tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-178229122012-02-14T09:52:20.752-08:00MORE POWERFUL, NOT ALL POWERFUL -- Viamedia <br> <a href="http://playlate.blogspot.com/atom.xml">RSS Feed Available</a>Lindaxnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-49267967078004660322012-02-14T09:46:00.000-08:002012-02-14T09:47:10.718-08:00

I thought I should add a link to my ancient Pokémon blog from the year I spent playing Pokémon TCG. You'll find the link over on the right under WE READ. It was also a learning gaming community, but completely face to face, and thus provides a different take on this whole learn to play thing. Pardon any comment spam that's arisen in the years since it went dormant. I don't really got clean up

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-72014664245746236322012-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:002012-01-08T10:42:27.210-08:00

So this is the fifth combat game I've played that includes a talent tree that allows you to make choices about the talents you want your character to acquire. Generally speaking I run healers, casters, or melee toons. I have never tried to be a tank. Well, okay, once, if you count Dragon Age games. I did enjoy that but really in that game you're in control of several player types at once. Anyhow.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-39865515936680497132011-12-26T08:15:00.000-08:002011-12-26T08:22:47.749-08:00

Yes, that's the original SNL Bill Murray song I've attached. Aren't you glad? (Click the title of this entry and enjoy!) So far I have to say I'm really happy that Bioware is behind this. After playing WoW and then Dragon Age and Dragon Age II, I found that I really do love me some lore. WoW really sucked at story line. It was just not well thought through; they often violated their own

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-38892244083397937342011-12-21T07:04:00.000-08:002011-12-22T10:10:28.529-08:00

First day thoughts . . . OMFG! The Boss is a total badass! There were bad guys and then this chick showed up with a glowy yellowy thing and then everyone, but us was dead! What happened to my hapless gnomish hero from all those years ago being killed by Murlocks?  This bitch showed up driving the school bus . . . clearly a very short bus . . . and made ALL the stops! Speaking

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-13849787642147728502011-12-14T12:39:00.000-08:002011-12-14T12:40:55.679-08:00

Yes, I have committed to Minecraft. We have had a 4-seater test server up and James and I have been mucking about. Andrea too. And Sarah. Not sure if Andrea's had time but Sarah has muddled about. She's been playing, as I have, in single player and with others on another server. We are about ready to launch our 30 seater for the EdD in Learning Technologies. At first it will be for Techcamp and

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-7041434471901365592011-10-11T10:06:00.000-07:002011-10-11T10:06:24.238-07:00

Well, I know what I'm doing on Christmas break. Plunked down the big bucks for the collectors' edition on the strength of my belief in Bioware as a game co that understands the power of narrative. I'm glad I played Dragon Age because I think I "get" how Bioware rolls (oo pun). For example, I see we have a similar NPC companion feature in SWTOR. I haven't played any group games from Bioware so

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-15238507546408797892011-10-10T14:31:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:43:30.688-07:00

Okay, yah, okay, it's an "old" game (2009). I wanted to find  some immersive lore, some narrative. Warcraft pissed theirs away when they went MMO. Minecraft has none. Most FPS shooters find story completely unnecessary. This all started a few months back when I was listening to Wil Wheaton's second PAX invited keynote (2010...starts here). (NOTE: I have GOT to get to PAX one of these days.) He's

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-79686711515091503732011-08-14T09:26:00.000-07:002011-08-14T09:26:33.784-07:00

Here's some snaps from the weekend. We're working on Bastion of Twilight raids. Getting pretty good at downing the two dragons, Valiona and Theralion. Finally dinged exalted with guild and bought my Kron'Kar annihilator mount.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-67161684553117736542011-06-04T22:29:00.000-07:002011-06-04T22:35:59.734-07:00

Yah, I'm still playing. I sure as hell don't know why. I don't have as much time to run with the guild. I've gotten back into healing though. I enjoy that. I enjoy questing, mostly trying to be the most efficient possible. I took another priest from 0 to 75 in about 3 weeks off and on. LOL. Yah, there's new content again (big patch last month, 'nother one coming up), but it's not the same kind

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-70146108351099793142011-02-28T15:03:00.000-08:002011-02-28T15:03:19.901-08:00

Well... I actually even fired up the "old" (2008) Dell XPS and waded through system updates to install and play the beta of RIFT. Now I'm in the 'headstart' (pre-order) and have purchased the game for pickup tomorrow. Really digging it, and not just for new content. They clearly went to school on WoW and have a lot of improvements in interface, gameplay, and character mechanics. I'll blog more

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-62030072259991903292011-01-23T11:40:00.000-08:002011-01-23T11:40:09.123-08:00

So Blizz oversteered a bit on the WotLK and subsequent WotLK patches. Or rather, the gamers out-gamed the system, in this case, the Dungeon Finder system. It was meant to allow players access to 5 man dungeons whether or not their guild could support a 5 man run at the time.  To some extent it also incentivized folks to roll tanks and healers, as those two classes always had the shortest wait

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-7659726651074639182011-01-02T10:39:00.001-08:002011-01-02T10:39:27.003-08:00

