Digital Love

Afternoon, ladies.

So, what is there to talk about today.

I saw Transformers 2 on the weekend with Scott, Jared, and Megan. It was AWESOME. A nonstop robot rumble with a lot of casualties. Just what I look for in a movie. Could have done without a few "comic relief" characters, and I got exceedingly tired of the whole relationship story between the two main characters, but aside from that, it was golden.

Then we all hung out in our living room and chatted about this and that until I think about four in the morning. The next day we hit up the mall, tried to connect my PS2 to the projector for some Shadow of the Colossus action, but it didn't seem to want to work. We're not sure why. In the end we moved a tv in front of the screen, but it's below enough that it doesn't actually obscure anyone's view of it, so now we can use the PS2 out there if we want. Which is fine, I haven't used it in here in at least a month.

I suppose there's some big news in that Michael Jackson has died. Not sure why this is big news. Why is it that as soon as some random celebrity dies, everyone throws a fit? I honestly can't remember the last time I gave a shit about somebody in the media dying. The comical thing is that all the newspapers are now writing him up as some kind of idol. Amusing, because Michael Jackson had been the butt of jokes for years, and the media was not kind to him. That is of course until he died. Now they're playing nice, not that it matters.

I always figured he was guilty of violating the kid from Home Alone, I wasn't a fan of his music, and the guy freaked me out. So I'm not really hurt by this turn of events.

Yep.

To anybody interested, we're looking to get Tales of Rusitu Maitas up and running again in its new format, upgraded from the site that was hosted previously. Unfortunately, all character applications have been lost and people will need to reapply. Also, we're looking into a way to get Against All Odds going again, also on this new format. If you visited the most recent Rusitu Maitas, you'll know that it's a map format. We're looking to do something similar with Against All Odds, but instead of a big area already mapped out, we want to leave it mostly blank, and have the players decide what they encounter as they move out from the starting areas. If we get enough interest off the bat, we'll probably have multiple starting areas, as that was the main failing of our last attempt. A dozen people trying to RP in a single thread, it didn't go all that well...But that will be fixed.

I'm currently working on an old RP story that Seth and I had going. I'm taking the basic idea and running with that as my own story. We had most of it mapped out, the key points, but it should be fun to write. Keep an eye out for that in the future, I'll probably post at least the first bit on here within the week. Keep your eyes peeled you cockbags.

Also, I have some funny videos for you to watch.

Jon Lajoie's take on MJ's death. I lol'ed.

A funny song about internet comments.

uhhh....Can't think of any others at this moment in time.

THERE. I UPDATED.

Until next time,
Last night I had a dream where I was the Avatar...I made a giant rockman and crushed a small town.
~Kataron

Rise of Mercy

I had a dream last night in which there was a viral outbreak of a zombie disease, but then it took an odd turn. I began the dream as myself, rounded up because I had very visible symptoms (weakness, skin turning grey), and I was imprisoned with a few other people in a government facility where they could keep an eye on us. The cells were weird, no bars or anything, but they were raised platforms with partial walls between the cells, and a two-story drop in front of them.

Somehow the disease passed and it was everyone else that was affected by it, not the people that had visible symptoms earlier.

Oh, did I mention that Andrew was in the cell next to me? Yeah, me and Andrew.

For some reason the cells then lowered themselves, and...erm...we....Well, we morphed into our WoW characters. Kataron and Angrus. And there weren't any zombies in the facility, just...for some reason...wolves. Like the kind you would find in the starter zone in Elwynn Forest...

My dreams are usually about zombies, occasionally about WoW, but this is the first time I can recall them being both. Also there was some kind of nuclear reactor. And someone that resembled Kevin Bacon.

I think my subconcious is crazy.

CRAAAAAAAZY.

So we downed the second-last boss in Ulduar on Thursday, pretty exciting. We're up to the old God now, and we're gonna rip him a new one.

