Several people are nudging me, wondering what happened to the comics. I can’t say much just yet, but I can share the following trivia:
- I am still making comics.
- They will eventually appear. Probably twice weekly.
- They will represent a little more work than I’ve been putting into the slapdash ones I’ve had on the site over the last few weeks, which means they will hopefully have more funny.
- This is all loosely related to my sudden change of heart in regards to playing MMO’s.
- I can’t say more. Hang tight and give it a few weeks.
- My blatherings here will continue, unimpeded.
- The female avatars in Guild Wars are very pretty. That doesn’t have anything to do with this list but I just thought it was important to point that out.
Right. Back to work.
Hardware Review
So what happens when a SOFTWARE engineer tries to review hardware? This. This happens.
Megatextures
A video discussing Megatexture technology. Why we needed it, what it was supposed to do, and why it maybe didn't totally work.
Dead Island
A stream-of-gameplay review of Dead Island. This game is a cavalcade of bugs and bad design choices.
Overused Words in Game Titles
I scoured the Steam database to figure out what words were the most commonly used in game titles.
Spoiler Warning
A video Let's Play series I collaborated on from 2009 to 2017.
You are tickling my expectancy-gland my good man. Or, to put another way: I am looking forward to seeing what you are up to now.
*whip crack* Yeah! Back to work!
Ahem… Anyway, I thought you might find this old auction item interesting.
Dude! This is exciting news! Take your time and do it the way you want it… I’ll be waiting!
Realms of Ishikaze, my favorite take on webcomic meets MMO. 2nd place goes to Looking for Group. My life is incomplete without trinities, so I’m hoping yours is it!
My Ritualist Minion Bomber is SOOOO sexy. XD
Feel free to /whisper Soy Oil when you’re on, if you need any help in GW.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3039479
I was more than willing to ignore the lack of mini-comic, but now I can’t do anything other than speculate over what your up to.
I kinda think games have female builds only for the stereotypical male gamer to oggle over, not surprising that they are normally quite *ahem*, well you know.
@Will
When I saw that die and I thought to myself. Did they place C&D (Caves and Dinosorus).
“You wish to discover fire, roll the die”
So, Shamus, care to tell us what class are you playing?
Also, there is GW wiki page.
“A fiendish Dragon looms before you. As you stand in fear, it opens its mouth and a stream of fire comes out! Reflex save?”
*rolls*
“Ummm…XIV + VI = XX, do I make the save?”
“You dive out of the way of the firestream, and feel the heat of it singe your back. Take (V+III+IV)/II = VI damage…”
It’s not entirely out of the question ;)
Right now I’m playing an Elementalist / Monk (female) named Doxy Shamus. I have forged this character in ignorance, simply making choices based purely on what seemed fun. At some point I’ll understand enough of the game to realize all the ways in which I have nerfed and crippled this character through my ineptitude, and I’ll probably re-roll.
I also tried a Warrior, but he lasted about twenty minutes. I’d MUCH rather firebomb than engage in swordplay.
he he So, you are playing EMo… :)
edit: You can’t cripple your character, because you can switch to other second profession later in game, and you can change your skills and attributes in every outpost for free. Which means you can customize it as you like, when you like.
Shamus,
The only thing you will not be able to change with your char. is her first profession. Later in the game will be able to change your second profession to any that are available to you based on the campain you have. You really can’t nerf yourself in this game. Unless you find you really hate playing Elementalist.
Elementalists rock! The primary can nuke or support, or maybe even play to the secondary; protection monk w/ ~75 max MP? Nice. (My first was and still is an E/Mo herself…)
Elementalist “armor” tends to be the most stripperific, but whether that’s a net minus or plus is left up to the observer…
I decided to fire up GW again, just to have another go at it. I was expecting some downloading, but it popped up saying only 1 file. Great!
Then it finished, and came up with another screen, with only 1 file. Okay, I can handle that.
Then that finished, and it came up with the screen showing 915 files.
Sigh. Maybe I’ll play WoW while I wait.
Edit: I just got in, picked my character and . . . 1209 more files.
GW downloads files when you enter an area requiring them, rather than all at once.
You can run it with the -image command to have it download all the game files (over 3GB, IIRC) and not have any between-area downloads other than for files updated since your big download.
Elementalist is a good starting choice (but then again, what isn’t?), and a monk secondary makes things fairly easy up to the point you can change your secondary class, at which point your initial choice for that doesn’t matter. And you can respec everything else at will.
Really the only “poor” choice for your first character would be a Mesmer primary, and that only because it takes a bit of knowledge of your opponents to play them well.
The game gives a “not for newbies” warning if you choose primary mesmer. Mesmers can tear apart high value targets quite well (they dominate in PvP) but falter at mass mob combat, which is most of what PvE is about. I agree that’s the most “bad choice” possible, but even then it is nowhere near unplayable, as you would still really shine in the boss missions. Elementalist may have been my first, but mesmer is my favorite.
It helps that mesmer females are t3h sexy. Totally for reals. Must be the Boots of Superior Domination. :P
Oh nose, Shamus has had a “change of heart” regarding MMOs! *shakes fist at MMO industry* Will none of my friends and allies escape your vile clutches?!
Hang in there Dirty Dan.. I you love him set him free.. he’ll be back.
I find it amusing that you feel the need to try and justify this. Shamus, you’re providing us with insightful, witty, and downright funny content for free- you don’t need to stick to a “schedule” or feel any obligation to do so. I have for a long time appreciated your blog, but always under the fear you would someday come to your senses and start charging money.
I’m done with your teasing ways, Young. First you snare me with the highly addictive DMotR and bring it to an abrupt and totally unexpected ending, then you bait and switch me with the insidious (yet oh so tasty) Chaimail Bikini with it’s Wednesday Specials and Free Avatars. Now you think to entrap me with another iniquitous offering, probably containing three times the daily recommended dose of various hallucinogenic ideas.
Well, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you some more. Fool me three times, will you stop doing that?
I’m not falling for it. Please give me more details about where and when it will appear, what the plot will be, the style adopted, a few joke teasers and so forth so I can be absolutely sure I don’t accidentally start reading it.
Harrumph.
Yours Sincerely,
Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells