Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Now that's not a terrible ending. Timeless wraps up the Parasol Protectorate series, though I was sort of surprised to see "final" on the cover. Another adventure, a few new developments, some clarification/revelation about past events, and a rough outline of how the future will likely play out for the characters. I think that hits all the necessary notes. The story feels relatively complete, if not completely closed. I could see another novel or two, but they aren't necessary. T'was a good read and a fun ride. Interestingly, it looks like the series is being done as a manga .

So my first swing at the LFR in WoW was... not so good. It's probably turned out less-tolerant players off to it completely. And while I can understand why, I felt like I wanted to give it another chance. So upon getting home last night, I swiped my guild leader and we queued up. As 2 DPS fairly late (about midnight for me, 1 am server), it took around 15 minutes to get a group. The tanks did not linger, but they at least waited for people to zone in before charging and ready-checked before the more challenging boss of the first four. There was just a little more coordination on Yor'sahj, which made all the difference. The RNG smiled on me - I won some DPS plate boots early, though opted to pass those on to a DK in the group, then got both a helm and a leg armor token. So even giving one thing away, I came out with two minor-but-desirable upgrades (I've avoided the VP helm because it has expertise and I believe there are no VP legs, just hard-to-get crafted ones) that wer

Beta stuff galore, it seems... I've seen a number of articles based on Guild Wars 2 beta experience, including some clarification over dynamic events and how personal stories tend to work with multiple players. It all sounds fairly promising, but the question still remains of how it will actually feel after a couple months of real play. It seems so much Mists of Pandaria info came out last week that catching up is beyond me. And that's okay by me, I suppose. I like what I see in the looting changes. I still don't care too much about the talent revamp and all yet - I want to see a more final form and find out how it works in a less-theoretical sense. Someone mentioned that SWTOR 1.2 is adding new story, which got me looking closer at some articles there. It appears to be true, but the addition is new plot on Corellia that sounds similar for both factions. That's a far cry from additional class-story content, which is what I'd really want to see. And that's

And back to work. Hit the ground running, but there don't seem to be too many outstanding issues. I always feel a little odd with self-diagnoses. Now, I associate fever, chills, and muscle aches with the flu more than a cold. Yet that's supposed to take a week or two to clear up, isn't it? I came down with those symptoms Saturday morning. Fever had passed by Monday morning. Tuesday, I'm feeling minorly stuffy-headed with a little bit of a cough, but otherwise fine. I can't imagine that going to the doctor would have gotten me back on my feet any faster. Despite complications, the vacation was good, welcome, and probably needed. One of the most interesting aspects of a good vacation in my book is a change in perspective. And wow, coming back to my normal life feels like down-shifting to a much slower pace. It's a little stunning, really. Saturday night, we managed to gather up 7 guild members and tried the LFR on WoW . It wasn't a great experience. I wa

Was sniffling yesterday and woke up worse this morning. I chalked it up to allergies, given it's about that time of year and reports are the pollen count is way up right now. But with the addition today of mild muscle aching/fatigue and the hot/cold sensations that tend to signify a fever, I'm reconsidering that I may have come home with something more like an actual illness. Ugh. *flops*

Well... good trip overall. Let's see... Saturday: Scrambling to get things together and trying not to stay up too late. Watching weather, I looked at an alternate path. Sunday: Got up and set out by right around 8 am. Daunted by the huge storm moving over Arizona, I decided to take the long way, cutting south through Albuquerque (which I could almost do in my sleep) and taking I-10 west from Las Cruces. Everything was nice until abour Bernalillo, then the dust started kicking up. It got even worse to the south. It was mostly blowing in certain areas, so on and off. I tried to go through Hatch and cut the corner off my trip there, but was turned around and went on to Las Cruces to see a notice there that I-10 West was closed due to lack of visibility. As I stopped to fill up on gas, I overheard a couple truckers talking and exchanged a few words. They expected things to clear up after a few hours when winds die down toward the end of the day. Ironically, they mentioned that I-4