I went drinking with Eric and Cameron last night. Not so much for the drinking, but for the obvious entertainment of seeing those two get drunk. Not a big fan of the Rockwood bars, or most drinking in general, but it was fun. Cameron is a hilarious drunk. I stayed mostly sober, only three rum and cokes and a shot of something Jenny recommended, but that was over the four hours we were at the bar, while the others had a constant stream of drinks. I think they were up to six or seven pitchers and two shots when Eric made friends with the bathroom floor. I had to help him walk home, as he had trouble just standing still, or getting off the bathroom floor for that matter. Sort of reminiscent of Dave at my birthday.

When I got Eric home, I walked Cameron most of the way back (he seemed more sober than Eric, but he had done no predrinking and had eaten a full meal just before coming down), and we had a nice chat about WoW.

Then I got back, tried to play TF2, but my reflexes were somewhat slowed, I was a little tipsy. I am an easy, easy drunk. So then I chatted a little, and went to bed.

When I woke up, Kate had called, and then I hung out with her all afternoon. We watched 21 and Sex Drive, both of which I have seen before, but both of which are pretty good. 21 being a movie about blackjack, Sex Drive being a decent sort of teen comedy.

So far it's been a pretty good weekend visiting my parents, and it's Father's Day tomorrow. Well technically today.

Unfortunately I am missing Seth's last night in Cambridge before he goes to work at a camp for the rest of the summer. Which is a shame, because I miss that glorious bastard something fierce. Some of the best weekends I had in high school were the ones I spent with Seth.

I still remember the first time I met him, I was hanging out with Jared and Seth's sister, whom I was already friends with, and then Seth and I got talking about video games, and I realized "This kid is fucking awesome". So when he gets back from the camp job, I have got to go spend a weekend with him like the good old days.

...So I downloaded The Sims 3 the other day. Didn't really want to pay for yet another Sims title that will have repeated expansions, each as costly as the last. So I hit up TPB (The Pirate Bay, you fools) and got it for freeeeeeee.

I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I played it for about three hours, then got bored of it. The character customization is pretty good, but what's the point? When am I going to be locked in on my sim's face? All that matters to me, for the most part, is the clothing, And the hair. Aside from that, I could not possibly care less what my sim looks like. So allowing me to customize the facial features, the nose, the eyes, it's completely fucking pointless.

Aside from that, my favourite thing about the franchise is flirting with ladies and getting some woohoo. But in this game it is so fucking easy. Just set a trait as "flirty", and you get all kinds of social options to woo the ladies...And if THEY have the flirty trait, then it's like shooting fish in a barrel. But in this case the fish is a woman. And the gun is my penis. And the barrel is the bed I guess? Shit, I don't know.

I have no interest in the ease at which I can seduce women in this game. The challenge is gone. In the three hours I played, I got to the point where I was literally meeting the women, and bedding them the same day, with no effort whatsoever. Boring.

So I've already lost interest in the game.

Also, the aging process has me irritated. When I have a character go to work, they generally come back with a hundred and some-odd dollars, but when I only have a limited amount of time, a limited number of days to work and move up and try to reach the height of a profession when I have a limited time to do so. It makes all of the money my sims bring home for a day of work....Lessened.

Yeah. Anyways...

I think that's all for this particular moment of time.

Until next time,
If I was a criminal mastermind, I would put explosive labels on all barrels without explosive contents, and no labels on the barrels with the boom boom.
~Kataron

Get to the Choppa!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am awesome.

Why am I awesome, you ask? Well, by this point you should already know. I am disappointed in each and every one of you.

But in this specific instance, I am awesome because of what I just bought in World of Warcraft. Hold on, you say. How can something in a game make you awesome? It's not even real. Well, fuck you.

It's awesome because it's a goddamn fucking motorcycle. That's right. I now ride around in a motorcycle.

That's stupid, you may say. Well, unfortunately, you are incorrect. The word you were looking for is awesome. Or possibly badass. Or possibly sexy and/or manly. Any of those options works just fine.

Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Because it's fucking expensive. To just buy the parts (which you have to be an engineer to buy), it costs you twelve thousand, five hundred gold. Consider that the epic flyer, the best purchase you can make in the game, costs five thousand. This is twice that. Plus a big. Plus you need to get an engineer with the plans (the plans alone cost three hundred), plus you need to get a handful of other stuff.

