I've moved!

I'm still moving over older entries. But, with my track record for unpacking... It'll be a while. So I've gone ahead and started rambling again...

www.randomramblings.com

Works out well doesn't it?

I have no acceptable excuse...

I maintain that the holidays have been hectic, however, still no excuse.

Things are a little slow right now so it's time for some catch up. Unfortunately I can't remember like 90% of what I wanted to mention... So I'll start rambling and hope I catch everything.

EQ2: Back to my pet subject with regards to this or any other game. Community. In this case guild dynamics.

Believe it or not, finding a good functional guild is a very important part of game longevity. Soloing my way through EQ2 would have had me packed up and leaving on a jet plane long ago. And I was on the verge just lately. I don't have a ton of time to play, and I'm a genius and made a cleric. Whilst, as an Inquisitor, I can solo quite effectively in most cases, it's still slow as ass.

And when one has a deadline to reach a certain level? Slow as ass soloing just doesn't cut it.

As much as I love my guild, it has it's faults. One of which is a propensity towards cliquishness. We have a lot of people who have more play time than others and spend a lot of time grouping and getting to the level cap before some of us with considerably less play time could hope to. Rather than help the rest of the guild, they go off together on their own and fill in their empty spots with folk from outside the guild.

I had some rather heated words for the GL about it... and unfortunately that's what it took for me to actually get invited on a guild group. * sigh * But things really didn't seem to matter to the GL until this person ran into the problem. Naturally a GL who can't get a guild group tends to get cranky.

The subsequent events led to my taking a week off from the game and doing other stuff. I couldn't really bring myself to log in I was so torqued off. Same GL who had just been complaining about cliquishness decided that they couldn't take two people of the same class to an instance cause that wasn't the optimal set up to win at the instance.

Which is completely counterproductive to building a cohesive guild. You can't have it both ways. I'm not exactly shy (shut up the lot of you) so I made my thoughts on the subject known. I'm still not really sure I feel like logging in at all... But I've got 15% to go until I get to level 75... So I'm sure I'll be in soloing a bit... Yeah it's back to that.

Book reviews: I can't remember what I've read lately... so once I've sifted through the stack of read vs need to read I'll fill this in.

Movie reviews: I went to a movie!!! In an actual movie theatre! How totally awesome is that! No, this doesn't really happen on a regular basis for several reasons, but mostly time... That and popcorn gets stuck between my teeth and I hate that... Blame my OCD.

I went to go see Sweeny Todd on Sunday. Now, I knew vaguely what the story was about, but I've never seen it before. It's just always been there on my to be seen list of Sondheim. So there I was with my soda and junior mints (after having driven home from the movie theatre 15 mins before the movie started because I thought I'd left my debit card at home and needed it to pick up my preordered tickets only to find that it was in fact in my purse the whole time).

I loved it. It was dark and kinda gothy. Helena Bonham Carter, who is not my favourite actress ever, was frankly amazing. She was lovely and voluptuous and goth and dark. Her comic timing was perfect and I was incredibly impressed. Johnny Depp, on whom I've had a crush since 21 Jump Street, was also just amazing. The fact that he'd never sung before just made his performance that much more impressive for me. I've read some reviews that say it fell flat... But I thought they did an incredible job with it.

It's so getting added to my dvd collection.

Christmas Dinner at my Mom's house: Didn't suck this year. Anyone who knows me well knows the sheer unadulterated suckitude of my family. My mom specifically. Like seriously, Margaret Cho's mom has NOTHING on my mom... My mom is a great gaping black-hole of suck. So naturally her house on any major holiday could literally destroy the world as we know it cause the gravitational pull of the suck would draw the sun into the earth and incinerate us all.

I hate my mom's house on any normal day... but holidays are worse.

There's a good 30 to 40 screaming Koreans. 90% of whom speak little to no English. So they're screaming at each other in Korean. Which is a major hairball language. And it sounds angry. Kinda like German. Both very angry sounding languages. Most of what is screamed in this loud angry hairball language is cracks at me for being fat and how I need to lose weight and what a disappointment I am to my poor mother. After mom gets done yelling at me though, most of the rest of the family is fairly nice.

