Random things from a random gamer.
Learn 50 odd things about your friends, then post one yourself, and let them learn 50 odd things about you! Here we go:
My brain isn’t made for on-the-fly writing or speaking when it involves anything creative. An e-mail to someone explaining why a program does or doesn’t work or how to solve a problem? Not an issue! Ask me to write out what my character is doing, though, and I fall into one or more of my common pratfalls unless I take an hour to write and rewrite the paragraph describing the action.
Wrong word, idiot.
I do this often in oral conversations. It’s like my brain is running along smoothly for a while, but then it misses a turn and ends up just taking the next left and using whatever word is there. “Yeah, so I was talking to Terry about the Web site and the level of prophylactic… protection, I mean protection!” No, it’s not usually a Freudian slip, I just wanted to use prophylactic in a sentence.
Even better are those times when I’m DMing and we’re talking about one thing (oh… say black glass panes), someone brings up something similar (let’s go with mirror, Loki, mirror!), and I end up saying the later instead of the former. I bet that confuses the heck outta the players? Oh, yeah, it did!
I can spell, I swear.
I’m not bad at spelling, though it helps a ton that I use common words rather than trying to extend my vocabulary beyond an 8th-grade level, which would send me into a stupor after only a few hours of trying to find a single word to describe the sudden recurrence of a disease. But, the problem is that I end up with typos that truly bely my level of intellegents (f*^% you if you don’t get that I spelled those words wrong on purpoise).
It’s a good word, keep using it!
A bad writing habit of mine that I’m noticing more and more, I end up using a certain word more and more rather than even trying to mix it up. Sure, it’s not an incorrect use of the word, but the more times I use the word the more it looks like I have an extremely limited vocabulary. More to the point, it just shows how uncreative I truly am when it comes to the written word.
Perhaps he’s from Texas, or retarded?
This one has happened to me for as long as I can remember (so… at least since last month), but it occurs often enough that people don’t know whether I’m trying to hide a thick Southern accent or if I have moments where the special person inside of me is released. I’m talking fine, casually or at work, and then my tongue just gets tied up for no reason. Perhaps my tongue’s shoe laces came untied or maybe someone went all Shane Stant on it, I have no clue.
Yeah, so sorry to all of you out there who have to put up with my writing and/or oral communication. Whether it’s at work, at a game, or online. Trust me, it bothers me more than it does you. And I know some people truly have problems with talking that make my issues pale in comparison, but I’m more comfortable with making fun of myself and not them if you don’t mind.
Just finished watching the TV premiere of the show and I’m liking it. Take one part quirky and morbid ability, two parts Tim Burton movie, and throw in the premise of solving crimes and you get Pushing Daisies. Definitely a show I’m adding to my must-see line-up and so far the best thing to happen to TV this year.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Start here, I guess.
Lots of news from Turbine today. Jeff Anderson is out as CEO and President as far as we can tell and Walt Yarbrough is in as Acting Senior Producer for LotRO and will be the Executive Producer on Turbine’s still unannounced project.
I’m unconcerned with the loss of Anderson as he really wasn’t the one to make all the calls that destroyed DDO for me or made LotRO the game it is. I don’t know Yarbrough in the slightest, perhaps because when he worked on Ultima Online, the game I never had the care to pay any attention to since I was ganked for the hundredth time in my first eight hours of playing, and I never payed attention to anyone but Georgia, Tweety, and Missy from the Dark Age of Camelot crew.
I am annoyed by their still unnannounced title. I was told about two years ago that Turbine was looking to get a franchise bigger than Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons. We know it’s not Star Wars since SOE already has that taken care of, so for the life of me I still can’t tell what the project is. If it ends up being Pokemon, I’m going to kill someone.
Matt over at WarCry had an interview with Iija Rotelli, Director of Online Media at Wizards of the Coast. If you know who she was prior to this writing, then you’re one up on me. Don’t feel too good about that, though, it’s not something that’s hard to do.
My first comment as usual is why people are still letting Matt near anyone for interviews. Okay, sure, we got to GenCon okay with him driving, but I believe it was due purely to the depressants I put into his soda while he wasn’t looking.
The interview lacked anything truly useful, at least in my opinion. Essentially, Gleemax, a name that I believe was chosen by one of the higher ups two year-old kid, will be catering to tons of online games. They’ll be helping themselves to the profit based on the work of others, they’ll be providing tools that are already provided today, they’ll be making online versions of their existing board games, they’ll be corralling up the already well controlled RPG gaming community, and they’ll try to look like it’s in no way affiliated with WotC or an attempt to further control where people go to get their roleplaying stuff while doing so.
As you can tell, I’m a huge fan of the whole thing.
Got an advertisement about two days ago informing me on how the White Wolf is playing Eve Online. Oh, yay, what I’ve always wanted, a Space Opera Vampire game! Of course the only reason they’re playing the game is because of their merger with CCP. Kind of sad that this is the only e-mail I’ve received from White Wolf in the last three years as well.
