18 points. Worse than my first game. Taylor and Alex pwnd me.
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Halfus Wyrmbreaker Downed
We killed Halfus Wyrmbreaker for the first time tonight. It was an
interesting fight. For the most part it was pretty easy. The mechanics
were interesting. Three of five possible drakes are involved. Each
gives the boss a buff, and talking to a drake causes him to temper
that buff but become mind controlled and fought alongside the boss.
The strategy comes from deciding when to engage the drakes and which
ones. But for me, it was a matter of stepping out of fire and casting
heals.
1/4 Bastion of Twilight
Chimaeron, on the other hand, was not easy. We didn’t down him.
Grim Batol
How long are heroics supposed to last? I know they take longer in
Cataclysm than they did at the end of Wrath. An hour? An hour and a
half? Two hours and forty minutes when gem and I queued for a random
heroic. It was our second heroic, but our first was with the guild.
After two hours we had switched a lot of players because they kept
leaving, and only one other DPS stayed with us. One tank even yelled
at me (a disc priest) for DPSing when I should have been healing.
Clearly he hasn’t heard of Atonement. Also, it’s hard to heal the tank
when I have to heal DPS that make mistakes. Anyways, we brought Collin
in to tank and then things went a lot more smoothly.
While that might have been particularly bad, I still can’t see myself
wanting to do a 45 minute heroic after work. I suspect I’ll be doing
most of my gearing during my days off.
Blackwing Descent 2/6
Even though I was undergeared in greens, my guild brought me to our
raid last night. It was my first time downing Magmaw and the guild’s
first time downing the Omnotron Defense System! It was very fun even
if I sucked! More thoughts on this later.
Duke Nukem Forever May 3rd
Co-Optimus – Duke Nukem Forever Gets a Release Date, For Real
Source: Game Informer
Duke Nukem Forever has gotten an official release date and its probably sooner than you would have thought. That date is May 3rd, 2011 in North America and May 6th everywhere else.
I can’t believe it’s finally releasing. It seemed more likely that we would stop hearing about it and it would fade out of existence. I really shouldn’t spend any money, but I’m tempted to buy it just because it’s actually DNF and it’s actually released. I don’t really have the time or money though, so we’ll see.
Gemini Rue
Independent publisher Wadjet Eye Games and developer Joshua Nuernberger are announcing a partnership to commercially release Gemini Rue for PC. This retro-style adventure game, which combines creative point and click gameplay with a gripping sci-fi / noir narrative, was an Independent Game Festival Student Showcase winner in 2010. Gemini Rue will release February 24 from http://www.geminirue.com, with preorders starting today.
I think this game looks really fantastic! Usually I’m hesitant to review games for platforms other than the iOS because they’re bigger time sinks, but I had to make an exception. It looks absolutely stunning, and the plot looks engaging as well. Review copies are available in early February, and I’m on the list. Here’s hoping they have enough promotional copies!
Knights of Valiant Fury
The Classifieds: Guild videos are awesome
Rehmaar is the guild master for on Wyrmrest Accord (US-A). The guild is an all-blood elf roleplaying guild, and it’s just getting started in the last few weeks. Rehmaar created this video from soup to nuts to help advertise his guild and get the word out about their themes and goals.
How come my guild doesn’t have a sweet, RP video? Or any RP? This guild looks really fun!
The Mathematics of Beauty – OkTrends
The Mathematics of Beauty – OkTrends
So this is our paradox: when some men think you’re ugly, other men are more likely to message you. And when some men think you’re cute, other men become less interested…
However, the variance you create is under your control, and it’s simple to maximize:
Take whatever you think some guys don’t like – and play it up.
As you’ve probably already noticed, women with tattoos and piercings seem to have an intuitive grasp of this principle. They show off what makes them different, and who cares if some people don’t like it. And they get lots of attention from men.
But our advice can apply to anyone. Browsing OkCupid, I see so many photos that are clearly designed to minimize some supposedly unattractive trait – the close-cropped picture of a person who’s probably overweight is the classic example. We now have mathematical evidence that minimizing your “flaws” is the opposite of what you should do. If you’re a little chubby, play it up. If you have a big nose, play it up. If you have a weird snaggletooth, play it up: statistically, the guys who don’t like it can only help you, and the ones who do like it will be all the more excited.
However, the variance you create is under your control, and it’s simple to maximize:
Take whatever you think some guys don’t like – and play it up.
As you’ve probably already noticed, women with tattoos and piercings seem to have an intuitive grasp of this principle. They show off what makes them different, and who cares if some people don’t like it. And they get lots of attention from men.
But our advice can apply to anyone. Browsing OkCupid, I see so many photos that are clearly designed to minimize some supposedly unattractive trait – the close-cropped picture of a person who’s probably overweight is the classic example. We now have mathematical evidence that minimizing your “flaws” is the opposite of what you should do. If you’re a little chubby, play it up. If you have a big nose, play it up. If you have a weird snaggletooth, play it up: statistically, the guys who don’t like it can only help you, and the ones who do like it will be all the more excited.