So. There I am, all snug in my bed christmas morning, looking forward to a long day of doing nothing and playing EQ2... and my mom calls. Fortunately I didn't actually talk to her when she called cause I was still asleep. So I got a voicemail and I called back. Unfortunately, it was too early for me to have thought of a good reason that I couldn't go to her place later. DAMNIT.

I wasn't really looking forward to 10 screaming and poorly behaved monster children... So I did what any sane woman would do... I took guitar hero with me. I figured it would mesmerize the little brats and I'd be able to eat in peace and make a break for it at a reasonable hour.

I got to my mom's a little early (I have punctuality issues... blame the OCD). No screaming rug rats. No population of a small Korean village. I don't think there were more than 10 people there altogether.

SCORE!!!! I didn't even have to help cook this year... So I got to hang in the TV room and watch James Bond with my step-dad (who delivered a playful smack upon being told that I couldn't come up with a good excuse not to come by) and some other random family members.

Even better than no small screaming kids? My step-sister and two of my younger girl cousins were there. We played guitar hero. It was hysterical on every level. Ages: me=30, step sister=23, older girl cousin=20, younger girl cousin=17 (christmas baby! she was stuffed into a stocking at the hospital when they brought her out). Now, I've been playing gh pretty hard to try and not suck at it, so I'm pretty good. My step sister was just as bad as I was the first few times I played. My older cousin's boyfriend has the game so she didn't suck. My younger cousin smoked us all and had never picked up the damn game before.

There she was, kicked back on the couch and sleepy and she still kicked our asses. Her older sister was all kinds of into it and jumping around and screaming and doing the rock and roll finger thingie. I giggled.

Oh, but it gets better!! They're catholic, right? So their priest came by. HE tried to play. Little old Korean priest guy... hitting like every fourth or fifth note and making kung fu movie noises... He was awful and totally failed the songs he tried, but it was hilarious. My sister and I were both in tears and almost passed out cause we couldn't breathe we were laughing so hard.

So, cheers to the first ever holiday at my mom's that didn't suck. I'm fairly convinced that I have a terminal illness or that the end of the world is coming cause my mom was actually nice to me, too. For once instead of telling me how fat I was she told me I looked pretty... So maybe she's the one with the inoperable brain tumour... I've heard they change your personality...

New Year's Eve: Is actually gonna be spent out of the house this year. I know, right? I normally stay home and just chill out, but this year, the best friend and her boyfriend and I are all going out. No, we're not partying or anything. Just a really nice dinner. Which is good cause omg I looked at myself in the mirror after my shower last night and about puked. That has GOT to go. My happy butt is gonna be glued to the eliptical machine starting Jan 1st and isn't leaving til I can look at myself in the mirror without wanting to give myself home liposuction.

New Year's Resolutions: The aforementioned being able to look at myself nekkid in the mirror without having horror movie reactions. And I'm finally going to make the time to write a novel like I've always wanted to do. I can make excuses til judgement day, but the reality is... There is no excuse for me to not do this.

To one and all: Have a happy and safe New Year. May things be better for you in the coming year and may you accomplish at least half of what you set for yourself (since I know I usually don't make it to a full quarter of what I set ;) ).

just call me mrs. fields!

So, all caught up in the spirit of giving and generally feeling domestic and nestish, I hied myself to my kitchen and cooked up about six batches of snickerdoodles.

Best. Cookie. Ever. Bar none.

Which also leads me to the notion that now that I've finally got some time, I'll be sending some cookies to SOE in general appreciation.

Along with a note that says they can have the antidote just as soon as I get my purple flamed nightmare * nod *

KIDDING!!!!

I've actually been thinking a lot about the recent events in our little community of Dark Elves and all the rest of you...

I'm reminded again of just how important it is to have open and truthful communication between the company and the playerbase. We'll forgive a whole lot of stuff as long as we're told the truth.

It seems so easy. Unfortunately sometimes it isn't easy to keep up completely truthful communication and transparency. Sometimes there's information that just doesn't need to be conveyed. We don't actually need to know the step by step of server updating or build loading or any of the rest of that. But there are times when that's the answer to the question: Why?

