Nilore Vagan

Okay, well…

That letter, even though it said “We have matched files that could affect your SSI”, was -supposed- to warn me that they just wanted to ask me some basic questions to make sure I still qualify. You know, “Have you worked any time in the last three years,” “Did you move?” and other things like that.

I’m still making my 450 a month.

The other day, I got a letter saying to expect a call from Social Security tomorrow. All the letter said was that it concerned my eligibility for SSI.

I hope it’s nothing huge and that I can keep my SSI payments…

Source

Basically, we have a guy who’d played Lineage II for an unreal amount of time over the past five years. 20,000 hours of gameplay, the video says. That’s more than two years’ worth of 24-7 gameplay. Now that I think about it, that’s about twelve hours a day for the past five years. Holy crap.

To put that much time into a game alone is pretty sad, but to then sue the game company who made the game you OBVIOUSLY enjoy so much is just plain stupid. Nay, it’s RETARDED. If I were NCSoft, I would do him a favor and ban his account, since he obviously doesn’t want to play anymore. Then send him an email along the lines of “We received your complaint that you were spending too much time on our game. This has been remedied. Thank you.”

His claim is that they didn’t warn him ahead of time that the game was so addictive. I dunno about Lineage II, since I only played the beta way back in the day, but most MMOs starting with about FFXI started warning people to take frequent breaks from the game. In fact, every time you logged into FFXI, it would make you agree in an EULA-type fashion that you wouldn’t forget about your work, school, family, and friends, and that you would attend to those things first, or something like that.

Even if Lineage II doesn’t do anything like that, though, it’s your own damn fault for spending so much time on it. This is JUST LIKE the guys who tried to sue McDonald’s for making them fat. That was their own god-damn fault for eating there in the first place. There are healthier alternatives for the same price, if not cheaper (SUBWAY, ANYONE?), if you absolutely can not or do not know how to cook for yourself. (Offnote: Seriously. a foot long sub from Subway was $6.66 last time I bought one. The biggest sandwich from Burger King comes in a 10 dollar combo meal, I think it was something like $8 for just the sandwich. There’s also Chick-Fil-A, if you have one in your area; that’s about the same cost on a per-sandwich basis, though their sandwiches are a little smaller.)

IF THE JUDGE AGREES WITH THIS LAZY BASTARD … THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR HOW ANGRY I WILL BE.

I went to Burger King last night, and they had a nutritional table set up. Conveniently, they had it set up in a location that most people don’t go to until after they order (by the drinks).

Almost 30 grams of saturated fat in a double whopper.

I think I’ll eat at Chik-Fil-A from now on.

Someone finally answered me as to why Reach is apparently the most innovative FPS ever. And provided me with this link.

Hm…

Custom Skulls
Pretty much can change most things in mid-game or prior to the game (if I read that correctly?)

This can be fun to play with, and adds a bit of replay value to, say, the campaign mode. You could make your own nightmare mode. I’ll give them this one.

Gaming Divisions
Seems like some kind of fancy scoreboard

Maybe the way they did it is new, but the core function itself hardly seems innovative.

Seamless orbital transitions
The ability to blast into space and fight … in space

Not sure how this one would work… would need a video or something. The writer here just says how cool it is without saying how exactly it works.

The engine
Uses a whole new engine

Guh. You can’t claim this as “something no other FPS has ever done.” This one’s just stupid.

Programmable AI
Ability to tweak the enemy and ally AIs to your liking

Again, I’ll give them this one. It can make certain aspects of the game more challenging, or you could really make it do whatever you wanted.

Okay, so that’s… 2 things that pertain to the customize ability of the gameplay, which could admittedly add to the fun factor of the game. One kinda-maybe thing that I’d be able to decide on if I had more information… and two “Buh, this is stupid” things that I get the feeling they threw in there so they’d have 5 things.

Blizzard has left me with a strange little problem.

I like their games. I honestly do. But I don’t like the direction their business has been going as of late. I can’t claim to know what their motivation is, whether it’s their own decision, or if Activision or Vivindi has a part to play in it. All I can say is that I’m not fond of the direction they’re going. I’m not fond of trying to turn World of Warcraft into a goddamn Facebook game. I’m not fond of forcing people to use their real names in video games. Even in its current state, where only friends can see your real name, the RealID system is… something I’m not fond of.

But, let’s put that all aside.

I got my hands on a Starcraft 2 guest pass, and I played the campaign mode. I noticed a “play as guest” button that let me play the entire campaign mode, legally and free of charge, at the expense of not being able to earn achievements. I was fine with that… I just wanted to play the game. It was a bonus that I got to play the campaign mode for free without having to pirate it. (Is it pirating it if it’s free, anyway?)

I have some mixed feelings about it.

Even though it’s a lot of fun to play, and the campaign mode has some fun levels in it… I can’t help but feel like Blizz didn’t give the game their all. I mean, as far as mechanics goes, it’s no different from Starcraft 1. It plays exactly the same. The only real changes that were made were the graphics, and some new buildings/units. Of course, the campaign mode also has the ability to earn permanent upgrades to your units, but the core game play is still the same. This leaves me with a “It took them eight years to build this?”

I know that they changed their plans around when World of Warcraft turned out to be a huge success. For those of you who don’t know, Starcraft 2 started production I think two years prior to WoW’s release… and when WoW turned into a big hit, they changed their plans accordingly, putting resources and effort into WoW instead of SC2. But, I’m getting off track again…

The game uses the same music and even the same voices (though, they’ve been redone so you can understand them better) as SC1, adding to the feel of ‘having not put as much effort on the game as they could have.’

Basically, it’s a polished SC1 with a more advanced campaign mode. In that respect, it’s probably really good for people who played and liked SC1, as it’s really just an upgrade to it. I’m not gonna lie, I liked playing SC2, but it’s almost identical to SC1.

I didn’t get into the multiplayer, since I was just playing on a guest pass, and by principle, I’m still not going to fork over any more money to Blizzard; so I can’t say much about that.

So, like I said … mixed feelings. It’s fun, but it doesn’t seem like they put a whole lot of effort into it.

I really like Blizzard’s games, but I don’t want to buy anything of theirs, cuz I don’t want to support the direction they’ve been going. That’s a weird thing, right there…

Well, I did it…
I got rid of that old, bulky pressboard desk, and got a new, specialized desk.

What’s the deal with canned soup?
They tell you to add a full can of water, but the stuff is super watery even with only half a can.

I’ve found that it comes out to about right if you add maybe 1/3rd can of milk. Maybe just a little bit more. Somewhere between 1/3rd and 1/2.

What would that be? 4/10ths, about? … 2/5ths.

Whats the deal with fractions?

Holding a yard sale.
Blogging here from my lap top.
It’s something like 100 degrees out here, my laptop isn’t doing too well.

Lots of people dropping by
Some of them just say ‘hi’
I’m trying to write a rhyme
Maybe just to kill time

Ufghf

So, I found Halo: Reach thread. I’ve been seeing Halo: Reach threads all over the place, talking about how it’s the best game ever. Which confuses me, since the game isn’t even out yet.

In any case, I decided to drop in and ask a serious, honest-to-God question.

“So what makes Reach so awesome? Almost every video I’ve seen of it is showing off the map editor. What makes Reach so different from any other FPS?”

Suddenly, the thread stopped.

It was as if the heads of thousands of Halo fanboys spontaneously exploded.

I think… I think I’ve found a new hobby.