Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Soapbox: Discussing Politics Is Getting Insufferable

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On March 28, 2012

In General Cogitation, Soapbox

When I was in high school I rarely cared about politics. I was neither republican or democrat. It wasn’t until college that I started to pay more attention and began forming my own opinions and which party those opinions better aligned with. In fact, there were even times when I enjoyed discussing politics with friends and family. I also thought it was great to see younger people becoming more politically involved.

Lately, however, I find myself trying to avoid talking politics to anyone. Passion is often a good thing, but I think passion can be blinding and I think that is what is happening in politics. I think, in some ways, we are in the midst of a civil war; a civil war fought with words and opinions instead of guns and bullets. There have been a few times lately when I have read something a friend posted on Facebook or Google+ that just almost got me extremely riled up. Almost to the point where I wanted to mute their posts or remove them from my Friends list, in fact there have been a couple times when I have already done that.

I’m reaching the point where I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to fight with my friends (or family) just because they hold a different opinion (this isn’t something that happens to all my friends of opposing opinions, its about those that often express their opinion colorfully). I think my new stance is that I won’t allow any of the idiots in Washington (regardless of party) to form a rift between me and my friends.

I will be “Unliking” any politically oriented group on Facebook and hiding any post that I feel is too extreme.

I’m not picking a side.

I’m not fighting this civil war.

/end soapbox

WoW: Why I’m Not Going to Beta MoP

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On March 21, 2012

In Gaming, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

I suppose it wouldn’t be completely accurate to say that I won’t opt-in for the Mists of Pandaria beta, I probably will. In fact I may even log in to check it out, but I probably won’t do any long term testing of the expansion. In fact I probably won’t participate in any beta for a game (or expansion) that I intend to play when it goes live. I have decided this after playing the beta for SWTOR.

I discovered, after participating in the SWTOR for nearly 8 months, that once the game goes live, it starts to feel stale pretty quick. Granted there are some subtle changes and sometimes that is good and sometimes, not so good. For example, in SWTOR there was a preference in the Social options that I used all the time while I was in the beta, but when the game went live, they took it out. I never found out why but I was pretty disappointed to find it missing.

Eventually SWTOR became exciting again after I leveled past all the quests that I had already done repeatedly (because of data resets) in the beta. Be that as it may, I would still like to avoid that kind of repetition especially in an expansion where the level cap is only increased by five (which means there will already be some repetition, relatively quickly, when I start leveling the alts). I hope that I don’t discourage anyone else from participating in a beta. The beta test is an extremely important part of software development and the more people that participate the better the user experience will be (in theory) when the product goes live. It is also kind of fun to say that you had participated in the beta of a popular game.

Cheers!

The MMO Times: Mechs and Dragons and Lightsabers, OH MY!!!

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On March 16, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 28

Greetings Fellow Gamers! I am trying to remain on top of all the latest MMO news that I believe most of you will find interesting. The GDC was going on this week so there have been quite a few of announcements. This issue has some new information about MechWarrior Online, the latest SWTOR patch trailer as well as more news on upcoming patches and updates for other popular games. There are also details about the Diablo III release date, Guild Wars 2 pre-order information and more.

I may have another issue next week as Blizzard has indicated that a wealth of expansion information will be unveiled by the media sometime next week. I would expect that the next issue of MMO Times will be dominated by World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria news.

Read More

WoW: Wrath Still the Favorite

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On March 13, 2012

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

I haven’t written too many blog posts about World of Warcraft. Most of my ramblings have been about gaming in general or SWTOR (when I was in the beta), so its kind of fun to blog about the game that really started it all (for me).

I have now played vanilla (though I did not reach max level before the expansion), Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King and now Cataclysm. I have watched the game change tremendously and I have tried to follow the lore throughout each expansion. I have been following along as more information about Mists of Pandaria is unveiled. I think, among all of the expansions (past and future), Wrath of the Lich King is still my favorite.

I played Warcraft III several times before and during college so I think that is why I enjoyed the lore so much in Wrath of the Lich King. The addition of the Death Knight as a playable class added an ironic twist to the story and the quest to defeat Arthas. I loved doing the quests specifically to follow the story and the lore and the homages it payed to Warcraft III. Every time you left Eastern Kingdoms (or Kalimdor) it felt like an expedition to Northrend, just as Arthas did (before he went totally nutz). Dalaran was, and still is, my favorite capital city. I still have my hearth set there for several of my toons. Sometimes its depressing to be there and see it so empty. I think that Ulduar and Icecrown Citadel are still the best raid instances in the game.

As WoW is declining in popularity, I think the timing of its decline is somewhat fitting. Despite the fact that Cataclysm brought many features players were clamoring for (ex: flight on the original continents), from a lore perspective I kind of feel like Wrath of the Lich King was the final chapter. It ended one of the biggest story lines in Warcraft lore. I would go so far as to say that any expansion that follows Wrath of the Lich King is just an appendix because its hard to imagine that any expansion could be better … unless there is an expansion dedicated to the Emerald Dream/Nightmare.

