Thanks to everyone's favorite gaming comic Penny Arcade, I found out about this thing called GameCrush. And... I really don't know what to think.
This is from their press release:
On GameCrush, players can find their perfect PlayDate through browsing their profiles and chatting live with them. Players can then purchase a live one-on-one private gaming session, complete with two-way video and text chat.
It's essentially dating online rather than in person, where your date is playing a video game with each other.
... whatever happened to coffee?
I don't know, I probably shouldn't be so judgmental but I am because of the fact that I think dating should be DONE IN PERSON. The internet is not an excuse for an actual social life. I'm just always afraid that will happen.
Sure, I found The Boyfriend online, but we proceeded to see each other in the real world. Is this the start where dating online exclusively becomes the norm?
Okay maybe I'm taking that too far, but if you watch the video link on this page, you'll see it's advertised to guys who need to look at pretty ladies while playing video games.
Is it wrong that I think this site... shouldn't be so popular? What's so wrong with working toward having someone you find attractive find you?
Eh, maybe I'm complaining over nothing.
March 31, 2010
March 26, 2010
Re-running my campaign!
I talked to The Boyfriend and another friend of ours last night about finally playing an RPG. It's been a while since any of us were in consistent campaigns. I've been filling the void with bioware games, which works to some degree but it's still not the same.
I have told some of you guys about the D&D game I ran in college, but you all only got the tale end of it since I only put in the last semester I ran it--which happened to be my last semester at college. I told you about the fantastic characters I got to play with and how they ended the campaign.
But at the same time, I love have alternate endings to books. And what if different heros were in the same world? I mean, my players were in it for justice considering their backstories, and maintained fairly good "business" and political relationships. Hell, one even fell in love with the Queen he was serving! I know the people that will be playing will have very different views and very different motivations. The Boyfriend is more into setting, and our other friend who wants to play is more into characters but won't be doing the same stuff my college friends did.
I'm definitely someone who's willing to see something go in a different direction. I want to see where this will lead. And at this point, considering I think I will have some time free up soon (I'm switching around my 5 jobs essentially) this is actually feasible.
And I'll be sure to update what happens in my campaign on this blog! Hooray!
I have told some of you guys about the D&D game I ran in college, but you all only got the tale end of it since I only put in the last semester I ran it--which happened to be my last semester at college. I told you about the fantastic characters I got to play with and how they ended the campaign.
But at the same time, I love have alternate endings to books. And what if different heros were in the same world? I mean, my players were in it for justice considering their backstories, and maintained fairly good "business" and political relationships. Hell, one even fell in love with the Queen he was serving! I know the people that will be playing will have very different views and very different motivations. The Boyfriend is more into setting, and our other friend who wants to play is more into characters but won't be doing the same stuff my college friends did.
I'm definitely someone who's willing to see something go in a different direction. I want to see where this will lead. And at this point, considering I think I will have some time free up soon (I'm switching around my 5 jobs essentially) this is actually feasible.
And I'll be sure to update what happens in my campaign on this blog! Hooray!
March 20, 2010
Serious Nerd Bling
LOOK AT IT!
(photo taken from this yahoo article.)
I am usually not in favor of lavish adornments to acknowledge one's wealth, but man! That is hot! Apparently if you want this, you can still bid on ebay. Or buy it now at $2600.
After a rather annoying day at work, just knowing that bling like this exists makes me feel sooo much better about the world.
March 19, 2010
MISSED PI DAY!
I'm mortified that I didn't even get a chance to write something for pi day. For those of your who don't know, pi day is officially March 14 of every year. It's one of the nerdiest days of the year and I didn't mention it! Please forgive me! Will a belated humorous chart help?
I hope it does. I'm at a point where I'm just going to make time for this blog (and the other one, which is even harder to do).
I was able to make time for Pi day, though. As in me and my LAN buddies (the Boyfriend and our other friend) went to Baker Square specifically for pie. We shared a Mint Chocolate Brownie pie. Half of you are probably going OH MAN DELICIOUS while the other half are going DEAR GOD NO! Yes, it was scrumptious and a bad decision all at the same time. But it was worth it.
It's either do that or calculations for the circumference of random circles. And although math can be fun, it'll never be as fun as pie.
An Awesome Artist
Alexa Meade is actually one of my good friends and a brilliant artist. So to see that CNN is even talking about her is amazing:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/03/19/real.life.painting.artist/index.html
She paints people and objects to appear like still-life paintings or portraits, and she's really good at it. I feel lucky that she is my friend, as an "artist" (though my writing hasn't gotten me famous yet) and as a person in general.
