Cenotaph

me, being lazy and neglectful of my blog? never!

but I haven't really been doing anything else of note, so it's true.
been playing some of the DLC for dragon age: origins. dunno why, was just in the mood.
played through Leliana's song, and Awakening, but I'm taking a break before doing Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. I completed Ostigar, stone prisoner and warden's keep on my last playthrough, so I've just got those left. but, I'm taking a break, so I can save them for later, closer to when the second one is released.


completely unrelated to the above, y'know what kinda bugs me? God Eater. see, I'm a HUGE fan of Monster hunter, and have been eager to play Konami's... well... it's basically a rip off, but there must be a nicer term for it. version, I guess? anyways, it was released in Japan way back in February, but the official north american release isn't until March. what's ridiculous about it is that Lords of Arcana, Square-enix's "version" of monster hunter is set to be released... January, I think, in North America. granted, two different studios handeling localization, but still. LoA was just released a short while ago in japan, and will be released here before God Eater... kinda weird, huh?


also, in honor of the new Harry Potter movie:

no one is actually reading this, you're all busy playing COD

here's a generally neat little write up on Ice-T and his gaming habits. worth a look.

but, since it focuses on COD mostly, I'll talk about that. See, I liked the original, WWII COD games. they were always solid games. however, I'm not really a fan of the modern warfare series. for me, it's the story. sure, the gameplay is there, but I just can't dig the story in them, the second one especially. it just... doesn't work for me. their writing and plot just feels so, I dunno...
granted, most people don't play COD for the story, so I'm in the minority in complaining, I guess. but, I haven't played Black ops yet. it looks good, so I might give it a spin. granted one of the few things I've seen for it is someone shooting Castro in the face, so I guess they're diverging from history a bit, huh?

It's like there's a party in my mouth, and everybody is throwing up....

okay, so 've been dragging my feet with the blog lately. I'll have something new up soon (been playing Valkyria Chronicles 2 for the PSP lately) but until then, here's something to listen to. found it on another blog I've been following. check it (and them) out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAtpj1szoOE
http://ofmiceandboxfans.blogspot.com/

I could have used a bad pun, like lyin'head.

so, what's my problem with Lionhead and Peter Molyneux? well, it has a lot to do with them promising a lot, and not delivering. plus, the DLC issues, which I'll deal with now. see, I'm not the oonly one in my house that played Fable 3. I share my 360 with my brother, and he's been playing through it too. the game came with special day-one bonus content, it's relatively minor, I think it's some clothes and a weapon, or something. but, see, Lionhead did something jerky with their DLC this time. it's not just console locked, it's profile locked. what I mean is, whichever profile enters the code, gets the DLC, but anyone else on the console can't use itm, despite the data being downloaded and installed to the system. do you see how this presents a problem? since he entered it first, I lose out on content. the only way to get it, would be to buy another copy of the game.
yeah, not gonna happen.
it would be even worse with the collectors edition, which contains an extra location, and likely some other things, too. not to mention all the preorder codes for special weapons. now, my question is why? why do this? what's the problem with letting people on the same console use the DLC? the only logical reason I can figure is greed. it's not like you can move the DLC from the system, so why profile lock it?
plus, they purposefully removed at least several dyes, if not other content from the game with the intent of offering it as DLC later, among the dyes removed was black. a basic color. black. why? why take out something you clearly intended to have in the game (there's obvious space for it on the shelf with the dyes)? aside from greed, and making us want to buy it. this isn't the only time lionhead has pulled this, either. with 2, they removed Knothole glade, only to offer it later as DLC. kinda a shitty business practice. it's cheap, and disrespectful to the gamers that already bought a half finished game.
not to mention all the content Peter Molyneux said would be included with the second, which never made it in. I purposefully avoided any press for 3 just cause I didn't want to hear what was supposed to be included, but never would be. also, where's my Hobbe statue, Peter?! I paid extra for the special edition of 2, and got almost nothing for it!
but look, all of this is just my opinion, an obviously negative one, but just an opinion. I'll get back to posing something a little more positive soon. but, until then, screw you lionhead. seriously.