I think it's a fine line to walk. A balancing act of ginormous proportions with a bunch of torches and pitchforks at the bottom of the pit.

It's also interesting to see how individuals handle it on both sides.

There are still hiccups here and there, but I think we've got a good bunch of community managers for EQ2 and they do a pretty good job of keeping open and truthful communication with the community.

It's Mon.... oh wait. Tuesday!!!

My days are currently messed up. It's kind of sad that I've gotten to a point in my life where if I miss a day of work, I don't know what day I'm on.

Couple of points of interest, prefaced with the standard disclaimer. The following are my personal views and have nothing to do with any of my employers either past, present, or future.

There was a giant bruhaha last week about a guild being moved from Test to a live server.

First point. People are * sigh *. They sit there and bitch and moan about how evil SOE is and how they don't care two cents for their customers and only want to squeeze as much money as possible out of them. When SOE turns around and does something nice, contests, giveaways, whatever, these same people turn around and bitch about whatever nice thing they've tried to do. Nothing is ever good enough, nor right, nor caring enough about their customers.

Second point. Yeah, it was done the wrong way. It was a nice gesture, implemented incorrectly.

But come on... When faced with an example of SOE trying to do something nice and make a gesture, what did all these ravening fans of the little guy do? They frothed at the mouth and DEMANDED that it be undone. Which it was. Rather than being happy for fellow players, they cried, whined, screamed, and generally pitched fits. They slung mud at anyone they could. They even accused Grimwell of instigating the whole mess because they said he had a character in the guild that was transferred. It was a ridiculous and childish display. Wholly unworthy of the community I've been with and loved for so long.

I'm heartily ashamed of this. Mistakes aside, it was a kind gesture. I applaud the sentiment behind it. And to Grimwell specifically, I give huge kudos for handling the whole mess with grace.

Second point of interest.

During this whole mess, Scott Hartsman announced his resignation from SOE. He'll be moving on to other projects. I wish him nothing but the best. I'll be sad that he won't be involved with EQ2 anymore. He and the dev team have made huge strides over the years together.

This news was leaked weeks ago. There have been rampant rumours and general nonsense. Some total crap about why he was leaving. The whole mess was handled with so little respect for Scott that I was appalled. I understand that people think they have a right to know every little aspect of someone's life if they are even remotely public, but come on people. If someone had splashed details about your job all over the internet, I'd imagine you'd all be more than a little torqued off.

Once again, handled with considerable grace.

These are both stellar examples of the people who work on EQ2. They've brought passion and dedication to our game and made it better by leaps and bounds. They've taken the venom and disrespect flung at them from the community and moved on and kept making the game the best they could.

I'm disappointed in the community right now. I've come to expect so much more. I can only hope this is one of those rare flukes caused by the full moon and that I'll soon have my mature, kind, and helpful EQ2 family back.

Oh... and I wish Bruce Ferguson good luck.

potpourri

Not the kind that you put in a bowl to make your house smell nice (glade gel oil candles are way better for that omg), or the kind that I drink in a cup at Starbucks (according to Radar). Just the general jumble of junk that floats through my consciousness...

Which considering that I'm tired as hell this morning should prove rather entertaining.

EQ2 - I'm a scant 7% away from level 72. Which is really good for me without a regular group like I used to have. Running around and doing quests and soloing has gotten me rather far. And I have had help here and there which breaks up the monotony a good deal.

One of the lovely people I truly enjoy is in my guild now. Shipwreck. He isn't really mean and hateful nor cold-hearted... although there is a LOT more mocking of me going on... However it's making me giggle and ya know... Shippie. Can't really beat that.

There's going to be another write up of my adventures in RoK... Cause seriously... someone needs to smack quest writers for some of that nastiness.

Life in general - Changing dryer sheets goes right up to the top of my "do not" list. Jeez. I have very fair skin (thank you dad and the lovely celtic genes) and it happens to be very sensitive as well. So when I changed dryer sheets to the downy ones that smell all yummy and lavanderish and stuff? Yeah. Hi, rash. Big, angry, red, itchy rashness. Everywhere. * twitch *

So I rewashed all my clothes and went back to the old dryer sheets. One major downfall to being girlie and liking stuff that smells good. Stupid dryer sheets. Stupid mountain of laundry that wants folding and putting away. Stupid writers strike with no Heroes and lots of time to fold and put away laundry.