I'll post about something nerdy later today, I promise!
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/03/19/real.life.painting.artist/index.html
She paints people and objects to appear like still-life paintings or portraits, and she's really good at it. I feel lucky that she is my friend, as an "artist" (though my writing hasn't gotten me famous yet) and as a person in general.
I'll post about something nerdy later today, I promise!
March 18, 2010
Is It Just Me?--when you think a "good game" blows.
Surprisingly I'm starting to get some free time back, which will hopefully bring me back to blogging more often (miss you internet people!), but that also means I get to play more games.
Every Sunday I try to set up a LAN game with the Boyfriend and our other friend. We have some games that we do like playing a lot, but we try to branch out. For a while we were addicted to Supreme Commander, in fact we still are because that game rules. Any game that I can have fun with when the bots are kicking my ass gets points in my book. Anyway, we decided to that we should try to do some shooting fun to take a break from meticulous micro-managing. So we got ourselves Borderlands.
I was definitely excited for Borderlands, mostly because I love co-op campaigns. Left 4 Dead was getting a bit repetitive so we hadn't done that in a while. And we put in Borderlands and we started the first level.
And we all collectively decided it stunk.
Now, I admit I should give it another go after the first couple of missions, but the aiming system seemed counter-intuitive to me, and there wasn't a lot of stuff to grasp on interest-wise. We all kind of didnt' like the way it played and just said screw it after my computer crashed. My computer is a bit needy.
Yet there are all these great reviews and I know other people who LOVED this game. Sure, it's not revolutionary, but people do find it enjoyable, very enjoyable in fact. I had to start thinking, after a point, is it really just me? Is there something wrong with me that I don't like a game?
Inherently, I want to say no. An opinion is an opinion--you don't need "logic" or "statistics" to know how you feel and react to something. But at the same time when your opinion is in the minority and you are a self-reflective person, you start to wonder if your sensibilities are out of whack.
This happens with the Boyfriend all the time when it comes to games. Or should I say has happened, but he's got a good balance going on that I will explain. He has a "niche" of sorts when it comes to what games he appreciates. Specifically story and exploration are his big selling points. If the game accomplishes both effectively and enjoyably, he's in. But a lot of game developers out there just aren't as into that kind of game. They know it's easy enough to sell a game where story is a minimal excuse for kicking ass. Action and graphics take precedent in a lot of the market over immersive storytelling or exploration. Is there something wrong with the Boyfriend?
Nope. He just says "okay, that's your opinion, I'm going to play this game that satisfies my requirements now, thank you." And he knows he's not alone since games like that keep on getting made. Somebody, or should I say a significant group of people, are looking for a similar experience, and therefore the Boyfriend will be able to find what he wants on the market.
You can probably guess that I am going to say that there's nothing wrong with me disliking Borderlands now. And it's true. Mass appeal doesn't mean it appeals to you. It means it appeals to most of everyone else. That's something that Boderlands has. Sure, it's still a smarter game that a lot of the other stuff out there, and I'm willing to play stuff that is purely just mass-produced buckets of money for game publishers. Sometimes I seriously just want to kick serious ass, so I pick up an action game and do just that. Or usually fail horribly at kicking ass, as the case may be.
Is this really something that needs to be brought to the gaming public's attention? Nah, I find most adults I'm willing to converse with have no problem accepting that I have an opinion.
I'll let you know if I change my mind about Borderlands.
Every Sunday I try to set up a LAN game with the Boyfriend and our other friend. We have some games that we do like playing a lot, but we try to branch out. For a while we were addicted to Supreme Commander, in fact we still are because that game rules. Any game that I can have fun with when the bots are kicking my ass gets points in my book. Anyway, we decided to that we should try to do some shooting fun to take a break from meticulous micro-managing. So we got ourselves Borderlands.
And we all collectively decided it stunk.
Now, I admit I should give it another go after the first couple of missions, but the aiming system seemed counter-intuitive to me, and there wasn't a lot of stuff to grasp on interest-wise. We all kind of didnt' like the way it played and just said screw it after my computer crashed. My computer is a bit needy.
Yet there are all these great reviews and I know other people who LOVED this game. Sure, it's not revolutionary, but people do find it enjoyable, very enjoyable in fact. I had to start thinking, after a point, is it really just me? Is there something wrong with me that I don't like a game?
