Dialing it up

I'm the one yelling "boner"

Yeah I lied! Wednesday night, after I writing "Dialing it back" that morning, I got bored and sent a tell to the SSC raid leader. FBD is working on their first Lurker kill that night, so I tagged along. We ended up getting him to 29% before the adds respawned and we had a vent melt down. Last night after playing an hour or two of TF2 I logged on WoW and saw them all back in SSC. So I tagged along again and this time we were rewarded with a kill after a slight strategy adjustment. It was a lot of fun to raid again, but I think I will keep myself on back up status and focus on PvP and other games for the time being.

Arena Notes
It is my birthday Sunday and I told my arena team all I want is to break 1900. It may take more than our normal ten games, but if we are on a hot streak I'd like to push on.

WoW Links
Blizzard has added an arena calculator to the armory, it has some really cool time based functionality that other websites do not offer. It is cool to see what rating I would need to get my chest piece and save 5000 points for season 3 within 7 weeks. It is 2015, which seems a little out of reach at this point. Maybe 1918 in 8 weeks?

Dialing it back

My new found love for PvP and swearing off of all things raid doesn't leave me a ton of stuff to do on a day to day basis. We only play 10 games a week on our 3s team, I pretty much have all the veterans gear I want (sans belt and that is just laziness) and my daily earth to water transmute covers any expenses I might incur. Sure I want my epic mount still, but I figure I can farm for it in the month leading up to WotLK, whenever that is. Admittedly I'm getting a little bored with WoW. I don't think I need to go cold turkey with my WoW play as I have done in years past, I will just pace my play time differently.

So now I'm taking it easy in WoW these days, which leaves me time to focus on other games. I preordered the Orange Box and got early access to the TF2 beta which is a ton of fun. I will most likely be picking up Halo 3 after this weekend, something I would have never dreamed of two years ago. There are bunch of 360 titles coming this fall and winter that I want to play to, so I should get a good mix of WoW and other games.

Arena Notes
We went 4-6 in 3s this week, but got lucky with what teams we beat and lost too. We dropped to an 1843 rating, which means we only lost 28 points from 6 teams, not to bad considering we have lost 22 from one team previously.

Guild Notes

FBD Downed Mag, Grats Guys!

Ten Years in the Making

Originally posted at WNE on 09/21/07

Lets see ten years ago I was still in high school deep in the grips of Mr.Bond, I was also skateboarding every day and worrying about what homework was due. I certainly wasn't looking forward to Team Fortress 2, as I had never even heard of it at the time. Valve put the announced sequel to the original on the back burner opting to rerelease the first game (originally released in 1996 for the Quake engine) as Team Fortress Classic in 1999. That same year they also announced TF2 would be coming soon and was in development again.

Jump forward to the beginning of this week. TF2 is finally making its debut as a playable public beta (provided you preorder) and should be released in October. The game has undergone a drastic engine and graphics change and looks nothing like what was originally previewed for release in 2000. The look as gone from as realistic as they could manage in 1999 to a cartoonish hyper realism that smacks of the Incredibles. I know some folks are a bit put off by the games art direction, but the style is right up my alley.

I can't speak to how accurately the game play holds to the original because I only played it once or twice. TF2 is amazing though, I have not been excited about a first person shooter in ages, well at least a multiplayer one. The game modes keep each round fresh and the different classes mean that if one tactic isn't working you have eight other options (there are 9 total) to try before throwing in the towel. If it takes 10 years to produce a product that is this unique, artistic and just plan good then I hope other companies take notice. Don't rush your product and don't go for the easy buck. Aspire to be like Valve and Blizzard, who always say it will be finished when it is finished and then release super polished games that sell millions.

A few youtube trailers for the game coming soon...

Back on track

After a two week hiatus of quality 3v3 play our team got back on the saddle Monday night and dropped an 8-2 on Shadowburn. We ended up with a 1871 rating eclipsing our previous high of 1858 and recovering from our drop back to the 1700's. Not only was it nice to get back on track, but it felt like we were even stronger than before. Grajam and Pen have always been good players and geared to the teeth.

I on the other hand have been a work in progress for almost a month now and always felt like the week link. Now that I am getting the gear required to compete and actually learning to play WE/Frost our matches seem a lot easier. My role is to deal constant damage not burst and what is nice is that I can still do that while playing the roll of damage sponge. If teams choose to ignore my teammates they will pay the price, were previously they would do so with the chance to eliminate me.

The only matrix that we really had a problem with was Warrior/HolyPally /RestoDruid. The first time we faced them we rushed down the warrior who was playing very aggressively and over estimated his healers and under estimated us. Later in the night when we saw them again the warrior went defensive and played close to his healers. We got him close a few times, but never enough to really think we could win it. We will need to work on a strategy for outlast teams like that one, but for now we don't seem to run into them that often.

Hopefully next week will see us in the 1900's and well on our way to banked arena points for season 3. If only Blizzard would announce a date for its release I could plan my resources and gear accordingly.