Time flies. Or so it would seem. Hit level 85 with Tynaqua very quickly. Leveled my professions. Made a killing in the early Cataclysm Auction House market. Sitting on about 16K gold, which is especially phenomenal for me. It probably represents the fact that I have nothing much to spend it on. I've even given away gold to Sarah and some doc students. New zones are quite fun. Great new quest

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-24586887018977723682010-12-06T21:40:00.000-08:002010-12-06T21:44:40.395-08:00

yep, Linkin Park song. So Cataclysm drops tomorrow and the world of warcraft will be remade. I've told Sarah I'd go to our local Game Stop at midnight to pick up the copies we reserved. Why did I say that? /facepalm. Meanwhile I've been running around the zones getting Bilgewater Cartel rep. points to get to exalted so I can qualify to buy a trike, and voila, here it is. A truly awesome "mount.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-80581117416977041622010-12-01T22:09:00.000-08:002010-12-01T22:25:31.460-08:00

I'm tired and not much in the mood to write, but I do want to share these screen shots from the past weekend spent exploring the new or rather the terraformed world.This is the new rocket transportation around Azshara. There are stations that serve quest hubs. The more I mess with the new goblin presence in the world, the more I'm glad the Horde got goblins.This is my own personal party boat for

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-7196676812156098572010-11-25T05:53:00.000-08:002010-11-25T06:24:27.806-08:00

Okies!!!!! I finished my last bit of school work and logged in to see what was up with the Cataclysm terraforming the precedes the expansion. I had the overwhelming experperience that defines the expression "kid in a candy store." There were so many choices of things to do and see. I spent the first twenty minutes chasing my tail. Then I settled in and decided NOT to roll a new toon just to see

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-71556582508230190112010-10-18T15:21:00.000-07:002010-11-18T19:41:06.887-08:00

Well, I finally bit the bullet and moved Naturegrrl to Eitrigg, made her a Hordie and of course, since only Tauren can be druids, I felt Naturegrrl was just not gonna work as a name. A cow named Naturegrrl? Nah. So I used the name my deleted shammy had: Manamanah. Well, why not, it's always about mana when you're a healer. Many upsides to the switch. For one, now I have an enchanter all my own.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-31024635022609851012010-10-14T09:22:00.000-07:002010-10-14T10:45:38.907-07:00

Greetings, lone reader. The new patch dropped and it's effect is much like that you see when you take a stick and swirl it around in the middle of a line of ants:CHAOS!! OMG the sky is falling!! First of all, we all got our talent points back, and the talent trees have been overhauled in major ways. Partly the effect is to clarify the class roles (spec'ing for dummies), and partly it's to

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-43565168423572536512010-09-27T15:35:00.000-07:002010-09-27T15:35:14.045-07:00

These are the first and second place winners of the Video Game Voters' Network (VGVN) contest for a banner to oppose the over-regulation of video games. Look! They even got Stan Lee to join the fray.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-2942306149447949912010-09-20T13:10:00.000-07:002010-09-20T13:11:22.133-07:00

I am  tree. I have tree? Made it to lvl 51. Let the über heals begin. Actually have been healing with no problems, not even mana problems so far. Wonder what this will add.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-40983194122235801792010-09-13T08:43:00.000-07:002010-09-13T08:43:47.458-07:00

Well, I ding'd 45 and decided, wtf, time to switch to heals. I had enough points to pick up swiftmend, which is de rigeur for heals, so I respec'd. This is naturegrrl in her pot pourri of spirit, intell, and spell power gear, some of which is cloth cause there just isn't much caster leather under 60. I watched Sarah run my toon through Scarlet Monastery (and she learned how/why I use Grid and

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-67622683846416205132010-09-07T17:45:00.000-07:002010-09-07T23:56:40.658-07:00

And so it begins. Yes, the expansion isn't until November, but as always, there are events leading up to it.  Today, Alliance and Horde got to help their lil' buddies get take back their homes. On the Horde side you help Vol'Jin take back the Echo Isles. You got a nice trinket that turns you into a troll, and you pretty cloak. And... well... it sure was fun. That's a group of us REAL people

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-53664181615437888842010-09-03T08:02:00.000-07:002010-09-03T08:02:41.861-07:00

Beginning with a preemptive: Shut up. Yah I rolled another alt. I rolled a druid for two reasons. First, I'm very interested in the variations in the healing classes. I love playing my disc priest, but I am curious about the advantages and disadvantages of various healing classes. I rolled a shammy but I have to say I don't enjoy playing it at low levels. Sarah has rolled and leveled a druid

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-22990038078858655522010-08-19T16:14:00.000-07:002010-08-19T16:28:03.838-07:00

Professor Putricide down at last. Note ManagedCare is there as a healer. The guild is now 10 of 12 in ICC. We can't get Sindragosa past 8% but we will eventually. Each time is an improvement. So, I'm no disc priest virgin anymore. The guild dragged me along on an ICC25 (this picture is a 10-man), where I was one of two priests healing, five healers total (three druids). I did fine. I was given

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-63173180307776928412010-07-13T08:32:00.000-07:002010-07-13T08:33:14.881-07:00

First of all, I have to announce this. Tynaqua is #2 on gear in the guild. And the funny thing is, I've got a ton of alts and I'm not a big gear competition junky. But, there you go. I'll never catch Althaea, but I'm at peace with that. Tyn still doesn't do the most damage by far. Those f'n mages and rogues are awfully hard to catch on big boss fights, but I like to think my utility for fights

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-630705200092963362010-06-11T10:17:00.001-07:002010-06-11T10:17:30.223-07:00

cataclysm. november. got my copy reserved. you?

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-59601213856713629592010-06-11T09:37:00.000-07:002010-06-11T16:48:25.957-07:00

I stumbled up on Big Red Kitty's return when I went Googling for some hunter gear info. Yes, he's back. Apparently they sucked him in a few months back with an invite to the alpha of Cataclysm. He's NDA'd up the arse so his entries are mostly funny and not very informative, but golly gee it's great to have him back. Here's hoping they restore the end game playability of the BM spec! 

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-32388708504313928292010-05-05T11:06:00.000-07:002010-05-05T11:09:00.324-07:00

Okay, yah, I changed her name to avoid a kid who was dogging me for help. I didn't realize that if I changed the name it would also change it on his friends list. Ah well, I have gotten used to Managed Care as a name now. So yes, MC (as the guild calls her) has ding'd 80 and thanks to the dungeon finder is almost all attired in purple. I got to heal my first guild runs as EricN was running and

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-31870315322151870592010-03-12T13:47:00.000-08:002010-03-12T13:58:59.596-08:00

I've got to admit it's getting better(Better) A little better all the time (It can't get no worse)  I have to admit its getting better (Better) It's getting better Since you've been mine Okay, I'm level 65 and healing in Underbog and either we're over the hump and people this high know what they're doing...or they've been beaten about the head by prior PUGs and now have some game smarts. I

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-28620629915604513012010-02-23T08:24:00.000-08:002010-02-23T08:25:03.590-08:00

Okay, still healing. Coming up to level 56 soon. Just ran Blackrock yesterday (ugh close to 2hrs) and we only wiped when we were surprised by mobs when the tank opened a door while we were still finishing off the last set of mobs. Actually, wasn't a total wipe, but I died. Love the fail angel. It occurs to me I'm learning some very bad habits in these PUGs runs. So far no one marks and we never

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-21203575267938694992010-02-10T09:06:00.000-08:002010-02-10T09:09:10.716-08:00

Yah, I'm healing. Under the name of PennyPretty on the Alliance side. Laying low to avoid humilation from the guildies were I to reveal yet another alt. I was diggin' it, probably mostly because I like the challenge of keeping four asshats alive at once. Ah, Althaea, I owe you so many apologies. I'm doing it fairly seriously. I actually installed GRID and learning that convoluted addon was not

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-50619095718511220592010-01-31T17:58:00.001-08:002010-01-31T18:01:58.349-08:00

It takes a goofy community little more than five minutes to create a logical construct that traces from Barren's Chat through Chuck Norris and ends up with Sulu is gay, non-smoking and a Nazi (Meaning Chuck is as well)./me takes a deep breathAhhh . . . who knew I'd miss such discussions?

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-69689835295931057802010-01-17T15:58:00.000-08:002010-01-17T16:11:51.498-08:00

So after the dungeon finder showed up I found myself doing a lot of 5-man PUGs. The more I did the more comfortable I became. Soon I had a bunch of badges and I bought gear; also got some uber drops. Then more badges, and suddenly I had my T9 set. Hmm. Doing decent damage... Then it hit me, now I'm playing the game that all those other guys play... where you worry about your ultimate rotation,

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-58413496260505454372010-01-15T20:56:00.000-08:002010-01-15T20:58:14.300-08:00

PS3 adaptation of Settlers of Catan on its way.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-3085867775449598462010-01-15T15:21:00.000-08:002010-01-15T15:24:23.583-08:00

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-68042820887162667282009-11-21T12:46:00.000-08:002009-11-21T12:50:32.348-08:00

Star Trek Online PC Games Behind the Scenes (Promo) - Space Combat Pt. 1Star Trek Online PC Games Behind the Scenes (Promo) - Starship Tactics Part 2

JBRnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-9318575475983793202009-11-12T22:12:00.000-08:002009-11-12T22:13:28.220-08:00

By way of Kotaku""Blizzard's annual festival is moving house next year, with the Anaheim Convention Center's services no longer required. Instead, the richest men in the galaxy will be holding BlizzCon at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.While Blizzard are yet to announce the move themselves, the website of the LVCC has jumped the gun and listed the show, which is due to take place on the 30th and

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-44258889458523054362009-11-10T13:55:00.000-08:002009-11-11T00:51:01.917-08:00

By way of Kotaku.com"Electronic Arts announced yesterday it would be eliminating 1,500 jobs, cutting a dozen in-development games and closing "several facilities." According to multiple sources, those cutbacks include studios like Pandemic, Maxis and nearly the entire Command & Conquer team.Sources tell Kotaku that the team working on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was warned of its fate

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-9339558875009472452009-11-02T10:07:00.000-08:002009-11-02T10:09:22.718-08:00

. . . the Google Wave we see today is only one part of what Wave is all about . . .Hmm . . . maybe that is a tasty wave there on the horizon.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-45373662717916071992009-10-30T10:56:00.000-07:002009-10-30T12:01:40.601-07:00

Surfs not up for me on the gWave. And . . . I so so so wanted it to be . . . bitchin’, epic or even Choka, but . . . we’re in the soup here, dudes, dudettes and trans-dudies. Here is the thing . . . what I thought gWave would be would be something that integrated e-mail, chat and everything thing else you typed online that Google touched. So, all your message board and blog posts and comments to

JBRnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-39622028433167564692009-10-29T08:10:00.000-07:002009-10-29T08:14:20.599-07:00

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-85418400943145444592009-10-26T21:18:00.000-07:002009-10-26T21:20:49.047-07:00

Dude . . . go to http://www.genesjournalcomic.com/ and type with cursor and keyboard . . . UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, ENTERI'm not so geeking out on what is hidden there, but that you can do that with a web page now.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-44910267311366951292009-10-26T19:51:00.000-07:002009-10-26T20:05:21.481-07:00

I'll go with the Mirror Mirror version of . . . err . . . me.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-53056972845101126192009-10-26T13:13:00.000-07:002009-10-26T13:17:18.097-07:00

Yah, that's right baby. These are my people, from one of my fav episodes. We're all about the brain, and we like to do research. We don't get out much and we don't talk much. Mostly we ponder the unknowable.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-40694053572247269432009-10-26T08:54:00.000-07:002009-10-26T08:59:12.564-07:00

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-90652128343453550822009-10-20T06:22:00.000-07:002009-10-20T06:23:01.137-07:00

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Visual Story TAs on Vimeo.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-36482131412531252962009-10-15T03:56:00.000-07:002009-10-15T04:10:13.290-07:00

ST:O looks like it is going live Q1 (My bet is early Q2) of 2010. While I am inclined to want to get into Global Agenda . . . there is some uber cool stuff here in the WOW equivalent established mythology and the idea of being a captain (everyone is a captain with their own ship) with the bridge crew the equivalent of a WOW Hunter's pet that you level up.

JBRnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-58438064659652350842009-10-10T11:29:00.000-07:002009-10-11T00:07:05.221-07:00

When I get an invite . . . yours. Let me know if you get a Google Wave invite. I'm surprised you didn't go with the Willis . . . The Bruce Willis! God, I loved watching The Prisoner with my father as a child. Never understood it. I'd ask him to explain and he'd say "when you're older". It was only when I was older I realized he was trying to figure it out just like me. Did you know there is

JBRnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-62861599042753301652009-10-10T09:25:00.000-07:002009-10-10T09:40:44.935-07:00

I'll see your Double O Soul, and raise it with mah Secret Agent Man. I heart this song. Btws, that white chick in the back is me doing the modified surfer stomp. But then that reminded me of the COOLEST SHOW EVAAAAAH:Got another beta invite, you bastige?

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-66789336958663988062009-10-06T22:13:00.000-07:002009-10-10T11:34:59.057-07:00

If someone were to have an NDA for a major new MMO game . . . could they tell anyone that they had an NDA?That's right, bitches!Of course for me . . . the definitive version is The Untouchables . . . man, oh man, oh man, oh snakes . . . what a show! However, I so hate to disparage MoTown and any song with a pedigree that includes Edwin Star, Robert Preston and Ray Charles.http://video.tiscali.it/

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-49249526514467165382009-09-29T07:40:00.001-07:002009-09-29T07:52:34.420-07:00

I wanted it pretty badly, enough to solo run Strath three times last night to get the last three bars of rep with Thunder Bluff. Each Strath run netted me about 12 stacks of runecloth and 40G but took about 75 minutes. I think I know that place now. LOL. Oh, I also got an entire line of rep with Argent Dawn, from friendly to honored in just those three runs. A lot of bones and scourgestones drop.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-77026835535255139372009-09-25T10:15:00.000-07:002009-09-25T10:22:29.865-07:00

Yes, it's Brewfest. I doubt I'll get the Brewfest mount, but I am running the quests for the pets 'n such. You'll note that both Françoise and Fortknight got their special Venomhide dino mount. In this picture, Françoise is modeling it and you'll note right next to her is the Brewfest pet, the pink pachyderm. Last year there was no pink pachyderm and I think it was probably a response to an anti

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-70616527825740329062009-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:002009-09-01T10:24:34.224-07:00

Not about coffee, and there are no favorite grinds. They all suck. But, some have better payoffs than others. So this is my dino baby on day 7; I'm now on day 12 and he's actually bigger. On day 20 he becomes a mount for my rogue, Françoise, and my DK, Fortknight. Ironically, I am having the most fun playing Alterac Valley with my hunter, Tynaqua. I always end up around 4th position for dmg and

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-78324623080541510052009-08-18T04:43:00.000-07:002009-08-19T02:25:24.729-07:00

EVE Comes To Consoles As An Online Shooter http://kotaku.com/5339695/eve-comes-to-consoles-as-an-online-shooter CCP have today taken the wraps off Dust 514, a "hybrid MMO/FPS" that not only brings the world of EVE Online to consoles, but somehow ties the game to the PC MMO as well. Apparently the game will "interact directly" with the PC title, allowing console gamers to manually fight out the

JBRnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-23652866021720038002009-08-05T00:37:00.000-07:002009-08-06T13:36:45.277-07:00

Researching the concept of ethics and morality in gaming . . .So, you don’t have to watch the whole thing . . .It’s an odd jargonistic handshake kind of thing . . .However, it always seems they never seem to understand they are commenting academically on a purely commercial venture. What I mean is that the design is to a purpose that to me (I’m out of step, no doubt) seems to be ignored by the

JBRnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-59302915147847087902009-08-04T08:21:00.000-07:002009-08-05T08:32:11.174-07:00

Certain games, such as BioShock and inFamous, boast their ability to present moral choices to their players, but Valve's Chet Faliszek believes that there's no such thing as morality in video games: ...

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-70861049934273301172009-08-03T04:27:00.000-07:002009-08-05T08:28:13.876-07:00

Goodbye, Matrix Online"Makes you wonder; since so few of you will have actually played this game, what does it say about us that we find a game world's destruction infinitely more entertaining than its creation or existence?"Ahh . . . the problem is choice, but 99% always choose to not choose. Milgram shockingly got it.Also . . .http://www.massively.com/2009/08/01/

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-3272261646974870652009-07-31T10:38:00.000-07:002009-07-31T10:51:52.083-07:00

Yes, alts again, get over it. I play my own game. Frankly, it's clear that Blizz recognizes that they have made a sandbox and people want to do lots of things, not just quests and gear. The fact that they lowered mounts to level 30 has something to do with that, I think. A recognition that we're all rolling alts and sick of running up and down STV road. [If only they'd lower the cost of cold

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-76228454384559435392009-07-28T03:03:00.000-07:002009-07-28T03:12:50.902-07:00

By the gods . . . I wish we were the 300! We’re not even a baseball team . . . and neither are they. Once, my virtual self stood on this ground with 100s before me and 100s at my back. It is an odd thing to face barely double digits on ground that once teemed with friends and foes. I was here . . . they were here . . . explosions, encounters and excitement!!! Now . . .this is almost . . .

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-8997830500237600462009-07-27T19:47:00.000-07:002009-07-27T19:49:39.098-07:00

in the picture on the wall behind the bar out in Steamwheedle... Hey, at least it isn't a WANTED sign, right?

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-30866716791078318932009-07-18T12:16:00.000-07:002009-07-18T12:23:54.747-07:00

Every now and then you need to zoom in to the stuff around you and you'll find some pretty amusing details. Like this eye-patched zepplin worker out in Northrend. You have to click on the thumbnail to see what I'm talking about.Or, this kid. His picture is all over the place, including the Scryers' Inn in Shattrath. THis shot is from a tower on an island in Grizzly Hills. Yah, that's right; you

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-24647042912497129082009-06-29T08:09:00.000-07:002009-06-29T08:14:37.191-07:00

LOL. Another alt, yah, but the thing is... a landscape architect? I love finding these little jokes tucked away in WoW. This one, in case you're interested, is in the garden outside the Ravenholdt castle (home to rogues from both factions, kind of our version of that drood place). I would also like to point out yet another instance of ... poo. This poo on the snow has no functional value in the

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-51541760544326185772009-06-05T15:31:00.001-07:002009-06-05T15:36:37.221-07:00

Browser-based Second Life, without the pron. =yawn=

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-70997611885191128372009-05-13T02:42:00.000-07:002009-05-13T02:43:39.730-07:00

10 turned into 7. More boys than girls and I’d have preferred the inverses. The headset screeched and screamed. They all headed off in separate directions. The moment you took to help one was the moment you lost the 6 others. What World of Warcraft got right Free Realms has gotten wrong. Communication in game is specific and strenuous.  Local, Group and Whisper are segregated in a way that makes

JBRnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-69371897828439329532009-05-12T08:39:00.001-07:002009-05-12T09:02:18.745-07:00

Hypatie has infected me with pet/mount-itis, a horrible disease in which the infected player obsesses about the acquisition of cool and numerous, preferrably rare, mounts and pets. I spent close to four days (if you totaled the hours) grinding Netherwing faction reputation to get this baby. I picked the green one, not because I like green, but because I've never seen a green one. Everyone picks

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-20159572577639529562009-05-02T23:30:00.000-07:002009-05-02T23:54:44.459-07:00

I’ve dabbled, but not dedicated much time to any game the last year that couldn’t be utterly consumed and ultimately consigned to personal and not computer memory. I re-explored my first MMOG experience and then moved on to a few other game experiences, but . . . they all seem like low toner Xerox copies of better games and better days regardless of better graphics. Day one in Free Realms and I’

JBRnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-19533768584705367782009-04-28T20:18:00.000-07:002009-04-28T21:06:00.089-07:00

Yah, yah, I haven't written much lately. Doesn't mean I'm not playing hard. Tynaqua is now 80; I've started leveling Hellgrima (she's at 73 now). Fortknight is getting pretty geared from heroics. Life is good. For some weird reason, perhaps attributable to a bit of withdrawal from Geo Martin's book series, I went looking for Kindle2 versions of Warcraft lore novels. I think these are graphic

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-5900607182824690122009-03-15T10:54:00.000-07:002009-03-15T11:13:10.764-07:00

Damn this game. Dammit to hell. I'm trying to play and it keeps making new attractive goals for me before I can reach the goals I've already set for myself. Yah, I just found out that the chopper is not BOP (Bind on Pickup) for engineers. Yeah baby, I can haz chopper! Well, Tigan can make it for me for only a butt load of mats AND about 15,000G. (ZOMG where mai gonna get dat kinda coin?). So glad

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-13231819026191734682009-02-16T09:28:00.000-08:002009-02-16T09:34:07.694-08:00

Per my preliminary proposal, keeping my researcher's notebook posts here in my blog for committee review.I think I like research. I think my insatiable curiosity is getting satiated, at least during the process. Each session is intense, and I have 6 groups meeting an hour a week for three weeks. Doc students depend so much on volunteers. I worked hard to design experimental interventions so that

Vicki Suternoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-84561724676791396972009-02-06T22:26:00.001-08:002009-02-06T22:49:44.787-08:00

Well, I'm always a little late to the party. I had been watching our guild hunters (the two lvl 80s) doing mindboggling DPS in raids and decided to see what was up with the hunter. I knew Blizz had buffed up the Survival tree, but imagine my surprise, my horror, to find out that none other than the Big Red Kitty himself had respec'd Survival. ZOMG, say it ain't so. But he just couldn't deny the

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-21753094493820394482009-02-04T08:02:00.000-08:002009-02-04T08:49:19.776-08:00

You have to click on that and really look at it. Yes, why are all these people riding on the same sort of bear? What a cool bear; why can't I get one of those? Because you don't have l337 skillz, nøøb! Terror Nova guild does!These are the war bears that are available as a reward from mighty Thrall himself if, and only if, you can kill all four of the Alliance city Kings: Iron Forge King Magni

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-48906079619885352532009-01-05T20:48:00.000-08:002009-01-05T21:14:00.445-08:00

Rats! I had hoped to get Fortknight to 80 before the semester started and I am stuck at 79.5 on January 4. So I must stop sooooo close to the end. Well, of course it's not the end; and frankly the difference between 79 and 80 isn't that great. Now it's time to start focusing on gear, finishing reputation grinds, professions, and bigger dungeons. [Hellgrima is at 72 and Tynaqua is at 73, just fyi.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-46501091698322914092008-12-24T07:54:00.001-08:002008-12-24T08:15:32.812-08:00

So, yes, this is on live; the beta is over. Yes, I'm still playing, a lot actually. Things is, when the expansion went live I took Hell and Tynaqua out to Northrend and got them rolling on their expanded professions and questing. I got them both up to level 72 and decided to go back and roll the DK, now that the initial crowd would be through the start zones on that. Or so i thought. LOL. Nope,

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-91864879289380807612008-11-06T14:27:00.000-08:002008-11-06T14:30:14.081-08:00

Hemet Nesingwary, in Shalozar Basin, in Northrend. What's he want us to kill now?

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-91867780466718209042008-10-29T09:54:00.000-07:002008-10-29T13:44:53.839-07:00

Yes, that's right. This is a screenshot from Warcraft III: The Reign of Terror. I was reading the forums thinking about where to dive in to the analyses and I ran across a thread labeled BEGINNERS. Wow (pun intended), how cool. Explicit and targeted knowledge. I noticed that in this forum one person had posted quite a bit (I searched on his name). Starting first about 23 days ago, with some

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-82113565988093933722008-10-20T13:41:00.001-07:002008-10-20T14:17:23.530-07:00

So patch 3.0.2 went live and jeepers, why stay in the beta? well, no reason, except to play some DK every now and again. The new patch brought inscription, the new talent builds, and some interface changes such as the calendar and pvp flag timer. Tynaqua got herself all respec'd for the new version of BM, and immediately tamed a devilsaur and a corehound. Hellgrima has seen the most action

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-5072459540507767072008-09-18T23:22:00.001-07:002008-10-07T09:48:44.492-07:00

FortKnight is about a hair's breadth from hitting level 73, but you'll notice that she's wearing a special tabard. No, it's not the guild tabard. It's the tabard I've earned the right to wear as I grind Wyrmrest Accord reputation. And why am I doing that? To win the right to buy a red dragon for my flying epic mount. oooooo, yeah. The image on the tabard is that of the temple itself. YOu move

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-21816584265491829212008-09-08T14:43:00.000-07:002008-09-08T15:02:09.702-07:00

Well the DK, Fortknight, was getting all the love. Well, except for Hellgrimma who was really only running between the trainer and the mailbox as she leveled Inscription. But after I saw BigRedKitty's core hound post, I knew I had to go get me one of dose.This involved first getting respec'd all the way down the BM line to pick up beast mastery, which lets you train exotic pets. Then, after a