Inherently, I want to say no. An opinion is an opinion--you don't need "logic" or "statistics" to know how you feel and react to something. But at the same time when your opinion is in the minority and you are a self-reflective person, you start to wonder if your sensibilities are out of whack.
This happens with the Boyfriend all the time when it comes to games. Or should I say has happened, but he's got a good balance going on that I will explain. He has a "niche" of sorts when it comes to what games he appreciates. Specifically story and exploration are his big selling points. If the game accomplishes both effectively and enjoyably, he's in. But a lot of game developers out there just aren't as into that kind of game. They know it's easy enough to sell a game where story is a minimal excuse for kicking ass. Action and graphics take precedent in a lot of the market over immersive storytelling or exploration. Is there something wrong with the Boyfriend?
Nope. He just says "okay, that's your opinion, I'm going to play this game that satisfies my requirements now, thank you." And he knows he's not alone since games like that keep on getting made. Somebody, or should I say a significant group of people, are looking for a similar experience, and therefore the Boyfriend will be able to find what he wants on the market.
You can probably guess that I am going to say that there's nothing wrong with me disliking Borderlands now. And it's true. Mass appeal doesn't mean it appeals to you. It means it appeals to most of everyone else. That's something that Boderlands has. Sure, it's still a smarter game that a lot of the other stuff out there, and I'm willing to play stuff that is purely just mass-produced buckets of money for game publishers. Sometimes I seriously just want to kick serious ass, so I pick up an action game and do just that. Or usually fail horribly at kicking ass, as the case may be.
Is this really something that needs to be brought to the gaming public's attention? Nah, I find most adults I'm willing to converse with have no problem accepting that I have an opinion.
I'll let you know if I change my mind about Borderlands.
March 4, 2010
GAH! Computers are on the rise!
My old laptop had finally gotten to difficult to keep around, so with the help of the Boyfriend and my mother convincing me I wasn't wasting money, I have a new laptop.
I feel kind of stupid doing it, because I was hoping to wait until spring. I did buy another mac, and I wanted to wait so I could pay it off faster. But alas, when the period key on your laptop stops working and you're a writer, you can't just continue on. And now I am transferring data between the two as I speak. 8 hours to go! WOOT!
I am hoping this means that I can use my new computer to post more on this blog. At this point I am waiting for the 5 jobs that I have to be condensed down to 1, or possibly even two. I don't think that will happen over night, but sooner rather than later.
In other nerd news, I am going down to visit friends in Central IL again, and I am super excited to be nerding out two weekends in a row. I've recently been able to make time to go back to my larp where my body didn't suddenly decide to get all sick or my schedule all crazy. It's good to be back. I missed those friends and I missed the characters. As time goes on I expect to have more of my saturdays back, so I hope I can do more gaming in person rather than just over my super awesome gaming computer Adonis.
That's right, I named my computer Adonis. And?
These are the steps toward finally getting back to blogging regularly. I miss the small community of readers I had here, and I hope to gain it back. I also miss the 20 sided women project. There is so much more I need to do.
But now I just got all serious on you guys! There's no need for that. Uh...
There we go, not serious at all.
I feel kind of stupid doing it, because I was hoping to wait until spring. I did buy another mac, and I wanted to wait so I could pay it off faster. But alas, when the period key on your laptop stops working and you're a writer, you can't just continue on. And now I am transferring data between the two as I speak. 8 hours to go! WOOT!
I am hoping this means that I can use my new computer to post more on this blog. At this point I am waiting for the 5 jobs that I have to be condensed down to 1, or possibly even two. I don't think that will happen over night, but sooner rather than later.
In other nerd news, I am going down to visit friends in Central IL again, and I am super excited to be nerding out two weekends in a row. I've recently been able to make time to go back to my larp where my body didn't suddenly decide to get all sick or my schedule all crazy. It's good to be back. I missed those friends and I missed the characters. As time goes on I expect to have more of my saturdays back, so I hope I can do more gaming in person rather than just over my super awesome gaming computer Adonis.
That's right, I named my computer Adonis. And?
These are the steps toward finally getting back to blogging regularly. I miss the small community of readers I had here, and I hope to gain it back. I also miss the 20 sided women project. There is so much more I need to do.
But now I just got all serious on you guys! There's no need for that. Uh...
There we go, not serious at all.
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