First day at the park. Fun was had. Been a loooong day, though. *kerflump*

New Mexico could really use some more stable topsoil. I'm pretty sure most of the state was airborne today. I'd planned a more direct route, but with a massive storm over most of Arizona, I figured I decided last-minute to take a much wider path to try to avoid the snow and likely road closures in Flagstaff. It's enough to make me wish Real Life (tm) came with a FAQ or guide so I could see the path not taken. I did avoid snow. But instead, I dealt with sand storms (even before reaching the area with permanent "high winds" signs) culminating in an interstate closed due to poor visibility. That ate up close to three hours on a journey that was already taking longer than I'd planned. But I do know there were snow-related closures more nothernly, so... was this better or worse? No telling. I was hoping to end the day closer than Tucson, but it'll have to do. I did get south enough that I should be able to avoid snow tomorrow too, I think, so... more of a

Wrrf. Been a rough week. I'm glad it's winding down. Between support called (and on the relatively quiet Monday and Tuesday), I was able to finish Shadow Ops: Control Point . I'd seen mention of the book on a fantasy novel review site and was just interested enough to try it. There's a lot of neat ideas, taking the magic-in-the-modern-world out of the realm of city politics and smack into the military. And you just know if magic were real (and not somehow super-secret), there would be mages in the armed forces. So it's a different slant from usual. And there's a very X-men vibe to the whole thing with how people who come up with these powers are treated, being expected to register and how some applications/types of these powers are pretty much outright illegal whether the wielder can help it or not. There isn't much discussion as to whether a "legal" Latent can avoid being conscripted, but I suppose that's not where the story lies. What

So being the only tech on duty hasn't been too bad this week (and in fairness, I'll be away next week), but the last 24 hours have been a bitch. Getting called at 11 pm is hassle enough, and having to put in a call to support and see things worked through. Then waking up to a 6 am call about other things entirely not working. And after fixing that remotely and crawling back in, getting called at around 8 about yet another problem to fix remotely. When I was called a bit after 10, I just gave up and decided to come in. While last night was another matter, all the calls today were due to services and such that did not properly restart after automatically-installed Windows updates restarted various machines around 3 am. Whee! Today's been pretty busy, though not truly terrible. Still, I'll be glad when it's over, and happier still when I can completely put aside worry about work and just be on vacation.

While playing the game, I've been pondering a particular aspect that I find interesting. I still can't decide if it's ingenius or simply the result of necessity. Maybe a little of both. One of the big points about the Mass Effect series was the determined effort to insert choices that have consequences. While we're still a long way from having the freedom to influence a video game world in the way that roleplayers can with a GM at the table, the series did a realtively good job. Perhaps the best yet. And while in some cases that means choices about races or factions, seeing exactly how Bioware did this was most apparent (and where it made the most impact for me was) with the main cast. At a gut-reaction level, I've been disappointed that only a few of the squadmates (and romance options for that matter) can carry over all three of the games as such. If I'm counting correctly, only Garrus and Tali are squad-possibilities through all three and they're not

When writing a big story, it's surely a challenge to get things started. But it's even harder to make a "good" ending to a series that's been building up for a while. Even just a trilogy can have a lot of threads and a good ending seeks to tie up loose ends, to provide closure. It can be brutally difficult to live up to expectations. And then there endings that may mean something to someone, but are a big WTF?! to everyone else (see Evangelion). So how'd Bioware do with the Mass Effect trilogy? Eh... ME3's been stated as the final chapter, and it looks it. The beginning sets up the Reaper invasion of Earth, which I had doubts about, but that wasn't as bad as I thought. It's pointed out that the last Reaper harvest took something like 300 years to finally wipe out the Protheans, and the Reapers aren't simply killing everyone, so building up while a resistance force holds out makes a certain amount of sense. Putting most of the galaxy's

Probably the first of a handful of Mass Effect 3-based posts. We'll start with a relatively brief overall review. Gameplay - much like ME2 with lots of talking and cover-based shooter action areas. Heavy weapons only exist as temporary things picked up in the field (a flamethrower in one area and the Cain makes an appearance). There are a few gun turrets to provide a little novelty and some "boss fights" that break up the routine in one way or another. No tank/hovercraft this time around, though. Searching systems for war assets is no better than scanning for resources the last time around - boring at best. I even poked multiplayer a little, and it wasn't bad - though I think our of four matches, we didn't complete one without at least one person dropping out partway through and getting them started is difficult sometimes. There are some difficult choice, but I still enjoyed playing diplomat in the galaxy once again, getting to resolve some of the long-standin