in which the dog is even more inbred and retarded

okay, so let's talk fable 3. I'll likely divide this up into 2 parts. I'm gonna start with the game itself, and the next post will be about lionhead in general, and the DLC issues.
so, why did fable 3 piss me off so much? well, it's just... it's like half a game. I once saw someone describe it as an expansion pack, and that's what it feels like. it's like they didn't quite finish it. there's a LOT of bugs and glitches. half the time, the breadcrumb trail (the thing that's supposed to direct you to quests) doesn't load, and sometimes it point's you in the wrong direction, just because of how they implemented it. it wasn't perfect in 2, but it seems to have actively gotten worse. I've had villagers freeze in place as I'm dragging them around, and monster spawn in place, and just not move, until I shoot them. it lags, horribly at times, but in fairness, my X-Box is a little old by this point, so it MAY not be the game. however, it's the first game in recent memory that lags like this. the dialog and subtitles will occasionally just cut out, too.
but, that's just the game in terms of programming and design. story-wise, it falls completely flat. the first while of game, up until about the halfway mark is really good, and I found some of it (surprisingly) compelling, it feels like they put all of their creative energy into that part, and everything after just sort of trails off. the ending is just... disappointing. the last boss isn't bad, but it isn't a challenge in the least. I had more trouble (which is to say very little) with the fights leading up to the boss, than the boss itself. which is really disappointing. I'm of the school of thought that the last boss should be the biggest, and hardest encounter in the game. it should be a challenge, it should be... epic. yet, this was bland. and the story just falls at that point. once you've beaten the boss it's just... over. no explanation of why it defeats the big bad, or why it's all over, it just is. it leaves you longing for something more... complete. and, I thought Fable 2's end was lacking, this was worse, which surprised me, as I thought that impossible.
oh, and let's not forget our furry, inbred friend, the dog. the dog didn't work great in the second one, but it was a good start. why they chose NOT to work on the dog, I'll never understand. he runs in circles, can't hind dig spots, and barks incessantly. he's either always underfoot, or nowhere to be seen. he embodies the worst outcome of what they were trying to accomplish. over the course of playing it, I grew to really hate the dog. at about the 30th dig spot, I wanted to put him in the hole and bury him.


oh, and it pains me to hear John Cleese used to shill lionhead's DLC every third time I go into the sanctuary. it's disgraceful, and cheap.

now, despite ALL of that, it's not a bad game, per say. it's just really really... unpolished and unfinished. it's DEFINITELY not worth the current price. maybe $30, maybe. but not nearly $70, if you're lucky. near $90 or $100 if you go with the collectors, which I don't recommend, mostly because of the DLC issues, which I'll talk about next post.

basically the point from leaving bowerstone on the ship, to just after you deal with Logan after the revolution.

Like a Sloth

so, it should be pretty obvious by this point that I'm pretty lazy. I haven't updated in how long? really.... I should try harder.
anyways! I picked up and have been playing Fable 3. good so far, but I'm wary. Fable 2 was supposed to have tons of stuff that never came through in the actual game, so I'm keep ing my hopes low for this one. to be honest, Fable 2 just really fell flat for me.
still playing FFXIV too, just not much to say about it. a version update will be coming in November that's supposed to address a lot of issues that people have had, so that should make things better.
I'll try to think of something else to post soon.

and then that happened

so, my computer is kinda running now....
I mean, I got the OS up and running, and everything is generally working, but I'm still down a drive.

see, I have this super old ATA drive that the only way I could get ti to work on my old motherboards was to disable UDMA, or change the way it was read. otherwise, the system just won't run. but, apparently, my current BIOS won't allow that, so I can't seem to get the drive working. no option in the BIOS, and windows won't load without changing the settings. so, yeah.
if anyone has any ideas, post it in the comments.
otherwise, i'll resume posting after I sleep for a while.

errors, errors everywhere

so, yeah, any and all posting by me has been delayed due to the fact that my computer decided it no longer likes to work. motherboard died, so currently trying to get my system working. hoping to be back up and running by tomorrow.