None Shall Pass

Originally posted at WNE on 09/14/07

Two weekends ago I got a call from my friend Brian to see the None Shall Pass tour in DC. When I got off the phone I was hyped. I have been listening to Aesop Rock for going on four years now and have never seen him live. Partly because he never really ventured near Richmond in a time frame that matched my own and because up until recently none of my friends shared my enthusiasm for his work. Not only would I get to see Aesop for the first time, but Blockhead was on the tour as well. I was admittedly introduced to Blockhead's music through Aesop's album "Float", but have grown to appreciate his work at the same level of Aesop's.

Monday evening I took off work early to meet Brian at my house for the trip to DC. We got on 95 and threw on Aesop's new album "None Shall Pass", I know surprising that the tour promoting the new album would have the same name. We hit zero traffic and were in DC an hour before the doors opened (7:30pm). Thankfully Brian had directions because my memories of my last trip to the 9:30 club are seven years old and counting (I saw Talib Kweli open for Dilated Peoples my freshman year of college). We grabbed a parking spot right in front of the club and ventured into the city on foot to find some food.

The place we found was a pleasant surprise, there is an Irish pub about two blocks west of the club that serves a mean ruben and tots with every dish. We put back a few beers, talked a little football and women, and made our way back to the club at 7:45pm. I've never been patted down to see a show before, so it was a weird experience walking into the show and hoping the bouncer didn't get to friendly. We went to the top floor, opened a tab and then went to the balcony to wait for the show.

Blockhead was on first and we made our way from the balcony to the floor. Something that struck me as odd was his use of a mac laptop to spin on stage. He had no turn tables to speak of and at first I was a bit put off by it. Once he started spinning (hard drives spin too I guess) my hesitation soon faded. His live music is a lot more up tempo in comparison to his more mellow album work. Much more dance friendly which makes since considering you have a crowd of people ready to move. He mixed small pieces of techno with surprising samples of Phil Collin's "In The Air Tonight " and many other artist that would normally seem out of place in hip hop. It worked though and it was distinctly hip hop at its core.

The group that came on next was called Yak Balls, they did two songs and then opened for Cage half way through their third. I had never heard of Yak Balls and had only knew Cage by name not his music. Yak Balls was not bad, but they seemed very raw. Cage's style was much tighter, but his music was still kind of loud and angsty. By the end of their set I was ready for Aesop. I'd still like to listen to some of Cage's albums as their could be some good music there, unfortunately my first impression from his live set was a bit negative.

Aesop , Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz came out to wild cheers from the audience. Aesop's set was a high energy mix from his new album and his older tracks. They also performed a few songs from Rob's new album and let Big Wiz take the spotlight near the end to showcase his scratching. Aesop's live music was great and Rob Sonic an artist I had only heard for the first time on "None Shall Pass" was very impressive. The show ended with an encore of "Daylight", the song that everyone must have been turned on to Aesop Rock by, because everyone knew the lyrics and sang along.

The crowed slowly shuffled to the door, Brian went to pay his tab and I made my way to the merch table. I picked up Blockhead's and Rob Sonic's new albums and meet Brian at the car. We got lost for 45 minutes in what we soon determined was the DC ghetto (two check cashing stores, a fried chicken restaurant and a liquor store all on the same block). We got to the highway around 12:45am and back into Richmond at 2:30am.

I took off Tuesday to recover which end up being a great idea. The one thing I noticed most at the show was my bad back flaring up. It made me feel old standing for the entire show and it was nice to take it easy the next day.

Shower Shoes if You Like

It has been more than a month since I put foot to pedal and this Saturday not only saw that long hiatus removed, but saw it done in shower shoed style.

Grant has been putting out the call for Saturday morning rides for going on three weeks. I have always responded with confirmation that I would attend only to see my hopes dashed by weather or last minute obligations. When the invitation to ride came again this weekend I was determined to actually see myself on a saddle. 7:30am came far too soon though and by the time I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and having a bowl of cereal it was already 8:30 (the original start time). I got Grant on the phone and we decided on a new start and general location for the ride.

Grant was on the ball arriving not twenty minutes past our phone call. We chit chatted while packing up the gear and went inside to pick a route for our short adventure. The classic, but brief ABC 20 mile (warning PDF file) would be our chosen weapon. We recorded the cue sheet on a fashionable piece Mary Kay stationary and hit the car for our trip to the not so fashionable LPSC. Unless your into pay day loans, dollar stores and cheap dry cleaning, the LPSC parking lot is not for the feint of heart.

Some where in my rush to prepare my gear and pack it into Grant's car I missed one of the most essential pieces. Or rather a pair of the most essential pieces, my shoes. Not the end of the world if I rode on flat pedals, but I ride clipless and without the shoes to match them they can be a huge pain to deal with. I rung Crystal with the hope that she would meet me half way with my shoes and a kiss. No luck, she was just getting out of the shower and would be at least thirty minutes. I decided it wouldn't kill me to ride twenty miles in my flip flops (I call them flops, Grant calls them shower shoes).