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-74049436916452617222008-09-05T17:57:00.000-07:002008-09-05T17:59:02.684-07:00

She's 71 now, got a bad ass 2H axe, and a new 'do. Liked the gnometails sooooo much I gave Fort some too.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-3740794426744232112008-09-03T11:56:00.001-07:002008-09-05T12:42:05.334-07:00

Most of us have, at times, had unpleasant pangs of remorse while killing the hundreds of animals required of us by the Nesingwary quest lines: first in Azeroth, later in Outlands. We all expected him to make an appearance in Northrend, and he has. However, perhaps sensing our anger at the slaughter of panthers, tigers, and talbuk and more, Blizz now brings us D.E.H.T.A., or Druids for the Ethical

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-39243576062770605902008-08-31T12:16:00.000-07:002008-08-31T12:28:52.895-07:00

Okay, yeah, I've been to the barbershop. Do you not love my new gnome pigtails? I calls'm gnometails. I thought pink would go nicely with my otherwise necromantic appearance. But I digress. This post is about the new profession of INSCRIPTION, which is "teh shitz!!11!one."Hellgrima (Hellgrimma on beta) hasn't gotten outside the main area of Northrend much cause she's spent all her time running

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-27878393881871626372008-08-28T21:37:00.001-07:002008-08-29T16:07:12.503-07:00

Ya gotta wonder about the art department on this... this is armor, and it is very good armor according to the stats, but could it be any skimpier? I don't think so.FortKnight is now 66, almost 67, and spent yesterday solo'ing the Nagrand trifecta: Banthar, Bach'lor, and Gutripper, each of which is an elite 67 "group quest." It wasn't easy, but it was sure doable. Man, you know they are going to

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-44382804050249388192008-08-21T14:57:00.000-07:002008-08-21T23:31:26.733-07:00

So into the beta of WotLK I go, and immediately roll a Death Knight. The start zone is immensely fun, including and especially the Arthas and Dad final scene that alienates you from Arthas and puts you out in EPL to begin leveling. Took only a few hours to hit 58 and then off to Outlands. However, the leveling there is quite slow. I have a ghoul minion much like a BM hunter pet. It holds agg

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-90943151313971963722008-08-12T15:19:00.001-07:002008-08-12T15:32:58.850-07:00

Buying tickets for this year's Blizzcon turned out to be a truly epic quest. The site immediately crashed upon startup, and was intermittently up and down for close to two days. Would-be purchasers banded together over the hours, in the Blizzcon forum, commiserating, sharing tips and experiences with the Blizzard store, ranting, joking, doing call outs for their homies, and so on. It was a very

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-9624141221823806152008-07-29T10:43:00.000-07:002008-07-29T10:47:06.510-07:00

I hate it when I realize that I've missed the best sessions. ZOMG the ADL dude rocked.Check out the streams. Laters...

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-80869978111933781762008-07-25T09:14:00.000-07:002008-07-29T11:14:53.100-07:00

Well so much to tell. Achievement Awards Oh noes!! It's school!! Nah, regarding the previous post, I have since found out that even Blizzard recognizes this desire in its players. The expansion will contain "achievement" awards; they offer nothing but prestige, and among the kinds of deeds that will get you an achievement award is the acquisition of rare objects, such as that purple epic tiger

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-91744859700154375502008-06-18T08:17:00.001-07:002008-06-18T08:33:03.456-07:00

Here is John Big Booté talking to the dude in the middle of nowhere in Winterspring. This guy is THE guy you have to go to get the quests that let you grind the rep. from neutral to exalted with the faction that will let you buy ... are you still with me ... the epic purple striped tiger you see in the photo, which you can then use as your epic mount. And, this is a long and boring grind. Which

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-82726359202803594992008-05-14T14:52:00.000-07:002008-05-14T15:30:27.824-07:00

Steve Zissou: We're in the middle of a lightning strike rescue op, Klaus. What's the deal?Klaus Daimler: I'm sick of being on "B" squad.Steve Zissou: You might be on "B" Squad, But you're the "B" Squad leader. Don't you know me and Esteban always thought of you as our baby brother?Klaus Daimler: I've always thought of you two as my dads. Please don't let any one make fun of me for saying so.Steve

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-819531534210456482008-05-06T23:00:00.000-07:002008-05-06T23:04:55.461-07:00

File under more evidence that the work of play is fun.I was perusing today's Big Red Kitty, cause that's what I do. THe comments were awesome. And then, almost at the end of the comments, comes this:#Baseball on 06 May 2008 at 3:32 pm #One of the best parts of WoW, in my opinion, is the shady mathematics involved in generation of specific stats — which by nature lends to some great discussions.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-43670309740990116542008-05-03T18:48:00.000-07:002008-05-03T19:19:21.350-07:00

Mission: Create a level 1 tauren character. Log in for the run to Arathi from Mulgore. No leveling, no weapons or other enhancementsSo we did. Here we are at login, with hundreds and hundreds of other level 1 Tauren:Here we go leaving Mulgore for the Barrens:Or group had to wait for the second zep. at Orgrimmar. We are the ones with icons on our heads:And...to make a long story short, folks had

