Return of the Hammer

Hammer flew into Richmond this weekend to game and hang out with us, in what may be turning into an annual event. After he was not skinned and made into fleshy wallets last year, I guess his wife let him back on the plane. Given Crystal's recent sickness we did not play host this time, but I showed up to chill regardless. Friday we hit Starlite in a group of eight that I'm sure was plenty loud, but bought enough food and drink to compensate.

Saturday was a LAN party out Mechanicsville way with a big showing of 19 players and the walking corpse reborn of COD 4. The game is just a month shy of its first birthday and it is still relevant. The graphics still kick, the gameplay and balance are still solid and there are more custom maps than you can shake a stick at. Playing at the LAN rekindled my interest in the game and hopefully the next game in the series. Although the return to World War II and WW2 Japan at that are unwelcome changes. Jungle maps are just not as fun as urban ones. It is being built on the COD4 engine though, so maybe there is hope.

Outside of the gaming there were burgers and dogs on the grill and snacks galore. My LAN Hangover was in full effect Sunday. There should be mandatory two hour physical activity breaks at every gaming engagement and a nun with a ruler by the cookie table. I guess for now it is on me to self regulate, kind of like Wall Street, but we saw how that worked out.

I Raided
No, not the cookie table mentioned above. Sunday night I got a guest pass with my pro raiding guild to visit Mt. Hyjal. Something they have done a bazillion times, but was extra special to me. At this point I know I'm not going to be geared to see BC end game content as it winds down before WotLK. So it is nice to be carried through by a crew that doesn't even need loot from the instance anymore. Even still I was out rolled on the T6 helm, meh.