It's interesting to watch the evolution of fiction pushed by reality. These thoughts have bounced around in my head for a couple weeks, more recently brought back to mind by comments on the John Carter movie. I never read the Barsoom novels, but the whole "retro-futurism" concept reminds me the thoughts are more widely applicable than the few examples that have come to mind for me. One is Shadowrun. SR back in the 80's involved fighting your way to nodes so deckers could get in past security and crack open secrets worth stealing. As the internet and wi-fi became more ubiquitous in the real world, however, the Matrix became almost laughable. And, as a result, we have newer editions with more wireless technology. The concepts of decks and hard lines have become archaic. The biggest example that's been in my mind of late has to do with the Dresden Files. That's partly because the magic in the setting is (repeatedly) explained as being based on belief. A cha

Digging the game in general. Combat feels a little more challenging than 2, but not unfun. Weapon mods are kind of neat. Neat to see lots of references to past choices, though I can step back and see the degree of change between them is probably minimal. Best stuff: Character interactions, definitely. Talking with former crew (and watching them bantering with each other in some cases) is so awesome itself I find myself spending more time talking than doing. Worst stuff: Scanning systems for assets is kinda boring. I'm feeling the difference between the way the story seems to want you to play (Quick! Save Earth now!) and the way the game seems to want you to play (Take time to gather assets and make friends so your chance of success at the end is better!) - it's a little jarring.

Yes, I've danced about a general "meh" feeling about my live for years - probably even getting closer to "decades." This is nothing new. I've never been diagnosed with clinical depression, which may more may not be due to my never really allowing such by my general avoidance of doctors. I didn't bring it up at the physical I finally did get partly because I haven't had any major lows in quite a while and partly because I'm a stubborn bastard about it. What's he going to do anyway? I don't feel discussing my life with a therapist (which would be hard enough) would lead to any particular revelations. There might be drugs that would help, but I prefer to avoid reliance on such things. It's a conversation I might have with a doctor someday, but I don't feel the need at present. Suicide is not a solution. Suicide is not an option. There's a promise I made to myself when I was hospitalized that means more to me than any relig

I picked up and started Mass Effect 3 last night, which seems to have led to some strange dreams. The game: I've only just barely gotten to the point of controlling the Normandy after the set prologue levels, as I didn't have it in me to stay up late even to play more. As I worried in the demo, the intro sets a shadow of pacing over everything even though the game sort of seems to want you to explore. There's no particularly justification this time for being able to choose a new look/build for an imported character - function over form. I've already been reunited with several figures from previous installments, which is one of the great charms of the series. I've had several previous exploits referenced and the plot of "Arrival" wasn't shoved down my throat. Most of the repercussions from the past seem to only have subtle effect so far, but the game does definitely make me feel like it remembers what I've done even if the impact isn't obviou

Another slow weekend for MMOs, and no real change on the horizon. Scrounged together enough people to poke the Baradin Hold bosses in WoW with some outside help, but that's really it there. Had some difficulties too - I think we're a long way from our peak, with healers still toward the inexperienced end of things for raiding and some of us (like myself) getting rusty. Badly-timed taunts don't help either. >.> Nothing happened on Guild Wars this weekend, save some discussion. While there are still some achievement-related things I could do I can't really say I care much. Until/unless there's more Guild Wars Beyond content, I feel I've pretty much "finished" the game as much as I care to. This is why GW2 can either soar or flop, as the dynamic event system seems to make it such a group won't plan to do "X" one night a week (though perhaps you could do that with dungeons), but rather form up, wander out, and see what happens . I

I just... rawrg! I am piiissed tonight, and it's probably only partially justified. A new laptop we got this week was booted up the first time to a failure to see its hard drive. Tech support was remarkably helpful in shipping out a replacement drive that got here yesterday, and install DVDs that got here today. Only the model doesn't have a DVD drive. So after hunting down some viable instructions on using a USB thumb drive and ISO files to boot from, I've made the files and I'm relying on this unetbootin program to put them on the USB drive (my personal one as that's all I had) and make it bootable. Only the program's been sitting on one file showing 0%. After about half an hour I tried again. After another hour, I tried getting a different version of the program. Now it's been about two hours on the latest attempt and it's still showing the same thing. Is this doing anything?! Then there's the heavily malware-infected laptop from yesterday