I have a purple phone. That's right. PURPLE PHONE. Ask Promise to sing the purple phone song. It's highly entertaining.

I also have yet another (cause you people really need another reason to laugh at me) confession to make.

I'm a literary snob. Always have been. And the number one no no book on my list has always been a romance novel. Any romance novel. I've always snubbed them and turned up my nose. This isn't to say that one or two haven't slipped through under the guise of another genre... I mean, hello, have any of you read the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Aeul? Totally romance novels on the DL.

That having been said, I actually went out and deliberately picked up a romance novel. From the grocery store.

Embarassing confession = I actually really enjoyed it. So I'm having to revise my opinion it seems. They aren't all Roland's throbbing manflesh and Jessica's heaving bosoms. Nor are they all mad passionate joinings every few pages. The one I read was fairly well done and managed to... somewhat, tastefully work in the sex and actually have it fit where it was stuck in the story. As opposed to the stories that just sorta shove it in there because it's been a whole chapter and no one has been brought to the screaming edge of pleasure.

* sigh * I'm such a girl :(

Oh, and I suck at guitar hero. There is simply no measure of my suckitude. My hand eye coordination blows. I can hit all the little coloured tabs in time with the buttons (and no, you don't have to be able to see colours to know which ones to hit) no problem. Oh, you want me to flip this little bar thingie to REGISTER that I'm pushing the right buttons at the right time WHILE still pushing the buttons....

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND???? * sob * The pressure is unbelievable. They boo at you if you miss notes. THEY BOO!!! Talk about stress. Holy crap.

That having been said... I managed to rock me some Pat Benetar at around 85% on my second try. And yes, I did in fact choose the cute little asian chick in the school girl outfit as my avatar. She's in purple and has pigtails. What's not to love? Pat and I have a date later tonight...

Oh and yes, I play on easy. It'll probably be a very cold day in hell if I ever manage to play the game on anything other than easy. So shut it, right now.

why i need to win the damn lottery...

Because work keeps getting in the way of this. Alright, it gets in the way of a lot of other stuff too, but it's seriously putting a cramp in the time that I have to blather at the four poor sods who read this junk.

Thus, I have decided that this weekend I'll be winning the lottery so that I don't have to work anymore and will have time to post every. single. day. Yeah, I know, you're all so thrilled that you've gone numb and that's why there's no applause. It's okay. I love you too.

After being out of touch for a bit as I was and then the mad crush of trying to figure out how to catch back up with junk, I got back into game for real and was kind of at a loss.

What to do and do I really want to keep playing?

It didn't really hurt me to not do much in game for a week or so. I read like four books, watched the entire first season of Heroes, and some other junk. I felt all productive (and yes I have to review books. I know. Shush). It was kind of nice.

Well, I was reminded why I keep playing. Besides, of course, for the fun factor.

The people. I can't ever stress enough how important the people and community are for the longevity of a game. I've been bored to tears a number of times and on the verge of taking an extended haiatus and managed to keep going because of the people.

I think I know some of the funniest people in game. Personal bias all the way, of course.

My guild is awesome too. We joke and laugh and everyone has a sense of humour. Or most everyone does. The people who don't usually don't last that long.

The other night, one of our templars decided she was going to move her alt into a lower level guild to play with some friends.

One of the officers went to boot her out of the guild cause it's fun and it would be amusing to have on the guild events. Except that she was either too quick on the draw or he was too slow... Because she ended up out and he ended up kicking a necro. A necro with a LOT of guild status. A necro who was in fact online at the time and in vent.

From what people said his comments in vent were priceless and I'm actually really sorry I wasn't there for it. As it was, I was crying so hard I could barely see the screen. It was seriously priceless.

We got him reguilded and all, and I THINK he's forgiven our officer for accidently kicking him. Maybe. We'll find out at the next raid.

We're social creatures, we humans. It's an incredibly effective tool for game companies to use to their advantage. You can have the most incredible game on the face of the planet and no community and it will fail. You can have a mediocre game and have a fantastic community of people and it will thrive.

