[Catchy Title]

[Vaguely humorous comment extolling the virtues of the best World of Warcraft forum thread I have ever read.] Technorati Tags: World of Warcraft WoW Games more...

Arrr!

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day! Technorati Tags: Talk Like a Pirate Day more...

New WoW Servers

World of Warcraft launched their RP-PvP servers today. I guess they were a hit because I had to wait in a queue for an hour to get in to make my characters, and I noticed a third server of the type before I left for the night. I did manage to make some characters, finally. I made four just because I can't decide what I'm going to play yet, and names are pretty important on an RP server. I didn't want to lose the chance at the names I'd like best, though some things I often use were quite suprisingly already taken, like Threnody, Hiro, and Hana. I expect them to be taken in the first few days, but they're not usually gone right off the bat. Technorati Tags: Games WoW more...

Back from the Break

Vacation over! I was away for a bit, and then took a couple of extra days off from writing once I was back -- a couple of extra days off from pretty much everything. I barely even played a game until this past weekend. Even this, I'm going to probably keep short (and my entries over the next few days as well). I somehow managed to wrench my shoulder and typing is excruciatingly painful. Pain builds character though, right? I picked up a few games this weekend, as they'd all gone pretty cheap - Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile, Kohan 2: Kings of War, and Tales of Symphonia. I've spent the most time on the last one, Tales of Symphonia, and it's pretty fun. The combat is a little different from what I am used to in a console game, as you actually run around the field and push buttons to attack. There's no turn based combat, nor that time lapsed pseudo turn based combat you'll see in some console games. It's all real time. The graphics are pretty cel shaded things and I'm enjoying looking at the game as well as playing it. The story is pretty standard console RPG fare (someone who is special in some way has to save the world, or guard the person who can save the world) but still -- it's fun. It's just original enough to be fun, just common enough to be comfortable. Kohan 2 is fun so far. I've just played the tutorial and one scenario. Again, it's a well-made well-designed game, but nothing startlingly original. I didn't care much for the first one, though I can't recall why at this point, but this second one seems worth at least the $20 I paid for it. Not buying it full price made me a little more willing to take a risk with it. I've also been looking at Immortal Cities for a while, and finally caved and bought it when it hit $15. (I would have bought it at $20 but I seem to have missed it at that price.) It's a civilization/city building sim and if I recall right, some of the key players on the development team were also on the team that made Pharaoh/Cleopatra and Zeus/Poseidon, both of which are games that I obsessed over mightily at one point. The only problem is that I can't remember how to play. The interface is familiar enough that I feel like I should know where to begin, but it's been too long since I played the others and I really just can't remember enough to dig into the game. I'm going to have to actually read the manual, I guess. There's no tutorial that I can see, which I found rather disappointing. Technorati Tags: Games more...

Blogging the Flooded City

I'm sure we're all watching the news in New Orleans. For many of us, it's hard to conceive of something as enduring as that city being devastated to the extent it is. One thing I found interesting, amongst all my news hunting, was this blog. His world has altered (along with others there) and yet he keeps blogging, keeps working, keeps going. It's an interesting read, seeing things from the perspective of someone that's in the midst of things. A couple of other things I've found interesting are how people are using Craigslist and other such sites to offer shelter and other assistance, and to find missing loved ones. You keep hearing on the news about how awful things are, but these offers of assistance remind you how good some people can be. Technorati Tags: Blogging more...