A misreble little pile of secrets

so, today, let's talk about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. it's an amazing game.
it is an official 'reboot' of Castlevania, so it does discard years of established canon, but it still does a great job. similar to the new star trek, it's easiest to think of it as it's own separate entity. though, like I said I really enjoyed it. the combat is really solid, similar to God of War, or other games of that type. it's got climbing elements form things like Prince of Persia, or tomb raider, and there are some large scale boss battles very reminicenet of shadow of the colossus. though this may make it sound like it's just ripped a lot of elements from other games, it's pulled of very well, so they do seem fresh an unique.
one thing I liked was the small little nods to other Castlevania games. the combat cross, Gabriel Belmont's main weapon, is made by Rinaldo Gandolfi, who makes the original "vampire killer" whip. additionally, the combat cross eventually gets upgraded to include a stake, earning it the "vampire killer" name. several of the enemies you fight are named for other characters in the series, an there are lots of other little nods to the earlier games.
the story is very good, as well, with an amazing final battle and ending.so, I'd highly recommend it, as ,long as the whole 'reboot' thing doesn't bother you. but it is an amazingly solid game.
so, yeah. try it if it's your thing.

Daddy can fix ANYTHING

okay, so new content. yay!
so, I'll be talking over the next few days about all the stuff I've been doing. starting with Dead Rising 2. again, it's a really good game. in comparison to the first one, I felt it really built on many of the good points of the first, while trimming down on the bad bits. as I said before, the survivors are much smarted, and it makes it much easier to guide large groups of them. I managed to get the tour guide achievement (escort 8 survivors at once) my first run, simply by accident. it was just how the scoops lined up, and I didn't feel like it would be as much of a chore as it was in the original. I do kinda miss not being able to take photos, but instead you get the ability to combine items, which is super fun to just go around and see what mixes with what.
oh, and yeah, the scoop system, and case file system is pretty much the same, so it's good to have some familiarity.
overall, yeah, a great game. but, by then end of overtime mode, MAN do you hate TK. seriously, screw that guy.

dude, get it together

yeah, okay, been gone for a bit. been meaning to post! really! I'll catch up later today, I promise.
until then, basically, I finished Dead rising 2, played and beat castlevania: Lords of Shadow (and it was amazing!) and have been playing a bit of endless ocean. it's nice and relaxing. but, now I'm pretty much done, so I'll post more later tonight. and get back to actually doing things, like reading other blogs. I'm so behind....

have you covered wars or something?

so, I'll be honest. I haven't really been playing much of XIV lately. I've been trying to finish Dead Rising 2, so I can start in on Castlevania: Lord of Shadows. Why? well, I've heard Castlevania is amazing, and I can't start one game until I've finished another, at least not games that have a decent story.
so, been working on DR2. it's a great game, too. much like the original, but with a much bigger environment to explore. plus, tons of things to combine to make new, and interesting weapons. also, they improved the survivor AI, so they're no longer dumb as paint. they fight better, they avoid zombies better, and they follow you better. so, it's been a great game. but, i still can't wait to move on to Castlevania.
mind you, I'm still going to be playing XIV, it's one of those long term projects.it'll be on going for a while.

hmmmm, odd night. I'll post something new soon, but for now, I'll just say, that tonight, I gained knowledge and experience, and that's very often useful.

though, "in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow"
not religious, just a good quote. also, it makes me think of assassin's creed.
La shai' waqee mutlak bl kollin mumkin. (English : Nothing is true, everything is permitted)

so, take from that what you will. 

it also cuts your skin REALLY well.

okay, no XIV update today, maybe later on in the week.
today, I'd actually like to address any men who may be reading this. though, it can also apply to the women as well.