Or, maybe one day we will have to return to Northred … after all there always must be a Lich King 🙂

Cheers!

MMO Times: Sorry for the Delay

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On March 6, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 27

Hello Gamers! Sorry for the delay in bringing you the MMO News. As you may be able to guess life got a little busy. Enough about my excuses, here is the latest headlines. Enjoy!

SWTOR Patch 1.2 Coming in April

Posted 3/6/12 – The masters behind SWTOR (EA, Bioware and LucasArts) announced that the next big content patch (1.2) will be hitting PCs next month. This patch has some long awaited features including Guild Banks, legacy benefits, new flashpoints, ranked warzones and more. Follow the link to Game Guru to read more.
GameGuru post

Rumored Diablo III Release Date

Posted 3/5/12 – According to an Italian source there are rumors that the possible release date for Diablo III is April 17th. The evidence for this rumor is that stores in Italy have been clearing space for a new title after retailers received a tip from Activision Italy. Blizzard didn’t comment but a twitter post simply said “9” – perhaps this Friday we will all know for sure. In my opinion, it would make sense which may also explain why Bioware plans to release its next big content patch (1.2) for SWTOR around the same time. Follow the link to Massively to read more.
Massively post

SWTOR Guild Summit Summary

Posted 3/5/12 – Unless you have been living under a rock (while playing SWTOR) then I’m sure you knew that this past weekend Bioware/EA/LucasArts held their SWTOR Guild Summit. This was an opportunity for SWTOR developers to host panels (with Q&A) to dicuss the future of SWTOR. The panels covered everything from crafting, to PvP, guilds and the legacy system. Darth Hater (a pretty renown Star Wars fan site) has a pretty good summary of the summit. There is quite a bit of good stuff to check it out.
Darth Hater article

SWTOR March 2 Community News

Posted 3/2/12 – The link to the latest Dev Q&A is also on the RSS feed on the right. This week the developers talk more about what to expect in patch 1.1.5, 1.2 and future features. They seem to be really building up the benefits of the legacy system. Follow the link to read the blog post on the SWTOR community news site.
Community News Blog Post

DCUO Expansion Announced

Posted 3/2/12 – Players will have the chance to face off against Brainiac in the upcoming DC Universe Online expansion. The interesting thing about this expansion is that if you were previously a paying subscriber you will get the expansion for free, but those playing for free will have to buy it. No pricing has been announced. Follow the link to read about it at GameSpy.
GameSpy article

More Character Customization in GW2

Posted 2/28/12 – The developers for Guild Wars 2 have released details about how players will be have more character customization. Based on what I read this is more than just how the characters look, but you will also be able to customize how the character plays. Players will be able to tweak their characters through traits and attributes. Follow the link to read more at Massively.
Massively article

MechWarrior Online Teaser Trailer!

Posted 2/28/12 – Piranha Games gave the gaming community a treat when they unveiled a teaser trailer first look at MechWarrior Online. The video does not show in-game footage, it is a cinematic but it is 1 min and 30 sec of drooling yumminess. I also found the URL for the official website.
Massively post | MWO website

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Humor Helps

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On March 1, 2012

In General Cogitation, Programming

As I have said in the past, I have been in the software development industry for nearly 10 years now. Currently I am working for a consulting firm which means I am often placed at various clients around the city in need of Enterprise Microsoft Solutions. I have worked for some pretty big clients and I have talked to some pretty important people at those clients. I have learned a very important and undeniable truth, humor helps.

I will not deny that it’s more important to be serious when its appropriate. You should not crack jokes in front of a Vice-President, CEO or any other high ranking personnel. However, I think its also important to allow the lighter side of your personality to come through and I believe this for two reasons: building rapport and dealing with stress.

It’s rare when I leave a client that I don’t have well over a dozen people coming to me to say farewell. I know one of my strengths is building a good rapport with everyone. I believe its my humor that helps build these relationship. How many times is it suggested that a joke be used as an ice-breaker? Humor is a natural ice-breaker, it helps quell nervous behavior. Granted I don’t walk into a client the first day and start making jokes, I think its important to warm up to people first and find out what kind of humor is appropriate. The wrong kind of humor will have the opposite effect.

Every workplace will go through periods of high stress. It’s inevitable. The curse of professionalism is the better you are at your job the more work you are expected to do in a shorter period of time. If you are going to survive the day you need to have a way to let go of the stress. When I notice my team is really stressed out, that is usually when I increase the jests. Similar to ice-breakers, the humor quells the nerves and helps relieve the tension, even if its only temporary. I say its far better to laugh in the face of stress instead of wanting to hang yourself.

Remember, humor is a tool and just like any tool, if used improperly can cause more harm then good. If you joke too much then people won’t take you seriously. If you say the wrong thing, make the wrong joke, that can have an even greater adverse affect. This is why I take some time to get to know the people I am working with first.

Cheers!

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