Happily, EQ2 is both an amazing game and has a fantastic community.

I know that I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for the people I've met. SOE does a great job of trying to promote that feeling of family you develop in these kinds of games. Sure, there are people who complain and don't like it... but there are people like that everywhere. Nothing pleases them. They sure are fun to mess with though ;)

What does this have to do with the lottery? Well, DUH. I'd have more time to play. Sheesh. Try to follow along...

weeeeeeee!!

Thanksgiving!

There's some story about pilgrims and a thanksgiving feast to commemorate them making friends with the Indians (whom they later royally screwed) and having enough food to survive the winter blah blah blah.

It's a holiday to get together with friends (or if you happen to have a family who isn't bat shit insane, with them) and eat. Socialize a bit and watch lots of tv as well, but mostly to eat.

Now don't get me wrong. I love food (as can be seen just looking at my ass). I love to eat. But the best part for me is actually the cooking. Yeah don't ask me why, I just love to cook.

This year I've made enough food for about 10 people and there are going to be two of us, a few cats, and my best friend's boyfriend whenever he gets back from his parents' place.

I was gifted with a groovy idea about mixing my stuffing and mashed potatoes this year. It looks and smells divine and I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this every year for the rest of my life now. I mean seriously... what's bad about it?

Then there's pie. I love pie. I was going to make three kinds this year... But I ended up deciding it might be a bit excessive. See? I have self control. So there!!

Mostly the reason that Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays is that it's sort of the trigger for fall and winter. This is my time of year. Everything cools off, the air gets crisp. Everything is a little cheerier.

So for those of us chowing down today, enjoy! For everyone who doesn't have this silly made up holiday with no real basis in anything? Have a happy Thursday and remember the weekend is damned close.

back in the saddle again!

I had my very first ever trip to the ER. Then I got to spend a week doing my very best impression of a teenager (read: sleeping 16 hours a day). Not the best week of my life.

However, it did afford me an interesting little tidbit to mull over.

Today's update was going to be all about community and its importance to gaming in general and MMOs in particular. But that can wait til tomorrow.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this blurb I saw on 60 minutes when I was sitting in the ER and trying not to cry from pain that was actually worse than being in labour. Yeah. That bad. I was immediately reminded of why I am not in a rush to have more kids.

The 60 mins blurb sort of reinforced that notion.

There were a couple of guys going on about how kids today (godsdamnit that makes me feel old to say it that way * sob *) aren't expected to be adults until after at least 26 years of age. There's a whole generation of kids out there who are living at home until their 30's. Or later.

All pain was momentarily forgotten as I tried to grasp that concept.

They went on to talk about how they don't need to focus on finding a career. It's acceptable to shop around now. Four jobs in a year on your resume is no big deal now... Colour me surprised. I can't get anyone to LOOK at my resume unless I've been somewhere for a year.

Add to that the fact that if I could have gotten out of the house and on my own at 16, I'd have been that cute little dust cloud that the Roadrunner leaves in the cartoons.

I understand that economically it's a good move and all... but I still can't imagine staying at home so long.

Do you have a curfew? Do you have to tell your parents where you're going and when you'll be back? How do you DATE? You can't very well bring a date home and hang out and stuff, can you? How does that work anyway? Hey baby, my parents are out tonight, wanna come over and watch a movie? That isn't even getting into the logistics of having a sex life. * shudder *

Perhaps it's a difference in rearing techniques on the part of the parents. The way I was raised, there as no way that I would have been able to remain at home a second longer than absolutely necessary. One, I was raised to be independent and get out and do for myself. Two, they were distinctively NOT of the nurturing variety.

At any rate, my best friend and I were sitting there with sick kids, kids with puss-filled elbows, and creepy guys who we couldn't tell what was wrong with them, kinda looking at the tv and each other...

And promptly forgot it all when a girl walked in with a t-shirt that said: I'm not a model, I just look like one... And well yeah. She really didn't.

Still sick... * sigh *

But that's okay!!!

Because it's November. It's national write a novel month or some such nonsense. Basically it's a challenge to write a full 50k words in 30 days. Sound crazy? It surely is. And I'm already 6 days behind.

