Played me some Star Warz MMORPG tonight and it was pretty good! It's a Bioware game, so it very much feels like KOTOR meets Mass Effect. They've taken the Mass Effect dialog-wheel (Good/Neut/Bad) and overall KOTOR aesthetic and vibe and married that to your typical WoW mmo.

The good: One cool aspect of the game I've never seen before are these "story zones" which are specific to each player. So, we may be on Planet Ewok with everyone, but when I go into the Ewok chief's hut, I'm suddenly in "Rudy's Ewok Story instance" so the dialog and happenings are specific to wherever I'm at in that storyline. If I'm grouped, my space homies will see the same cutscenes as me, but they won't be able to effect the outcome via dialog, etc. It works pretty well because it doesn't seem over used. Of course, it also means you'd probably see the same cut scenes a grip of times if you're rolling with your galactic-gal-pals, but they all seemed pretty brisk so far. When you leave said "story instance" you're back in the shared game world. It doesn't break with a load screen, so it flows nicely.

The bad: It's an MMORPG, so my quests have literally been "kill 6 Separatist Snipers" "Disable 3 Separatist Jamming Devices" and "Collect 3 Republic Medicine Crates". Wee, MMOs.

I made a fake Han Solo. I'm gonna play some more this weekend but I'm leaning towards buying it in December and maybe playing a month or two. I hear the pvp is fun but I haven't gotten the opportunity to try it yet.

I keep hearing it's so much better than Space Hulk, so yeah, I totally want to play it too and judge for myself. I don't think you can really beat Space Hulk's theme though.

Yeah, no, Earth Reborn would be a definite girlfriend fail. In fact I tried playing it with Aeryk the other weekend and it was kinda complicated for us... just using the first scenario... although we HAD had about three beers by that point (it was within 40 minutes of Aeryk arriving). I'm really fired up to play it though. I've read about half the rules (up through the funky ability icons). I basically want to get Enron over here for a day or something and just plow through it.

San Juan really isn't that complicated once you put it into practice. Although, the wife and I had played Puerto Rico first and it shares a lot of concepts. (We played with Enron, so imagine him saying: " 'ave another tea, guv'na!' " in a falsetto every time the Governor card comes up, which is every turn). I imagine it would cut the other way as well and San Juan would be a good lead-in to Puerto Rico.

I like playing certain games on consoles for the reasons you mention. Also, just sitting on the couch using a controller is relaxing in a way hunching in front of the computer is not.

Have you tried playing Earth Reborn with Janice yet? Thematically it doesn't look particularly girlfriend-friendly, so I don't know if I'm ready to try and bust that one out yet. I bet I'd have better luck with one of the D&D boardgames because at least it's co-op.

Roll Through the Ages has been the biggest hit so far, followed by Lost Cities. Honorable mentions to Ticket to Ride, Carc, Forbidden Island, and Through the Desert. She didn't really like Jambo (me neither) but I kinda screwed up bringing it as the only game on a Catalina trip once. When Jambo's the only game you've got, trials and tribulations. We'll revisit it again in the future.

I think for the mass-introduction of Euro-style gaming to her friends and family, I'm gonna try Ticket to Ride. I'll also have Carc, Roll Through the Ages, and Through the Desert on standby. Also, Gang of Four. I've had San Juan for awhile now and I've been afraid to try and play it with anyone because it just seemed too daunting. Might have to bust it out and see if the time is right.

/end cardboard
/run electric'

Cool that you liked Arkham Asylum! That's a badass game. I'm pretty excited to get the new one soon. Was going to get the PC version, but thinking about it now, I might end up grabbing a console copy only because you can sell them back so easily. I got burned bad on Battlefield 3 for PC. It's an awesome game in theory, but it's such a buggy/crashy piece of shit, I'm all but done with it. Fuck that shit. And of course since it's a PC digital copy, I can't even recoup $20 bucks or whatever.

