the store shelves instead of beside my gaming peripherals. A few years later I had LASIK and it was worth every penny, of course the Gunnars would still have to wait since I just paid for the surgery.

So now we fast-forward to present day and I find some on sale on Amazon and it became time to try them out. They are supposed to help with eye strain and fatigue as well as help with dry eyes. A side effect of LASIK is dry eyes and I had chronic dry eyes prior to LASIK so anything to reduce how dry my eyes get is worth a try.

I’ve been using my Gunnars for about 3 weeks and so far they have been worth the investment. My eyes do seem less stressed and I do notice that they seem to dry out less through the day. I even think everything looks more crisp on the computer monitors. In fact not only have I been wearing them when I’m using my computer at home for video games, but I have brought them to work as well. Granted I have been called everything from “the biggest nerd in the office” to Bono from U2 but considering how much its been helping my eyes it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Besides, why would I flinch when I’m called a nerd, isn’t it better just to embrace what I am?

You can get Gunnar’s without the yellow tint and still receive the benefit but they will cost more so if you don’t mind the yellow lenses, I’d recommend the cheaper pair. So if you have the means, keep an eye on Amazon because that’s where I found them at a discount and I would definitely recommend getting a pair especially if you are feeling any kind of eye fatigue or dryness after staring at the computer for long hours.

The MMO Times: Predicting WoD

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On August 10, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

warlords_patch_header_580Issue 104: Greetings Gamers! I can’t believe its already August and summer is nearly over. The daystar has only been cruel (for me) just a couple of times this summer. It has definitely been hotter in the past. So as the summer wanes we get ready for the fall festivities which includes Blizzcon 2014 and Football (not that black and white ball kind either – REAL Football)! I’ve tried to participate more in the beta invites I’ve received but its been difficult to find the time for beta testing between WoW, SWTOR, work, and real life. I do think that Heroes of the Storm will be a popular game for fans of that type of format. 

So what is exciting in this issue. There are talks of a genre conversion to MMO style for a popular title. There is some expansion news for STO, RIFT and of course WoW. In fact we are supposed to hear the official release date for Warlords of Draenor very soon. Speaking of World of Warcraft, the 10th year anniversary is coming up and Blizzard has some exciting plans in store for that! As summer wanes the gaming is heating up  so check out these headlines while you sit in that dungeon finder queue.

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WoW: Thoughts On Garrisons

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On August 7, 2014

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

pax_east_garrison_580In my last MMO Times post I provided a link to an article that described the Garrisons feature of Warlords of Draenor to be “disappointing” (thus far). Assuming that Blizzard isn’t hindering folks from sharing their thoughts of the beta testing, and I’m currently in the beta, then I think its warranted for me to share my thoughts on Garrisons (as I have unlocked my garrison in the beta).

Blizzard did promise us the proverbial, yet elusive pony again with Garrisons. Originally they told players that your garrison can be placed in any zone of your choosing, however, thus far in the beta, that is not the case. Instead the garrison has been integrated into the main story line; granted I haven’t quested much beyond the first zone so I don’t know if your garrison can move or if, in the end, you can choose any place you want. You never know, that could be the case and Blizzard is using the main story line to familiarize the player with their garrison.

I have to admit, I am starting to like the garrisons more and more. The fact that you can recruit NPCs (some of which are familiar names) to be a follower and then send them on missions is very similar to the way you can utilize your companions in SWTOR. The biggest difference being that you cannot ask them to accompany you and fight at your side. You get a “garrison hearthstone” which is different then the normal hearthstone and does not have a cooldown (nor does it trigger the cooldown of the normal one). Granted this might be just a beta-only mechanic, I have no idea if that will change when the game goes live. This is especially handy when you need to return to your garrison immediately either to turn in a quest for more resources or to complete the quest your follower just returned from.

Also, during the time in which I was writing this post, a WoW Insider post had shown up with some additional details about garrisons. You may get the option to choose the style of your buildings as well as your guards depending on which of the vanilla reputations with whom you are exalted. I think this is really cool, though I don’t know if I trust my garrison to be properly protected by a bunch of gnomes in mechanical ostriches – my assailants may have too much fun punting my guards (j/k gnomes!!). Be that as it may, this is a great idea to finally utilize those vanilla reputations other than acquiring their mounts.

I think there is still a lot of potential for garrisons and I’m a little excited to see where they take them. I’m sure there will be many out there who will whine that garrisons are not more then they are but you can’t expect Blizzard to get it exactly the way you want it if you don’t lend them your mad programming skills!

/cheers

Book Review: City of Fallen Angels

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On July 30, 2014

In Book Review, Fantasy

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

My Rating: [rating 4]
(Click here to see this review on Goodreads.)

If I had been reading these books as they were being published I probably would have thought that City of Glass was the final book. Granted a few things were left unresolved, but the bad guy was vanquished and all seemed to be as it should. I don’t know if Cassandra Clare had intended on a book four or if all the books in the series were intended from the start.

City of Fallen Angels does start to address a few of those lingering, unresolved details. In fact a couple of those details kind of turn into a pretty big deal. I don’t really want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil the surprises in the book. I can say that while I was a little suspicious of what the plot of the book might be, as I read more I really began to realize what still remained unanswered. This book only begins to answer them; but be prepared for some cliffhangers.

View all my reviews

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