Anyway, Eve Online isn’t a bad game if you like that type of stuff, I just don’t. But, more importantly in the e-mail was the reminder as to why White Wolf merged with CCP, the World of Darkness MMO. Heck if anyone knows whether the game will be worth playing, but if it’s anything like the Bloodlines game it has at least something going for it. More importantly is how much of the World of Darkness it will use and will it be modern or Dark Ages? What’s with people withholding all this information for a game that we won’t see for two years?
SOE has put out another expansion to their Pirates Online CSG. It now comes replete with Frenchmen in the customary brown pants, each one of them ready to use their I Give Up ability in the face of peril.
I’m surprised this game is still going, honestly. I’m a big fan of SOE’s recently released Legends of Norrath game since I can play it for free while playing EverQuest 2. But that’s about it. I guess more people than I can comprehend have decided to pay to own intangible collectible game items rather than their own cards or miniatures. Personally, I can’t see myself ever getting involved in another collectible game again, though those D&D Common Miniatures do make some really good fillers for tabletop games.
I’ve finally decided to at least pay a little bit of attention to my 360 page. I honestly can’t say if I’ll continue to pay attention to it or not, but I am at least going to try. I mean, it’s not like I don’t have a lot to say, it’s just that no one usually wants to hear what I have to say or, more to the point, what I have to say really doesn’t make much sense.
If you’re reading this I have to question how the heck you came to find this page other than the possible unfortunate search term “online seppuku.” But, you’re reading it nonetheless. So, since you’re spending your time here, let me at least grace you with a bit about what you may find here.
Gaming Topics
I happen to be one of those horrid creatures you whisper about to others at work while at the water cooler, that thing that makes you fear for the safety of your children and has given a voice to some of the most idiotic politicians out there. I am a gamer. I play online games, I play violent games, I play roleplaying games with others, I’ve even occassionally been caught playing puzzle games. Gaming is pretty much my life outside of (and after) work and family.
Typically I’ve shared my ideas and rants about games on IGN. Over time, though, the intelligent debates have faded away, replaced by people who tend to use the venue more for their desire for attention rather than actually writing something intelligible, let alone on topic.
I’m currently running a face-to-face D&D campaign set in the Scarred Lands, I found out today that I will luckily have enough time to continue to play in my good friend Mothshade’s PbP (play by post) game, I am in the greatest guild ever* in EverQuest 2, I bring my Nintendo DS to work on a daily basis just to play Puzzle Quest if I have the time, and I have an idea I’m working on for an MMORPG (look it up if you don’t know it, lazy). There’s a lot I can write about and there’s a lot I think about when it comes to these sort of things.
Current Events/News/General Stuff
Though not something I try to look for on a daily basis, sometimes things just fall into my lap and make me go “how stupid are we as a people?” Typically when I write anything about this sort of stuff, you are just going to be listening to me complain about how idiotic we are as a people and/or nation, so it is suggested that you just ignore these type of postings, unless you’re into that sort of torture.
Elizabeth, Loki, and Wanda
These are my cats and I am grateful that my wife and I have decided to serve them rather than any other cats. I’m not some sort of cat weirdo (I am a weirdo, just not that type), we just ended up getting a third because my wife fell in love with Loki when she first held him in her arms. These guys truly bring to life our house and you’ll be reading about some of the ways in which they do this.
Elizabeth is a grey tabby, calico mix. She is the middle child of the house and also the most picked on. She’s also the most lovable, agile, and patient one as well. When she’s not being chased after by Loki, she’s usually laying with one paw hanging over the loft or the back of whatever chair I’m sitting in. Elizabeth was rescued with the rest of her siblings from under a porch, each of which were named after famous 50s and 60s entertainers/actors. Elizabeth Taylor is her full name.
Loki is the youngest of the bunch and is a buff tabby. He’s very much the stereotypical ‘blonde’ hollywood type, all looks, no brains. He doesn’t like to be petted, but patted, and he’s about as jealous as they come. Loki pretty much does whatever he wants regardless of the consequences, isn’t affraid of anything, and wins his battles the good ole Rocky Balboa way, taking all the hits to the head he can. Due to his attitude and level of intelligence, it seemed only appropriate to give him my own name.
Wanda is the oldest of the bunch and is a grey/brown tabby. The queen of the house, Wanda doesn’t take crap from anyone and has both the look and the claws to back it up. Wanda was our first cat thanks to Alicia, an old co-worker, and was a gift from me to my wife. When Wanda wants something, she’ll make sure you know it, whether it’s a good petting or to play with a toy. Wanda is also a big scaredy cat when it comes to loud noises or the outdoors, but don’t tell her I told you that or she’ll claw out my eyes while I sleep. Wanda was named by the vets who raised her after being rescued on the streets and was named for Walter the Whale, a massive male cat at their office who pretty much watched over Wanda the whole time she was there.
Friends & Family
Last, but far from least, I’ll be discussing topics related to my friends and family. You may be asking why I would put this last when I said above that gaming came after my Work and Family, and the reason is because my friends and family are very dear to me and while I may have no problems telling someone about our discussions and events, the same is not true for them. So, out of respect I will do my darndest to only discuss things here that do not pertain to them specifically or are in no way sensitive topics. Like most things in my life, I’m sure to fail at this in some way, though.
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Well, that’s my first blog post. Will it be my last? Heck if I know.