Through the Desert is solid! It doesn't hit the table every night or anything, but it's always fun when we do break it out. Next stop: Earth Reborn!

I decided to actually build a house for once (in Minecraft) so today I spent a little bit of time building the foundation, then spent a little time wiring up a doorbell. Uh... make that a lot of time. Took me like three hours! And it's not quite done yet....

Maybe Chez-Rudy will be a dug up graveyard/mummy-doll wharehouse. That's some morbid fucked up shit I expect to see show up on a Law & Order next year. Yuck man.

Got into the Star Wars:Old Republic beta for this weekend only, woo! The game comes out in December too, so if anything, this will act like a crash course demo to see if it's got what it takes to capture my heart. Played a little DC Universe free mmorpg this week, and it was predictably boring. To be fair, it's more along the lines of an action rpg/beatemup in that you go around punching, kicking, and blasting dudes using a controller. But it still has a really generic feel that kind kills any desire to play it, free or not. I'll take a pic of my dude next time I load it up because he looks sweet.

I'll try to build something in Minecraft this week, but I'm still pretty burnt out on the game. I was CRAZY into it for a month or two and then it just kinda lost it's luster. I like the new shit they've added, so that's a positive. Maybe if I treat it less obsessively than last time, I'll get more fun from it.

Picked up "Through the Desert" and played it a few times with my gal. Very girlfriend-friendly game with great pieces (pastel camels!). It's fun and plays really fast which is a plus. I imagine with more than 2 players it being absolutely chaotic and look forward to trying that out. I'm trying to organize a "game night" with her siblings and their SOs to try and introduce them to some awesome not-monopoly board games.

Watched the Twin Peaks pilot for the first time yesterday. It was great! Rememeber watching Season 1 on VHS a long time ago with JP, Jon, and some other random homies ( I think) but I'd never seen season 2 or the pilot. Gonna work my way through the entire series, can't wait. I know S2 is supposed to suck, but I'm still mucho excited and going in with pretty clear expectations.

| Don't be surprised if you come across this...

... in the WebcamRPG Cthulhu sessions. This is one of the most disturbing things ever. EVER.

Russian historian keeps 29 mummified corpses DRESSED AS DOLLS in his apartment

And now, back to your regularly scheduled, light-hearted, Minecraft posts.

Sweet!

When you start getting closer, we'll have to figure out where to hook it up. Are you doing a raised bridge-like thingy or on-ground path? lol

I need to get back to town and find everyone's stuff. Half the fun of Minecraft is seeing what everyone's up to!

I think my next project is to build some farms in the biodome looking hills behind the castle/keep thing I've got going on. Making the day trips out to Che Pump to till his fields is effective, but time consuming. I try to leave half the haul in the pantry for others to use.

| Public Works, at your service.

Since I'm content (or at least less-inspired than others) to make my little beach house in Minecraft, rather than giant, awe-inspiring compounds, my contribution will be Public Works!

My first task has been to create a road system that connects all our "homes" together so at least we can find our way around. So far Chez Biggdork, Pump, Botz, Enoto, and the Keep on the Borderlands have been completed - next step is to link Shopvac and the elusive Chez Rudy.

See, I can contribute!

| Oh, and screenie of the improvements..

Got the lava cross working, swapped out the dirt for dungeon block on the front of the castle, tower #1 built out. Needs to have interior shiz / fluff added like beds, book cases and whatever else. That's gonna have to wait. lol.

| Mind the Creepers

LOL.. had a funny moment tonight with Jon. He was helping me check out the new castle tower for aesthetics and function.. went out in the night time to take a look and typed "hey, let me know if you see any creepers coming". So I poke my head over the edge and see one running for him and type CREEEEEEPEEEERRRR into the chat. But, Jon thinks I'm just joking around and stands there.. haha. About a half second later the obvious happened. SSSSSSSSSssssssssssssss... BOOOM! :(

We had a good laugh about that, lol.

