Random Dialogue

Cory Doctrow read me. Thanks to Bill for the link.

This post also happens to be my 500th post! Hooray for me!

A bit of chatter about the game I would write Valentines to if it wasn’t a MMOG without a soul, World of Warcraft.

Spent some more time in-game of late, and Trust is now up to level 30. I think it’s a statement about the game post-launch that what took me almost 4 months in Beta has only taken me 4 weeks in retail to do. I am quickly exhausting the content I’ve already consumed, and will soon be in zones and doing quests that I’ve never had the opportunity to experience.

My server, Argent Dawn, is pretty durn cool. We have a nice big playerbase and it has resulted in a pretty faboo community.

My impression was marred yesterday by my first ugly in-game experience. I had an auction up for a Skeletal Longsword I picked up off of an undead critter in the Raven Hill cemetary. I was messaged by a bloke who asked me to take down the auction. When asked why, he responded that he wanted it taken down because he’d bid on it and now regretted it. After explaining to him that it was his responsibility to ensure that he didn’t bid on stuff he couldn’t afford, he started to call me names. After he crossed the gay line one too many times I put him on /ignore and put in a Customer Service ticket.

I’ve really started to get into some of the bigger plot threads that run their way through the human areas, and the places they’re starting to lead me are way cool. World of Warcraft has delivered where so many others have left me wanting, and I am completely and utterly pleased by my gaming experiences so far.

After the new year I’m going to have to get back to games to review, so I’m enjoying my time focusing on WoW while I can.

Merry Christmas!

It’s a little after 9:30, and we ended up not sleeping as late as we wanted because the only clock in our place that’s really set right is the alarm clock, and we didn’t go by that when we woke up.

Oof.

Anyway, my Fiancee is the best evar. Books about ILM Productions, supervillian science, regular science, a very Lovecraftian comic, a pirate ship ornament, and copies of the much beloved Encyclopedia Brown all waited me under the tree.

woo!

We’re watching Nightmare Before Christmas (the new DVD edition I purchased Katie), and having nummy cinnamon rolls.

To recap the last day or so, Thursday was a pretty quiet day. Not much to do at work, so that was nice. We were going to just stay put at home, but ended up having dinner with Eva and Alan at Biaggi’s. It was a quiet evening all around, and I had a really nice time.

Christmas Eve day was not so quiet. Around 5 we headed over to Mom’s for dinner, followed by the traditional pilgramige to the Rice-Raineys for hot chocoa and gifts, and then onward to Aunt Norine’s place for more gifting. Purchased PopCap games for the Aunt on her new PC around 11pm, and then homeward for about half an hour of World of Warcraft before bed.

Today we’re going to be stopping by Katie’s aunt’s for a hi-bye kind of moment, presents at my Mom’s place, and dinner tonight at Mom’s home as well. Mmmm…turkey.

The rolls, they call to me. More later.

The Apatheosis of Torg -

Apatheosis. Noun.
1. [n] the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god)

So I’ve been reading Sluggy Freelance effectively as long as I can remember. In reality, this is only about 6 years or so, but I have a lousy memory.

In my mind Sluggy is the seminal webcomic because the author, Pete Abrahms, does two things very very well. He has an actual story in his comic, and he updates the strip every day of the week (except, since a bit ago, for Saturdays). PvP updates daily, but its plot is not nearly as complex or evocative as Sluggy. Penny Arcade is much funnier, but they have no consistent plot. Megatokyo has an interesting plot, but Piro is the king of not-updating.

Sluggy has been there, day in and day out, for many years.

Today’s strip, in my mind, has elevated the primary character of the strip to the true state of hero. What’s more, Torg (the character) is elevated quietly and unassumingly. This isn’t a heroism where they he does some cool stuff and people call him a hero. He hasn’t decided he’s a hero. In fact, the panel in specific that elevates him is a shot of him standing in his room looking down at a pair of overshirts lying on his bed.

That shot represents, to me, everything that I’ve gone through in the past 6+ years with Torg. Excitment, heartbreak, fear, laughter…Torg has goals, friends, and a reality all his own. He’s earned his heroism the hard way, and it’s taken him a long time and a lot of mistakes to get here.

2005 is going to be a good year for Sluggites.

If you have any interest in Massive Gaming, interesting things afoot on Terra Nova and Grimwell of late.

If you’re looking for an entertaining read as regards game design you can’t go wrong with Raph Koster’s Theory of Fun for Game Design. Finally finished it. Silly Holiday distractionators.

LOTR:ROTKEE went very, very well on Saturday I think. I had a really good time, and the new scenes were excellent. The pacing of the movie actually felt a lot better to me in the new version. Sam and Frodo’s portion of the movie felt like it fit into the plot more accurately with the added weight of all the material on the Aragorn/etc side.

We went over to Katie’s folks’ place on Sunday to do an early christmas celebration. They are already winging their way to the west coast to visit Katie’s brother and some extended family over the Holidays. I snagged a copy of Ocean’s Eleven (the Pitt/Clooney version) and Katie’s Grandmother purchased us some flatware! We are now en-forked. We also got some Holiday plates that are kind of cute.

We gamed last night because of the Sunday activities and Brian working at DeLaney’s. A harsh draconic battle took up much of a three hour session, and the players found themselves in some disturbingly familiar surroundings. First time in a bit that I feel like I’ve really left them wanting more. Yay! The last few sessions will be … intriguing, I think.

At work today we had a potluck and gift exchange. I brought some mulled cidar to share, and ended up with a bottle of Wollersheim Winery’s River Gold white wine. Very noice.

Busy week this week, but not a lot of stress. A few things to sort out at work during the day, but otherwise I just have to worry about Poker tomorrow night and then the Eberron game on Thursday.

Then I’m off! Yay for Christmas!

My new favorite slashdot article went up today.