Chances are I won't even attempt it simply for the lack of time to devote. I mean hello!! there's EQ2 expansion launching in exactly 7 days. I don't know how anyone could expect me to miss that for some silly novel.

However, the event does conjure up the desire to finally get off my fat ass and write. So I've made a solemn vow to actually make the effort to do some "real" writing and not just the randomness I torment you fine folk with or the stuff with which I torture the Zam folks.

I know... non gaming related writing... Almost seems like blasphemy doesn't it?

Speaking of which... The writer's unions are on strike. They think they should get paid a bit more and get a bigger cut of dvd residuals as well as get kickback for the internet sales and all that. And I agree. They get shafted. Hard. Yeah they make good money... I'd be thrilled. However when you look at what other people get for what the WRITERS produce... Yeah it's complete and utter bullshit.

The problem is... If the writers are on strike? That means that Heroes is in danger. Since this is literally the only TV show that I watch and I have to go on NBC.com in order to do so... Yeah. I'm distressed. They need to clear this up in a big fat hurry.

To the corporations... Stop being greedy bastards and frelling pony up the damn money. I want my freaking Heroes.

(Sidebar: I'm listening to the radio and evidently there's a little girl with 4 arms and legs and stuff... some sort of conjoined twin thing. Spiderbaby. * nod * Spiderbaby Spiderbaby does whatever a spider can...)

At any rate. I'm a firm believer in paying people what they're worth. And in this case, the corporations need to start paying their writers. Period. Because without the writers, the TV networks are boned. They're going to be losing FAR more money than they'll be paying out if they give the raise they should. This boggles my mind. It's just so easy.

Everyone cross your fingers. Heroes is on the line here.

oh the amazing slackishness of me

In my defense, the last couple of weeks have been rather hectic for me. What with worrying about extra crispy grandmothers who turned up in Las freaking Vegas (and without me!!! wtf???), a busy couple of weeks at BOTH jobs, and lingering sniffles and general sick in bedness... yeah. There has been little to no writing. There has been lots of soup though!

Today is one of my favourite days of the year. Halloween. But I think I like Coyote's definition better, so on the off chance someone reads this who doesn't already read Coyote (yeah... that'll happen) go scamper over and check it out. He gives good giggle.

I've decided that there just isn't enough time in the day to do all the stuff I want to or need to do. I need more hours. I need to be able to play twice as long so I can fit in all the stuff I need to do and then have time to write on top of it. I need to be able to find a way to squeeze in another few jobs (*nods to radar and his in living colour jokes*). But most of all? I still need time to sleep.

I've decided that sleep is a GOOD thing. I don't do it nearly as much as I should. I think my love of sleep is compounded by a love of my big comfy bed. It's a lovely and wonderful bed. And oh so very comfy. I need to spend more time bonding with it.

Thus, I have decided that the time has come to achieve a state of independent wealth wherein I can do whatever I want whenever and spend more time bonding with my bed.

So I'll be winning the lottery this weekend. No one else buy a ticket. And to the lottery people? I'll be emailing you the numbers you're to choose on Friday. kkthx.

sometimes it's better not to worry...

But when you have family in the midst of wildfires, you can't help it.

Of course, then you hear from them three days later and find out they were kicking back and having fun in Las Vegas... yeah. I was so relieved that she was safe that I decided not to strangle her.

More and more people that I know in the area are checking in and are all okay. As awful as this has been so many have been lucky. My heart goes out to those who are still in danger and who have lost things in the fires.

i got your jam right here!

So. I had my very first jam making experience this weekend.

As it's something I've always wished I knew how to do, this is quite a milestone for me.

The one thing that really struck me (other than how totally cute the friends who were doing it are) is that it really isn't that hard.

There's always been this thing in my mind that making jam was some sort of mystical and difficult thing that would require me to dance naked at midnight, backwards, on one foot, whilst chanting monty python quotes in order to accomplish it.

Yeah. So not. What does this mean? Yeah. I'm making some jam.

Of course, this also reminds me just how lacking my domestic skills still are. There's so much stuff that I want to know how to do that I've yet to learn. I'm getting there though. Slowly but surely. I've finally mastered the whole bread making thing. Which is highly groovy. I'm still trying to learn how to make soap.