Men, you owe it to yourself to at least once in your life, experience a good shave with a straight razor. do it yourself, find an old-timey barbershop and have them do it, travel back in time to the 20s, it doesn't really matter, but just do it.
I picked up a set of straight razors on Ebay for cheap a while ago. now, they aren't the full on old-school kind, these ones have replaceable blades, but still, they perform much better than a standard safety razor, 5 bladed or not. but, to make it even better, I recently picked up some shaving soap, and one of those brushes. with the tree of them combined, it's the smoothest, best shave I've ever had. plus, no razor burn, at all, and i used to get BAD razor burn.
so, yeah, try it, at least once. maybe it's not for you, but at least you can know that you shaved the way your forefathers did. and that's kinda cool.

Something new

an actual update!

so, some good things about FFXIV:
one thing I'm really enjoying is that it's a completely new experience. as a long time player of FFXI, everything had naturally been figured out. there was walkthroughs, and information on everything. nothing was unknown. but, with XIV, since it's brand new, nothing is really new, so everything is still just waiting to be discovered. so i find that super exciting.

for example, I decided to go exploring a bit, an came across an area that was basically abandoned. there were no other adventurers there, so it was like I had just discovered something new, and actually really pretty.
I'll have to head back there, and take a few screens to show.

additionally, I'm really liking the job and combat system. to change jobs, all you have to do is change your equipped weapon. each job levels individually, but you also have a physical level that raises your stats, so you have more control over how your character develops. also, any abilities or actions gained through any job can be freely equiped by other jobs. so, so you can really customize how you fight. so that's cool.

I'll post more about the leve system, and other things... soon. we'll see how it goes.

one weekend gone

okay, wow... so didn't really do too much this weekend. I'll try to start updating more tomorrow.
ugh... tired....

FFXIV

okay, so a few people asked me about the game.
to start, I think a lot of the negative criticism is coming from people who were expecting something else. as a LONG time player of FFXI, I was already used to how Square does their MMOs. It's fairly different that something like WoW, so if you're transitioning from something like that, it's really gonna throw you, and you'd likely get a bad impression. one of the other sticking points, is that it's pretty complicated at times. the forging system is sort of hard to get right sometimes, and some stuff isn't exactly straightforward.

additionally, because it's only been out for about a week, nobody really knows what they're doing yet. so, there's not a whole lot of guides out there, and for crafting, the recipes are still pretty spotty. so, it's all new right now, and there's lots to learn. but, I find that exciting.

I'll post more about some of the games better points later on.

holy timeskip, batman

okay, so got REALLY distracted setting up, and playing FFXIV. it's awesome, and I'm likely gonna dump a ton of time into it over the next while, so no regular updates.

got distracted trying to get FFXIV to work. turns out it was my anti-virus program messing things up. anywyas, will post what I said I would, and some other stuff,  tomorrow.

until then, Cheers.

25 years of goodness

honestly, if you've never had 25 year old scotch, you should try some. it's amazing. drinking some right now. smooth, awesome taste. so many flavours. I'll post some pictures of the bottle I got tomorrow, when I'm not enjoying a wonderful drink.

surprisingly not as bloody as I expected

so, I spent part of today dismembering bear paws. trying to get the claws out, you see. I was expecting a lot worse, but it turned out pretty easy. so, that was fun.

not dead, music!

well, managed not to kill myself, so yay.

been working on some amature wiring projects, and I was trying to rig up a 5v ac/dc converter to some leds. it worked, so I'm happy.

in other news, I'd recommend anyone who is interested should give N.A.S.A a listen. been grooving to their album as I work, and it's pretty good.
check these out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwHoPybUC4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBRghadOPWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiJ2E0xGOv8
pretty good stuff, man.

electric hazard

might be about to electrocute myself. will return briefly with results.
also, an actual post sometime soon.

First post

so, yeah.
I'm basically planning to fill this with random stuff. not really sure what to make it about, so until I decide, I won't really have any unifying kind of theme or posting schedule. so, don't expect much.