I went ahead and fenced off Enoto's crater as a memorial, with the statement of "Was only trying to help" etched below the Enoto Memorial sign.

Also, took a pic of the squids living in my waterfall.. and a shot of Pump's place in the distance from the ramparts of the new tower.

Haha, that's awesome.

I've had both kiddos on my knees playing Minecraft with me the last couple of days. Haylee was NOT happy with daddy for the environmental lava disaster that killed all those trees on the hillside, lol.

Bennett is all about GET THE BAD GUYS DADDY.

| Arkham Asylum

Thanks for the recommendation on this Rude and Aeryk! I'm almost done (just down to a couple boss fights I think). Love the slick design, finding things is fun, great graphics, and really good combat. Always satisfying to finish a fight with one of Batman's big "non-lethal" moves. For the couple of you that might not have played it, it's definitely worth picking up cheap on Steam or for PS3 sometime. Next up: Demon's Souls!

I was playing Minecraft today and got really freaked out when I thought I heard a zombie right behind me -- turned out it was just my kid snoring.

Been great goofing off in MC with y'all. It's good to have the Jones back!

Found a giant underground city under my keep that is crawling with buddies.. I'm gonna need help with it I think. Adventure time! lol

In other MC news, almost done with the shell on the southern tower.. then just another 1000 blocks for the north tower, weeeee!

Not quite sure what to do with the interior space on these things. Guess i could throw in some beds/chests for the guard barracks levels, lol.

Can you even make "fireplaces" anymore? Thought I remembered hearing about people going into the aether level to grab glowstone..?

At any rate, Im still a ways off from having the goods to make a portal.

PS Jeez Aeryk, try letting your wife and kid out of the house once in a while, sheesh!

Heh, that was a fun campaign. One of my favorite moments was the super awkward expression you got when invited to the funeral for the people you'd been sent into the Sunless Citadel to find. (You'd found them, beheaded them after finding they'd been mutated into plant monsters, then lied and said the bodies were missing.) Enron had some classic moments in that campaign, mainly opening the escape hatch, but also telling some random merchant you met on the road about your secret mission, at great length, while everybody kind of looked on baffled.

Aeryk the "lizard monsters" were Slaad, capable of innately manipulating the chaotic energy of Limbo. Read your Planescape, son! :)

CabinCon/GenCon -- I see no reason not to do both! They are very distinct experiences and fun in their own way. I know what you mean about Kubla. If we get some kind of quorum on GenCon and CabinCon I would maybe be OK with skipping Kubla this year and actually spending Memorial Day weekend with my wife for once.

Oh and Rude -- yes, Sunday is totally skippable. Thursday-Saturday is primetime. Nobody's really around Sunday, and the con closes down around 3:00 anyway.

| Our Cast of Characters:

Brother Simon, Priest of Heironeous, the One God
Felix Jaegar, Combat Specialist and Tactical Analyst
Ro Kevlar, Security Consultant
Koryn, Magical Missle Expert and Self-Taught Master of the Arcane

Former Companions:
Heironymous
Saucor

| 10th Level or Bust! (Bust. I blame SF)

Fantastic that we took a 'team picture' for the campaign! QuikMemories recap:

- Opening the "Emergency Door" in the vault that led to the crazy planar travel bit: flying salamanders that left light trails through space we could walk on!?!?! WTF?

- The awesome sunken town

- I can only remember the characters Ro and Brother Simon, what were my and Enron's names?

- That goddamn crypto-puzzle machine in the bank that had us pulling our freaking hair out. It was some sort of control relay that handled the vault access or something?

- Virtua Tennis

- The Red Eye of Sauron

- Meepo, who has since been immortalized as a D&D figure, and become some sort of dragon-lord. We were there when all he was doing was stealing baby dragons!

- A vampiric tree growing out of a corpse?

- Some sort of kobold slaughter where I think only one character was conscious and had to haul everyone else up or down some stairs?

| found my old 3rd Ed PHB that had these pictures on it

| Oh, also.. from teh funnies...

