Redwolf's Journal (continued)

... paladin armor come 4.3. Paladin tier 13 armor looks "okay" in my book. The feathers seem a little more druidy to me than angellic (and remind me a lot of the stone pattern of tier 11), the helmet wings are a bit overdone, and it doesn't remind me at all of the Guardian of Ancient Kings model that supposedly inspired it. There's detail there, but none of it really pops visually. I'd also say the heavy use of silver makes it feel a little dull. But for all that, I don't think it's bad . I could wear it with pride on raid nights, but I'm not wow'd by it like I was the mage set . The priest set is striking, too, if a little creepy. The 2-piece shielding effect is neat, but probably trivial. The 4-piece effect is a little baffling to me, as all tanks are getting a raid defense ability (or modification thereof), but if tanks are sporting 4-piece tier 13, their groups have already learned to handle any massive raid damage in the instance. On th

Another book finished. Geist was a decent read, and I'll probably pick up the sequel at some point, but it felt like the author was suffering from a lack of experience perhaps. Something was missing, anyway. The fantasy setting feels a little bit narrow, with specifically-defined magical abilities and a relatively small amount of geography used in the story. That's both good and bad. I generally like the characters and they interact pretty well overall, but I find Sorcha's tough-girl exterior that's laid out early falters later. I suppose there's some positives to that, letting her companions contribute, but it feels a little off. The Order and the geists are interesting enough, though feel a bit narrow for use in more than two or three books (I don't know how many are intended). The book does manage a climax (arguably a couple) and conclusion, at least, so it doesn't leave the reading hanging at the end. I'm a little bothered, though, by how quickly

So, since Sunday I've seen brief disruptions in internet connectivity at home - enough to kick me off MUCKs or MMOs, though usually not lasting much longer than that. It was enough to get me to send a message in to my ISP. With that, I rolled in the observation that 1.5 Mbps really is getting to be a drag these days and (while I understand they're using phone network infrastructure they don't have direct control over) if faster service isn't available soon I might be looking at cable-provided internet instead. I got a message back saying the disruptions were due to work on the land lines by the phone company meant to offer better service. Well, that's probably the best possible answer that could have come back, but it doesn't necessarily fix the immediate problem. Stranger, though, I checked out the phone company website and, according to that, faster service is already available directly from them at my address. Hmm. Are they holding this back from secondar

So those difficulty reductions to the Firelands? Yeah, they made a difference. I could try to argue that we're better, or that the new player in the raid or the one different character tipped the scale, but that'd be trying to fool myself. Shannox went down easily enough, though we had this before too. I think, for me, it's actually easier to try to use the freeze traps on Riplimb than simple outdistancing. Beth'tilac we'd tried before, so we had the mechanics fairly well down. The nerfing just means we could get all the adds down in a timely fashion and move through the fight. Our web healer got gibbed early, but we were able to hold out until he was back up and finish the fight on our first attempt of the night. Rhyolith took two tries. I think the first one failed largely because I had trouble targeting one of the adds and it got away from me. Not good. Still - again, it's something we had seen and mostly understood, but needed a push to get the timi

Ravel posed that question in the brilliant Planescape: Torment , a game that turned fantasy RPG tropes on their head and offered a journey more about character self-discovery than saving the world or defeating evil. Last night, I found myself pondering the question in a much more real sense. It's strange how I can have productive and thought-provoking discussions with some people one day and the next find everything they say to be utterly asinine and annoying. Well, at least it's better than the (thankfully few) people who aggravate me pretty much every time I hear them say something. Ah well. Last night was more the former. And it got me thinking... If you have a friend, you've accepted them as they are, right? Maybe you don't like everything about them, and that's fine, but you do like them enough to overcome any such drawbacks, or you wouldn't consider them a friend. Barring some major aspect of personality or behavior that is new (or at least new to

Various stuff... Tabletop Looks like no offline RPG game this week - schedules aren't lining up. There's talk about trying Dresden Files again at some point. I'm still a little iffy on it. I have another character (vaguely) in mind that I'd sort of like to try, but I don't particularly like the thought of having to go through character creation again with the interweaving of stories. I still love the concept, but find the reality of it clunky. Deus Ex: Human Revolution I'm through the game about 2 and a quarter times, including getting a Pacifist run that was particularly rewarding to get through one particularly difficult combat scene without killing anyone. I've also confirmed that the bosses are not so ridiculously/frustratingly difficult if you know they're coming. It's come out that the boss battles in DXHR were outsourced to another company. While I still have no idea why they would do that, it does explain why they're such a chan

On the up side, I now have a general doctor to go to again. The physical exam was quick enough. Notably dry skin, but otherwise nothing of concern came up. No obvious signs that my avoidance of doctors for 18+ years is killing me - that's a good sign. On the down side, I'm still adjusting to the fillings. They've changed the contours of at least one of the two teeth involved and when I chew or grit my teeth, it presses against the corresponding upper tooth very noticeably at one point. Today (though only today so far) I woke with that side of my jaw sore. It's enough that I'm starting to think maybe this is a bit more serious than something to just get used to. We'll see what he says about that. Edit: Well, the dentist's office called me in for a fairly quick adjustment. None of the damming or numbing of the original setting, just some biting on a marking ribbon and work with a drill/polisher sort of tool to file things down. Teeth fit more comfortably t

So after reading Faith Hunter's apocalyptic fantasy series , I figured I'd check out her urban fantasy Jane Yellowrock series. Pros: Good details. Vampire politics seem fine and I like the touch that human servants serve as much to help retain the vampires' sanity over time as anything else. Good twist on shapeshifting, with an eye toward things like conservation of mass (even if it is, ultimately, still just magic ). Beast is pretty well written. The book stands alone. Cons: Pacing (for the first two-thirds of the book I had decided I wouldn't follow the series because there was a lot of description and very little of anything happening). "Tough chick" character who has romantic undercurrents in dealings with multiple men feels pretty cliche. The "everyone wants to know what Jane is" plot thread wears thin pretty fast - maybe she can sniff out cameras pretty easily, but it would not be that hard for someone who really cared to see something. O

I've only seen a few tier 13 armor previews. I haven't seen the paladin set yet. It wouldn't really work thematically for any of my characters, but still: I'm totally jealous of the mages' Timelord Regalia . I'm a sucker for animation in armor and those goggles, moving gears, and the steampunk look is hawt.