Most of my projects are slow going, mostly because I just don't have the time to squeeze everything in. Which is yet another reason I need to win the lottery.

Thank you, my lovely friends, for teaching me to make jam!

(insert witty title here)

Yeah... I got nothing.

Well for a title anyway.

Mostly just a lot of thoughts floating about in my head. So I'm just going to sift out the game related stuff, cause the rest of it is none of anyone's damned business.

Gods and Heroes

While I called the death of this game from the second I read the first interview with Steig (incidentally, Steig was reached after much debate over the correct spelling... We've all seen it both ways and can never decide which is correct. So if it is misspelt, send your hate mail to radarx@tentonhammer.com kkthx.), I'm still sorry to see it crash and burn.

There are a lot of factors that contributed to its demise that I'm sure I have no clue about one way or the other. The main one that I see from a player's standpoint, though, is that it tried too hard. They took Roman culture and mythology and made unnecessary changes to something that didn't need it. They also tried to incorporate what seems like all the most successful aspects of major games on the market. And in the end... It was just too much fantasy in a glutted market. When someone like me, who has eaten up mythology since 3rd grade, throws up their hands in disgust, you're doing something wrong. Period.

Gallenite, who's terribly smart and awfully cute too, posted about the development side of game making and all that's involved. Go read.

My guild

Are a bunch of loons. I love them dearly :) They're curing my burnout most handily.

Crafting

Must. Get. To. 70... * twitch *

Warhammer

Arugh. Just... Arguh. I wanna play this game. I give them massive props for having the brass to take down the beta servers and say "Hey, you gave us good feedback... we're fine tuning and reopening the beta later." That's awesome. DAoC should have been bigger than it was. It was a well made game. So hopefully they'll do good stuff with WAR.

Tabula Rasa

Not sure... still debating. I like the idea and the feel... but there's a learning curve that sorta turned me off at first. Hopefully they refine that a bit.

Winning the lottery

I need to. That is all.

* does the happy snoopy dance of I told you so *

I absolutely, without a doubt, love to be right.

It doesn't happen often. In fact, all too often I make really ridiculous mistakes.

But just this once, I bask in the glory of rightitude. Yes, it's a word.


** for the people who don't know what this is about :)

Gods and Heroes has been cancelled. I said a year ago that this game was never going to make release. * flex * Yes, my ESPN is strong!

believe it or not...

I try to be fairly laid back. I get excitable about things, but for the most part, I like life to be drama and hassle free.

Mostly because I'm high strung and something of a perfectionist (which is really just a nice way of saying an anal-retentive Virgo). As such, I tend to get a little... invested in things. Anything that puts pressure on me tends to end up magnified by like, oh a million or so, because of the added pressure I put on myself to do it right and make it perfect and whatever else leads me to develop an ulcer.

What the hell does that have to do with anything?

Shut up and read. Gods. Impatient much?

I'm applying for a job. An honest to god, real life, grown-up job. Which means instead of filling out an application with all the relevant information, I have to send a resume and a cover letter.

I never knew that writing a little 3/4 page blurb about what I want, who I am, and what I can do could be so stressful. My head is seriously on the verge of explosion. (It's a damned good thing I'm wearing black today. Brains are SO hard to get out of clothing.)

So here I am. Fretting. I swear if I were a cat I'd be shedding fur so fast I'd be bald.

I love pressure :D

And the award for dumb idea goes to...

This lady.

I get how she thinks that things are gonna go down the tubes after seven years. I can't really say I blame her going strictly off personal experience.

I'm just not sure what exactly she thinks she's going to accomplish with this. It's just divorce with another name slapped on it.

It isn't going to make people more interested in staying together. It isn't going to take any pressure off and make it easier to get along.

If a marriage is over, it's over. Likely because the people shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. If it's going to last, it's going to last because the people involved are committed to making it work no matter what.

So I'm really failing to understand what the hell is going on in her head. Maybe she's seen too many reality shows.

oooo i LOVE quizzes!!!

And this one just amused the hell out of me.

My favourite question?

You know that being a dev groupie is weird, right?

Yes, YES I do.