I apparently now have two squids living in my waterfall, lol. Dunno how long they'll stay there, but it was funny to go walking through the keep and see two of em hanging out!

| We have a slight problem with the reactor...

So I got the bright idea to dump a bucket of lava on some creepers and zombos' heads and well.. it sort of got out of control, lol.

I thought for a few minutes the whole forest was going to go up in a massive fire but I think the rainstorm kept it from doing so. The massive wall-o-lava going down the entire north side of the hill seems to be slowly disappearing. I think. Only lost maybe 10-15 trees in total.

Yikes.


Rood, I'm using Dokucraft which is 32x and rocks. I've used the comic one before that you linked, it was fun but I like the slightly medieval look of Doku. Also, as of 1.8 / 1.9 it's completely customizable which is nice.

Dokucraft Linky

Oh I would much rather do another CabinCon also! I'm not even excited for Kubla other than getting to see the gang and game. The atmospere doesn't sound as fun to me this time. Think I'm spoiled by murdercabin gaming.

| No GenCon for Me

99% sure I will be out, even 9 months in advance I have a pretty good idea that it will still be too expensive - we don't go on family vacations, so adding another personal gaming vacation in addition to KublaCon and CabinCon II just ain't right, son.

Best dad EVER! :) I think I could swing it this year. I would have to probably fly back Sun though if I did go, so I don't know if that's a primo-day of gaming or what.

| GenCon!

I've been thinking about GenCon a lot. It's the little things. Walking to Chik-fil-A in 100-degree heat. Drinkin' absinthe with Pump over a game of Death Angel. Throwing ourselves at mission 2 in Gears of War for hours, failing every time. Chili dogs galore. And I kinda want to go back! Would any of you guys be up for a trip of epicness to this year's GenCon? I wouldn't want to three-man it again, but if we could get 4-6, I think it would be pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure I could work it out without feeling like the world's crummiest dad. Would any of you guys be up for it this year?

Speaking of Mikencraft, since my texture packs were all mad out of date, had to go check out what the new hotnesses are for that scene and here's some of the one's I'm gonna try:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/188034-18-19-pre5-ovos-rustic-pack-v16/
(Looks great! 64X)

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/376784-16x-32x-64x-128x-256x-512x19pre5-sphax-purebdcraft-v095-271011/
(wOW! 128x)

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/220918-16x19pre5-wayukian-pack-wipat-long-last/
(Looks nice and clean. 16x)

Hopped on the AT server for a minute tonight, almost a full house! Art, Jon, and Enron. A lot has changed with the game! Also, Dennis already has an epic compound! I will probably build a little something something up in there but it kept crashing on me. I'll play some more tomorrow. ALSO, let's still try G+ hangouts someday guys, its fun, I swear :(

I ended up ordering Through the Desert through Amazon, going only off some reviews I watched on BGG. Sounds like it's an abstract that has a cutesy theme that appeals to non-gamers, exactly what I'm usually looking for! Will see if my main dog Reiner Knezovovich lets me down.

And, Elder Sign: Omens is kinda hard as fuck. There's some video tutorials on there, but FFG has kept their awful-rules track record intact, leaving you to basically figure that shit out on your own. It's not really complicated, but there are certain red and blue things I sometimes need to roll to beat adventures, but I'm not sure how to even get those dice. Some of my adventurers have powers that will let them bust out a diff colored dice like that, so do I always need to have a mix that have those abilities? I'm confused. Fuck you Azalothodoth (whoever the baddie is).

In other news...





D>M>

lol, that was weird. Last night, teh bloggo was hanging on me. Guess each "attempt" to post went through eventually!

Thanks for getting me hooked on MC again. Much cheaper than the "free" World of Tanks addiction I've been feeding lately, lol.

Well, I popped in for a little bit. Dropped a mud hut at x:-233, z:109. On the next mesa over from Chez Pump.

D>M>