So I had two small fillings put in my back teeth today. The side of my jaw is still numb. T'was a first for me. When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, I was fully sedated and... well... no prior cavities, so no experience with the fabled numbing and drilling. It was interesting. I did feel pain at two or three points, but it was small and distant past the local anesthetic. Mostly, I would describe the sensations as uncomfortable and sometimes unnerving. Still, not bad. What amazes me most about dental work is that it feels so big, when it's really so small.

Well, more work-suckage last night. Not getting a program to work right - I have no idea how the software can install seamlessly about half the time I do it and give me so much trouble the rest of the time. Then slow connection with our remotely-hosted system that appears to have been due to some latency about midway between them and us on the internet. Interesting dream this morning, though. I was some sort of secret agent with a partner sneaking into the home of a wealthy person we were wanting info on. He drove off from this manor in the woods and we snuck in through a secret passage. While sneaking around, recording what was on his answering machine and looking for clues, someone drove up. Both of us ducked into a little secret room we'd found - not quite a panic room, but hidden behind a closet with screens showing camera views and a concealed view of the living room. Two people we thought to be related in the... whatever we were investigating came in, talking. A third per

I acknowledge the 9/11 anniversary, but I think people put too much emphasis on marks of X years after something anyway, so I can't say it occupied much of my mental space over the weekend. Nah, I settled in for routine for the most part... though let me say that sleeping in and getting over eight hours Friday night/Saturday morning was glorious. And also probably the high point of the weekend. WoW didn't go so well. The guild recently lost one semi-regular member, and one of about four raid healers. As of today, it appears we're also down our other primary tank (probably until the player finds employment). Of our other three first-tier healers, one wasn't interesting enough to show up Saturday night, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's a sign of things to come. While a tank slot can be filled by someone else, having two healers isn't really enough for "progression" content and we're falling short on sheer numbers. We managed nine people

Well... I'm glad this is a short work week, because it's pretty much sucked. Outstanding issues that are mostly out of my control do this wonderful job of setting up a nice baseline stress, so when other important things come up... ugh. Almost scream-inducing more than once this week. Events have pushed me to cursing loudly. Not a good state to be in.

So while I had a dental cleaning last week, today was my first real exam - full x-rays, periodontal exam, etc. So after 18 years or so of no check-ups, the verdict? Two small cavities to fill next week, caught before they're worryingly serious, and some warning signs that I may grind my teeth when I sleep. Everything else was deemed cosmetic. That isn't perfection , but I count it pretty darn good and the dentist and his staff seemed to agree. It's also about in line with my experience as a kid, where I'd walk out with a clean bill of health and my friends seemed to get fillings left and right. I'm not big on health rituals, but the one thing that really did sink in was to brush daily! Since working alternating night shifts for the last several years, I'm averaging more like 1.5 times a day. A few years ago, I added a rinse to that. Flossing wasn't part of that routine for me, but I'm making it so. It's one habit that appears to have paid off,

Hmmm... what does it say that I've read yet another book that I consider to be more enjoyable than it deserves? I picked up Den of Thieves without any advanced knowledge, I was just looking for a roguish fantasy book (which seems to be an increasing percentage of the fantasy genre, actually). I see plenty of things I consider flaws in the book. The explanatory flashbacks, while not a crime individually, are overused for my taste. The pacing feels off - like I'd read through fifty pages and suddenly wonder why no progress had really been made toward the challenge apparent on the horizon. The thiefy guildmaster seems just a little too in control to me, some circumstances around the big bad wizard don't make much sense, and the knight is agonizingly inflexible (though this will appeal to some people). All told, I think it could have been pared down some and been better for it. That said, none of this actually stopped me from being interested and reading on. Overall, I en

I wonder if there's someone who can help me out here. I happened to be flipping through channels over breakfast this morning and tuned in to some guy (an evangalist of some sort, I presume) praying. Skipping to the end, he finished with an "in Jesus' name we pray, amen." Okay, this is familiar to me. It was taught to me many, many years ago in school as some flavor of Christianity. It makes sense enough to honor Jesus, sure. What threw me was more in the middle of what I saw where he said something very close to, "... oh Lord, you died for our sins..." This confuses me. So he's praying to Jesus as the Lord rather than to God. I'll admit to having something of an outsider's view of the whole thing, but that seems completely wonky to me - dangerously close to First Commandment territory. Clearly it's not only accepted, but normal, in some religious circles, but I'm having trouble grasping how the two figures are treated so interchangab

So I got in for a dental cleaning today, with a "new patient exam" scheduled for next week. Whee. The paperwork seemed as potentially scary as anything else. Overall, it wasn't a problem, though. No pointing out of problems I wasn't aware of, really, and just advice to brush more softly and floss more (which I've been trying to get myself to do). After eighteen years or so, it's interesting to see what has changed and what hasn't. I remember dental X-rays being a matter of going to a different and biting down on film in packets that has to be developed... Now they've got an x-ray "gun" mounted right to the chair and the results are instantly viewable on computer screen. Fancy. On the other hand, the process of scraping plaque off teeth is about as manual and disconcerting as I remember.