Off we went through a sketchy back alley that I would have never found if Grant didn't already know the way. The neighborhood that the ride started in was an super pleasant gradual downhill, the wind was flowing through my toes and the day had not begun to simmer yet. Our route soon turned into to more country roads and the traffic was low. The ABC route is well worn by our two wheeled brohams, I counted at least 30 other riders coming from the opposite direction (I guess most riders get up earlier than us). The cue sheet was a wash, some streets where completely left off and road name changes where missing in action. We had a spot of luck at one confusing intersection when we ran into Champ (Raba member, introducer of the ABC route to Grant and all around good guy). He showed us hot pink arrows that Raba had spray painted on the road a few weeks ago. We ditched the cue sheet, said our good byes to Champ and were on our way.

We end up getting lost two more times (due to conversation and lack of attention, not the arrows) before making our way to the half way point for drinks and a snack. The second leg of the ride was mostly uneventful as the day started to heat up. We rolled back through the neighborhood we started in noting that it was not as pleasant on the way back, now that it was a gradual up hill in the heat. We pulled back into the LPSC parking lot at around 22 miles, counting the two times we got lost. We packed the car and went our separate way, promising to do it all over again as soon as possible.

It felt good to ride again and helped me figure out what I want for my birthday this year. Bike money! My bike needs love and I have been neglecting it for far to long. This 26th year of my life I will be taking care of my two wheeled friend.

Pictures coming soon...

Lore or the Lack There of

With the release of Tides of Darkness at the end of August I came to the realization that I have not participated in any lore related activities since I stopped raiding. I guess you can count raiding as a lore activity, but once you have full cleared the instance, follow up visits just don't seem to mean much. I am at least fifty pages into Tides already and loving it. I am reading two other books currently and I have dropped them completely to focus all my attention on Tides.

With my new found self awareness that my life lacks lore, I started to look for the "why". Leveling while reading Rise of the Horde was one of the coolest experiences I have had in WoW to date. Clearing Karazhan with in the same year that I finished The Last Guardian was a wonderful companion to making the instance seem that much more fun. After I hitting 70, going far beyond exalted with the violet eye and full clearing Gruul's lair there just doesn't seem to be any other outlets for lore outside of end game content. PvP is my current focus, as if that weren't abundantly clear from my recent post, and it has near zero lore behind it (AV is a joke after the millionth game).

Maybe dynamic NPCs is the answer, knowing that Thrall is sitting static in the Orgrimmar 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is a real bummer. He is the savior of the horde and an all around bad ass dude, shouldn't he be getting more face time. In the current state of the game the heroes and lore stars don't ever do anything cool (spoiler alert: except in the black temple), they just sit on their asses in mostly empty capital cities.

I remember reading a few years ago before release of Star Wars Galaxies that they had plans to have actors or gm's playing as the heroes from the series. You wouldn't be hanging out with Darth Vader or Han Solo on a regular basis, but on a rare occasion you might see Han getting into an exchange with a bounty hunter at a back woods local or Vader coming to visit the leader of an empire capital city. I don't know if that ever came to fruition, but I do know that it sounds cool, that the game was awful and that I only played it for a week before canceling my subscription to play in the WoW beta.

If your a WoW lore head who is grasping at anything you can get these days pick up Tides and go check out the short stories that Blizzard is putting out on their website.

Arena Notes
I won't be getting in any 3s this week because of timing and a trip to DC tonight. So last night I put out the call to do 2s with any willing participant and land Tight's alt Pally. We went 7-3 (would have been 8-2 sans a poorly timed disconnect). Outside of the long long que times it was a ton of fun playing as a very sturdy out last team. 2DPS teams fell like paper soldiers to us and healer teams could not match my WE burst or our combined CC. It is a little disappointing to not play 3s, but lemonade out of lemons is always a nice pick me up.

Mixed Progress

My 3s team lost 73 points on Sunday night (1858 -> 1785) with a bottom of the heap record of 2-8. I guess the rating lose could have been worse, but the real reason I got in a bad mood was my lack of control of my new WE spec. My WE ran wherever it wanted when I was focused and my burst timing was off by a mile when I was free to do damage. After starting 0-4 I went back to AP/Frost for the night and only improved to 2-4 before calling it at 10 games. Truth be told I only had time to tune my WE in AV before attempting an actual arena match.

Later that night while pve racing the alliance in AV I took Hellspawned up on an offer to play 2s with double frost mage. While not the best matrix for 2s it is a ton of fun. I was still AP/Frost when we started and soon realized that playing WE would compliment the teams strong points even more. So respeced back and had a ton of fun going 24-17 till the wee hours of the morning. Our 1531 rating is nothing to write home about, but considering we started from a previous rating of 1456, it was still progress.

Playing 40+ games of 2s helped a lot with my WE micro and hopefully will make its way to my 3s this coming week. It is going to be a long road of practice and fine tuning to get as good as I know WE can be.

AV weekend netted me my medallion, my vet ring and a healthy appreciation for the new changes that are coming to AV. After I get my final two pieces of vet gear I don't think I will be stepping foot into AV until they fix it.

Guild Notes
After downing Gruul more than a month ago FBD bagged Void Reaver this weekend. It was nice to see some excitement in guild chat again. We picked up a lot of members from another guild on the server who was actually a little further progressed than us and it looks like that plus the recruitment we had been doing really panned out.