I came out to be Risque-Intense. And yes I think that fits.

Things that make me twitch...

Legends of Norrath

I hate this game with a particular purple passion. No really. I freaking hate it.

I don't understand it. It makes me feel stupid. The AI cheats like a total bitch.

But I can't stop playing it. It fascinates me. The cards are gorgeous, and there's just something about it that calls to me. I don't know if it's because I can't let the AI sit there and be victorious or what.

Whatever it is, I can't stay away from it.

Typos

Mine, other people's, the ones in professionally edited and published novels... I don't know why. It isn't like it really matters. But for some reason it's like that little scab you have on your knee from when you tripped over that ginormous freaking, grand canyon sized crack in the sidewalk. It just sits there and makes my teeth itch and I have to correct it.

I've gotten a bit better about it lately. Mostly cause I have a friend who now does it on purpose sometimes just to eff with me. Or refuses to fix them because he knows that I'll sit there and twitch about it all day. Yeah.

Celebrity Bullshit

Who. The. Fuck. Cares. Seriously, I don't give a rat's nasty stinky ass what the hell Britney or Paris or whatever other skanky ho who passes for a famous person is doing.

I pick up way too much of this by osmosis for my personal happiness. I get the obsession with celebrities and all, but I don't share it. I've got better things to do with my time.

Although I will admit to getting a massive giggle out of the Oscar de la Hoya in drag pictures. Now, I just need to figure out who he is...

People

Alright, not all people. But a good portion of them. There are some massively useless people who work in my office. I would cheerfully pit roast them.

There are also some ridiculously pretentious and annoying bastards out there who make me (to borrow a good word) stabby.

There's a whole lot of other crap, but those are probably the top of the pile.

I'm going to go back to sleep now... I mean work. Really. I know my eyes are closed, but this is TOTALLY my working face.

My cats are magpies...

They very nearly didn't make it to their first birthdays.

Picture this. 5:30 in the am (which is simply an ungodly hour and which I should not see except on my way to bed), and I'm in the shower. Washing my hair and trying to wake up.

I hear a little "tink" from out in the bathroom and immediately think to myself, oh hell. I peek around the shower curtain and there are two very guilty looking little fuzzballs. One on the counter and one peeking around the door. I look at them, they look at me. Then the little toe chompers dash out of the bathroom as if Cerberus were after them.

I hurry up and finish my shower and get out to look in the sink. Sure enough, one ring. The other three that I wear on a daily basis are no where to be found. I mourn their loss down the drain and start thinking about what I want to do with the cat corpses. I consider cooking them, decide it's too much trouble and decide to just huck em in the dumpster and then start mentally spending the money I'll be saving on cat food and litter.

I wander downstairs, half dressed and cursing enough to peel the paint off the walls. In the kitchen, on the floor, there sits a ring. That's right. The little bastards took it off the counter in the bathroom and carried it down to the kitchen and then WENT BACK FOR MORE.

Now, I'm a kind and generous and forgiving soul. So, instead of killing them, I've now decided that I'll just go ahead and maim them a bit. After all, I've gotten one back and a little leniency is in order now. Over by the door at the bottom of the stairs is another ring. Pull the blinds at the sliding door onto the porch aside and there is the last missing ring.

At this point, I quite simply can no longer be annoyed and give myself over to laughter and give them full amnesty.

And on a side note? Home grown radio commercials are really really bad. * shoots the naughty store ad in the head *

On turning 30...

I wish I could say there was something profound and life changing about it.

But yeah. Not really. Today is just like any other day. I don't feel wiser or old or anything else that is supposed to be attached to the mystical 3-0. Just isn't blowing my skirt up.

I may very well be defective.

On the other hand... In the month or so preceding my induction into the land of grown ups (yeah, right) I have come to the decision that it's time to stop messing around and go back to school so I can get a real job. Cause this working for 15$ an hour crap is old.

I've also been giving serious thought to my love life. Or perhaps lack thereof. It isn't that I don't know what I want. I do. I'm actually quite thoroughly and completely certain of what I want... It's now a matter of getting the courage worked up to do something about it.

So... yeah. 30 is really no big deal. Maybe 40 will be...