The list of items needed:

Twelve Titansteel bars. These bars are made from titanium and various elementals, and you can only make one bar every twenty hours. In the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, these things were going for a thousand gold a piece. Now they cost eighty gold a piece on the Auction House.

Forty Handfuls of Cobalt Bolts. To be honest, these aren't difficult to get, they're just really irritating. Cobalt spawns a lot less frequently than saronite, making it (though worth less) more time-consuming to farm.

Two Arctic Furs. These can be skinned off of any creature in Northrend, though they have a very low rate of being skinned. Luckily I had six of them in my bank, so this was not an issue.

Then comes the expensive stuff.

Eight Goblin-Machined Pistons. These cost a thousand gold a piece, making them altogether the biggest money-sink. You can only by these from a certain person, you must be an engineer, and there is no way to make it cheaper or make them yourself.

One Elementium-plated Exhaust Pipe. The exhaust has gotta come out somewhere. Apparently somewhere plated with elementium. Whatever the fuck that is. One thousand five hundred gold, also only purchased by engineers from a certain person and impossible to craft on your own.

Then there's the Salvaged Iron Golem Parts. Three thousand gold, same details apply to both of the previous ones.

Also, if you are really quite lucky, you may find one of these pieces when disassembling the Flame Leviathan, the first boss in twenty-five man Ulduar.

I was very fortunate tonight in that I managed to coerce Ravenfury to give me the cobalt bolts as well as the golem parts, because we were lucky enough to get the golem parts from the first boss in Ulduar, and it can literally only be used to create motorcycles.

So that's twelve thousand five hundred gold. Plus three hundred for the plans. Plus a hundred for the arctic fur, who knows how much for the cobalt, let's say a hundred and fifty because I don't want to check auction house prices, a thousand for Titansteel, and whatever tip the engineer wants. That's fourteen thousand gold total, not counting a tip for the engineer. And I got it for three thousand less than that.

...I probably should have tipped Hex, but I will make it up to him. I did, however, the other week donate him large amounts of saronite ore so that he could level his engineering, and did not charge him a copper.

I'll still try to find something nice to do for him for taking the time to make it for me though.

But at any rate, I'm going to drive around for a little while in it, then call it a night.

Until next time,
Fucking badass.
~Kataron

More Zombies, More Outrage

I was gonna do a blog post regarding my society ruled by a conch shell, but I have a rant instead.

Valve, the company that produced such masterpieces as Half-Life, Team Fortess 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and others, has just announced that they are planning to release Left 4 Dead 2. The sequel to L4D, this game will take place in the "deep south", and will implement changes such as new characters, new weapons, new campaigns, a new Director AI, and new zombies.

Geek reaction? They're pissed.

They feel that Valve is trying to cheat them out of L4D content they promised by coming out with a new game instead of "fixing" the old one. They feel that because this game is being released a mere year after the first game, that they are being taken advantage of.

My thoughts?

Shut your fucking mouths, you whiny little cunts.

Who the fuck are you to bite the hand that feeds you? In this case, bite implies internet bitching, and hand that feeds implies godly programmers.

Have you not noticed the vast changes being implemented into the game? The new campaigns, the new characters, the new zombies, the new weapons, MELEE WEAPONS for Christ's sake, not to mention an overhauled AI?

And you whiny little shits want that for free? Well, fuck you. Fuck you right in the ear.

It was already announced that they would most likely be starting on this project, so they've already put a fair amount of effort into this. By the time it comes out, it will have been at least a full year's worth of effort. And you want that for free? Who the fuck do you think you are? Valve is a video game company. Companies exist to make money. If you're too cheap to pay fifty bucks for a game that is an improvement to a game you already have (*cough*anysequelthathaseverexisted*cough*), then fine, be a little shit.