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-85096465505564345412008-05-02T10:49:00.001-07:002008-05-05T13:12:25.321-07:00

I don't know that these parts are necessarily ordered by logic as much as by chronology. Today I find I have spent 2 hours pouring through The Warlocks Den and WowWebStats and Elitist Jerks. When I looked up and realized the amount of time I'd spent I found it ironic that I began that warlock homework shortly after pausing from my new read, Castronova's latest and weirdest text, Exodus to the

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-81926104546550964742008-05-01T09:01:00.000-07:002008-05-01T09:25:59.873-07:00

World of Warcraft has escaped from the holodeck. It is no longer a contained bounded system I enter and leave as I choose. Much like Professor Moriarity in one of my favorite Star Trek episodes, WoW has escaped and is running amok IRL. Funny thing is, I don't sense a need to trick it back into the box. Right now, much like the chief medical officer in the Star Trek episode, I'm kind of charmed by

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-15597174296886767512008-04-26T01:14:00.001-07:002008-04-26T01:18:47.662-07:00

You die a thousand casual deaths - with none of that intensity which squeezes out life . . . and no blood runs cold anywhere. Because even as you die you know that you will come back in a different hat. But no one gets up after death - there is no applause-there is only silence and some second-hand clothes, and that's – death. If we have a destiny, then so had he - and if this is ours, then that

JBRnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-65953029554863016572008-04-18T10:58:00.000-07:002008-04-18T11:08:23.039-07:00

Yeah well, I sorta got tired of the disorganization in the Drenden Allie guild. I'd been asking about a webpage to help us get going scheduling raids and such. The guild leaders sorta kept hedging, and then it occurred to me that maybe they didn't know how to set it up. I forget that not everyone geeks; some people just play the compie games, but they don't geek out. So I checked out Epicmount,

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-56171046442399942472008-04-14T08:04:00.000-07:002008-04-14T08:11:43.504-07:00

LOL. Like I have enough badges...not. But I happened to be doing my dailies on the Isle when our realm closed in on 100%. Hungry bidders began surrounding the vendor in anticipation of the opening of her T6 stock. This may also include the new BG gear; I'm not clear on that. For close to two hours they hung out there, pvp'ing whenever some poor soul rode up and, while trying to click the vendor/

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-4330963144947897802008-04-12T07:22:00.001-07:002008-05-04T23:50:18.295-07:00

Well, I was grinding out the nether residue daily Sunwell quest out in Nagrand, looking for ore. Serves me two purposes these days. As a JC, Tynaqua is always needing more adamantite ore to make mercurial adamantite also. Anyhow, I was off in a corner of the territory and thought, "hmm, I haven't been in that corner before, no quests have taken me there, no reason to have gone there, and yet, I

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-5969616423340843092008-04-06T23:12:00.001-07:002008-04-07T05:53:40.398-07:00

Someone was selling Crystalforged War Axe on the trade channel for only 20G. The last time this happened, I missed out by refusing to bid over 25G. It went to the other guy. This time I whispered fast and I got the weap for 20G. A real bargain. Actually 25G would have been a bargain too.Was just in the Hall of Heroes oogling the PVP gear and trying to decide whether it was really better when you

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-1374613143387008952008-04-01T13:32:00.000-07:002008-04-01T14:02:38.374-07:00

This is funny as is, but to really relish the humor you must be an insider, a gamer, or at least an MMO gamer. Earlier this year there was much hoopla around the release of a competing MMO, well potentially: Turbine's MMO, The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO). For one thing, the graphics were touted as "more realistic" than the "cartoony" graphics of WoW. And indeed, they were/are. It's really

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-89362706392439095802008-03-25T20:15:00.001-07:002008-03-25T20:28:38.795-07:00

Ran to Silvermoon and flew out to the new island of enemies and friends, Isle of Quel'Danas, just north of Blood Elf land. Of course EVERYONE was there, as you can see from this snap taken at the landing site.Some of the goodies here include* A new quest hub* Magisters' Terrace - a 5-player instance* Sunwell Plateau - a 25-player instance* New badge rewardsSo Alamojack and I flew there to

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-44766151661093063522008-03-25T08:29:00.000-07:002008-03-25T09:29:40.270-07:00

I'm looking for a ranged weap upgrade. I'm reading. I find this. Now I'm not a theorycraft person and have no inclination to begin to move into that sort of level of obsession. However, because the hardcore community is accessible, I can take advantage of their knowledge. And, because noob and pro both engage (post) in the same area, I can even get a decent explanation. If I were to go to a

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17822912.post-10361270907886922152008-03-24T10:02:00.001-07:002008-03-24T10:21:44.902-07:00

Yeah, that's right, I'm double trapping. I got skillz. I'm no huntard. And btw, that's an EPL boar I'm leveling for our arena team, Fountain of Gnomes. (Sarah made that up.)The boar has a nice charge that stuns, but there's no boar you can tame in Outlands, hence the need to grab a lvl 60 and tediously level it up. *sigh*Also picked up a purple plainstrider, aka purple flamingo, for use in arena.

Lindaxnoreply@blogger.com0