This seems really interesting yet at the same time not totally surprising when the conclusion is actually considered. Check out the article to see the data, but between two women who have same average attractiveness rating (based on others’ opinions), the one who has more people in agreement is less likely to get message than the girl who has more deviance in her rating. Very cool.
Cataclysm, Force Unleashed 2, Super Meat Boy, Beat Hazard
Video games. I feel like I live in their culture but spend very little time playing them.
Cataclysm
I finally hit 85 recently and even met some guildies I didn’t know at a party at my place the other day. Very cool guys! I haven’t even done all the normal instances nor have I tried the new battlegrounds, but I enjoyed the instances I did. Moving the quest givers inside the instances is a fantastic change. I still feel like I’m not sure what’s going on in some of the instances. That said, I only quested in Vashj’ir, and the Throne of the Tides probably felt the coolest to me. I guess the instances are better when I have the lore of the zones backing them up.
Speaking of zones, I still think there are too many quests. Blizzard did a great job making new and interesting quests, but there’s too much padding. Every quest should have some meaning and progress the story in a meaningful way. But I do enjoy the new Orgrimmar quite a bit even if Hellscream won’t even consider a peaceful existence. I’m curious to see where the story will go, but I’m okay with him in the game (even if I wouldn’t care for his politics in real life). Also, “Thrall’s balls” and “Hellscream’s eyes are upon you” are great lines. I’ve always really enjoyed the difficulty of healing and how I need to use many more spells than I previously did.
Force Unleashed 2
Edward bought this game for me for Christmas, and I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s very similar to the first one. I really enjoy how much it feels like I’m in Star Wars. It’s obviously a bit of a button masher, but I’m not always looking for a deep game. In Force Unleashed 2 I’ve found a good way to allow me to feel like I’m in the Star Wars universe, really throwing around my lightsaber and using cool force powers. The way the quick time events play out to kill certain larger enemies is always the same, which is disappointing, but I’m definitely having fun. I also love the cutscenes progressing the story and the cool transitions.
Super Meat Boy
I haven’t been putting as much time into this as I’d like, but it’s definitely a well designed platformer. I loved N and N+, and Super Meat Boy fits in quite nicely. It has superb graphics, music, and bits of polish. Of course it’s very challenging, but it doesn’t make me angry like bad people in WoW do.
Beat Hazard
Beat Hazard, which features procedurally generated levels based on music, is fantastic. Not only is it fun, but it also provides me with entertainment in short bursts, and I don’t always have a lot of time to play video games. While I’m definitely behind all of my roommates in terms of progress, I am nearing the final rank. Yay!
E-mail from Grandma
I have to share this with everyone. This e-mail came from my grandmother this morning and was sent to my brother and me. She’s great, lol.
Hi guys,
Okay, here goes. I was going through some “stuff” in our closet and I came across a new unopened package of men’s underwear.
Gramps bought them (when he was under some delusion that he could actually pick out his own underwear!). He doesn’t wear this style. So I’m wondering if it’s anything either of you would wear. If so, I’ll bring them out in June or send them home with your Mom in April.
The package reads:
Men’s mid-rise briefs.
100% combed ringspun cotton
6 pack
Size 34
They are white.
P.S. In case you’re wondering Gramps wears low rise briefs in dark colors. Or as Chuck put it once, before he and Diana were married, “Your dad still wears Roos?”. They were in sleeping bags on the living room floor in Rancho Mirage when Gramps crossed the hall to use the bathroom in the early morning.
This will probably be the only time I discuss your underwear with you in an email! I’ve been chuckling this whole time, but you know how frugal I am and I wouldn’t just donate them without asking.
Love and smiles,
Grandma
Okay, here goes. I was going through some “stuff” in our closet and I came across a new unopened package of men’s underwear.
Gramps bought them (when he was under some delusion that he could actually pick out his own underwear!). He doesn’t wear this style. So I’m wondering if it’s anything either of you would wear. If so, I’ll bring them out in June or send them home with your Mom in April.
The package reads:
Men’s mid-rise briefs.
100% combed ringspun cotton
6 pack
Size 34
They are white.
P.S. In case you’re wondering Gramps wears low rise briefs in dark colors. Or as Chuck put it once, before he and Diana were married, “Your dad still wears Roos?”. They were in sleeping bags on the living room floor in Rancho Mirage when Gramps crossed the hall to use the bathroom in the early morning.
This will probably be the only time I discuss your underwear with you in an email! I’ve been chuckling this whole time, but you know how frugal I am and I wouldn’t just donate them without asking.
Love and smiles,
Grandma
Sorry, Grams. I wear boxer briefs.