I will buy this game when it comes out, I will support the company that has made such excellent games, the company that CONTINUES to update and pay attention to Team Fortress 2 despite the fact that the game is two years old. And you know what? It does that for free. I don't have to pay a subscription fee, I don't have to pay for server hosting, I don't have to do a goddamn thing. I didn't even buy the game, Scott bought it for me. It was twenty dollars. And considering how much fun I've had since I got the game, I would have bought it on my own anyway. Shit, I made Rick buy it. Twenty bucks, why not.

The only money they're making off of that game is the initial investment, which is very cheap for a video game. And all things considered, that's a relatively easy game to add updates to. Change a weapon here, tweak a class there, make a hiliarious video of a spy. These things require simply tacking on to preexisting ideas and work that has already been done.

Left 4 Dead 2, on the other hand, is going to be an improvement that will have taken them a lot of work. I suppose people expected these things to be added for free, but considering the breadth of what they're doing with this new game. Scrapping their old maps and characters, hiring new voice actors and designing new campaigns, programming in melee weapons where they was no precedent for that, adding in new special zombies, all of which are no small feat.

But more important than that is what they are doing to the game engine itself, and the director AI.

If you know the game at all, you know that the director is akin to a small child watching you play via a television set in his room. He has two buttons in front of him. One button provides you with health packs and ammunition. The other button provides you with zombies. This child hates you. This child loves zombies.

Up to this point, all the director has been able to affect has been the frequency and number of undead you come across. It wants you to be challenged, but for it to be possible for you to prevail, but only if you fucking earn it.

Now a new feature is being added, a feature that will allow the director to affect weather (fighting zombies in a thunderstorm? That sounds freaky as shit.), and MORE IMPORTANT STILL, the level itself. Shock and awe, people! Shock and awe. Before this point, regardless of how well you were doing, you always went down the same path. There was only one path. This will now be opened up, to make each and every gaming experience truly unique. You won't know where you're going next. And that's fucking awesome.

Too many people are bitching about how they're making a new game without coming out with new campaigns for the game that's already out, but do you have any idea how much effort goes into putting together a campaign like that? I've seen a lot of campaigns made by normal people, and let me tell you, they are fucked. Glitchy as hell, couldn't get things going properly. They have to design worlds, challenges, all sorts of new things, and that requires a team of developers to sit down and take some more time on this.

And you want that for free? You want them to spend their time working on this, wrapping it delicately in nice wrapping paper, just to hand it to you on Christmas day and have you tear through it and inevitably find little things within it to nitpick and complain about and just generally be dicks?

Well, fuck you.

In case you hadn't noticed, the economy isn't doing so great. They spend a fair amount of time on Team Fortress 2, and they only get twenty bucks per player for that. If they're going to spend a year developing a game, even if it is an upgraded version of a previous game (the upgrades are nothing to scoff at, obviously), then they deserve to be paid for their effort.

This is a company that has produced nothing, NOTHING but good games. Show your goddamn appreciation and cough up fifty bucks, you cheap little shitfuckers.

Until next time,
There are already groups forming to boycott the game. God, the internet is full of cheap, whiny little shits that expect handouts all the time.
~Kataron

Momma's Boy

Good day today.

Scott crashed here last night because he'd been hanging out with Jared and Megan and Megan's cousin in Toronto. They got back when I was in the midst of leading a Naxx raid because Eric had disconnected one wing into the dungeon. Not the most fun thing I've ever done, because people wouldn't listen to a goddamn thing I said and the people were terribly geared and we could not defeat a certain boss.

God dammit I hate some people.

Anyways, so Scott was here last night, and when we called the raid, I got to hang out with people and watch Antitrust. And fuck if I don't love me some fuckin' Antitrust. Good goddamn movie, Jared and I watch it every few months.

So he was here when I got up, and we hung out and discussed video games for a bit with James, then Jared and Megan joined in, James went to church, and we continued hanging out. Then it was decided that we would embark upon an epic adventure. I woke Rick up.

The first stop was KW Surplus!

Holy. Fuck.

That store is AMAZING. Fucking gas masks, fucking camo EVERYTHING (maybe not underwear though. I did not look. Everything else though.), metal ammunition boxes, even surgical equipment, paintball guns, and electronics. I was QUITE impressed with their massive selection. We probably spent a good forty-five minutes to an hour wandering around checking stuff out. Jared and Scott each ended up getting some Walkie-Talkie things, which we played with for the rest of the day. Megan picked up a bunch of glass beakers and stuff, STUFF FOR SCIENCE, and Jared and I found a game. Civilzation 3, for five bucks. So we both grabbed a copy, we's gonna hit up some multiplayer later, gonna be sweet.

So I picked up that game, and a flask. Just a plain metal hip flask. It's neat. I figure I can put some energy drink in there, carry it around with me, and when I need an extra kick, I'll have it. Mostly just because flasks are cool though.

Next stop was Mel's Diner. The 50's diner we've been visiting since we moved to Kitchener. God damn I love that place. Today Rick and I decided to take on the Godfather challenge.

What is the Godfather, you ask?

It is a beast.

It's a double-decker burger. What? Not impressed? Both levels of the burger have THREE burgers. And these aren't small burgers. So six burgers total, plus cheese, bacon on the top level of burgers, and fries on the side.

Why the fuck did we do this, you ask? For glory, obviously.

Those who can tame this mighty burger-monster get a free t-shirt and a picture of themselves on the wall. The rules? Simple, eat the fuckin' thing in an hour and a half.

Easier said than done...

Started with the bacon, ate most of the fries, and I was only able to get through about a burger and a half before I had to throw in the towel. Rick got a little further than me. But god DAMN that was an impressive fucking creation. Twenty bucks. Really not bad for six burgers with bacon and fries. Especially since I now have four burgers in my mini fridge. I will be eating them for days.

And the entire meal, we were playing with the walkie-talkies, talking to each other on them despite being across the table from each other. Also, we stumbled across someone who seemed to think that Jared was "Evan". Jared answered with his code name.

Oh, and we had code names.

Rick didn't have one, 'cause he wasn't playing with the things.

Scott was Nitro Cannon.

Megan was Turbo Hawk.

Jared was Irontooth.

And I was Admiral Batman.

Awesome.

So when asked if it was Evan, Jared responded "Negative. This is Irontooth". I laughed my ass off. Then the girl said something about condoms...And then drug dealers....So we switched channels.

Then Jared and Megan left to wander through the candy store next door, and we continued trying to eat. They returned with fake moustaches for me, as well as some sour candy treats that I am still enjoying greatly.

So logically I put on a fake moustache right then and there, and then we all went to check out the candy store. I got some weird looks, as I always do, but the girl working seemed amused by it. Not only that, but apparently she bought some of the fake moustaches for herself, and is amused by them. HA. I'm not the only person. Suck it.

Anyways, I picked up a black light bulb. So now my room has two sources of light, lava lamp and black light. Why? Because I'm fucking AWESOME.

Then we were pondering what to do next, and I got bored and went back into the candy store to get an energy drink to put in my flask. I picked one called "Stud Juice". I also had a chance for a brief conversation with the cute girl working there that was amused by the fake moustaches.

Then we went to Home Depot, where Megan looked for a plant that my mom used to plant and I mentioned I like (called a Bleeding Heart plant), while Jared and I tried to figure out what frequency their radios were on. When we thought we had it, we tried to ask for customer service on a certain isle. When it got no response, I added that "bears were involved'. Still nothing. A shame. But amusing nonetheless.

Then we hung out with Scott at his place, and watched a show called "Lie To Me". Which is fantastic and I recommend to everyone that likes television.

It was a damn fine day, we all had a lot of fun, and I got to hang out with Jared, which is rare these days.

But at any rate, it's one in the morning and I'm going to watch a couple more episodes of Lie To Me before I crash.

In the next couple days I'm gonna post again regarding a fictional society where the main form of government is a conch shell! He who holds the shell makes the rules!

Also maybe I'll read made-up fan mail and answer questions like popular people do. Except it will be faked. I am unpopular.

Until next time,
At one point I had a headache so Scott gave me five pills, and did not tell me what they were. I took them all without asking.
~Kataron