Not dead yet...

Sorry about the severe lack of updates. I've been kind of busy lately. Finding a new job.

I got laid off a couple of days ago, so the blogging has suffered a bit. I'm also going on vacation next week (yeah, I know: I don't have a job. Oh well.) so I probably won't be posting much, if at all, for the next 10 days or so. I should be back in normal posting form after that.

This just in...Battlefield 2 Actually Eats a Human Alive

Um...so...this whole "I'll post stuff about my D&D campaign in a few days" sort of got...derailed. By Battlefield 2. Too much Battlefield 2. It's not that the game is all that terrific (though it is fun), it's all those damn awards, ranks and weapons you can get by playing longer. It's like I'm that rat that keeps hitting the lever for cheese, but I just get shocked instead. Oh well.

I did manage to turn one of my sets of notes into a session report for the first adventure, however. I'll put that up just as soon as I come up with a place to put it so I can link to it.

By the way, if you're interested, you can check out my BF2 stats here.

Guitar Hero (For Realz) and TF2

My beautiful wife is out with her good friend tonight, so I decided to take some me time. Before calling my wife's friend's husband (oh look, that's 3 degrees of Matt Evans!) I went on a search on YouTube for Guitar Hero videos. Just something I've been wanting to check out since I can use all the encouragement I can get with that damn game.

Ahem. Anywho.

While looking for said vids, I came across this. It's a video of a guitar player (OMG!! IRL!!*) who really knows what he's doing. Sorry to burst the bubbles of all of you Guitar Hero II gods who think you have leet skillz, but show me a video of you doing what he does, and you'll really earn my respect.

In other news, Valve has just released another Team Fortress 2 video detailing some of their philosophies behind game design. I have to say that I am really, really, really impressed with this group of developers. They don't just try to throw in the newest 3D technology into their games, they bend the technology to their collective wills to craft something that stands the test of time. I believe that this is what sets them apart from most other development houses. They exert a tremendous amount of thought over seemingly irrelevant environmental nuances within their games and the result is...well, it speaks for itself.

Ya'll have a good night. I'm going to blow crap up.

* OH MY GOD!! IN REAL LIFE!!

RPG Geekyness

Did I mention that I'm a geek? I enjoy geeky things: building computers, Star Trek, board gaming (the real stuff, not the "family night" games). I even have a bumper sticker that proves it (yes, this is really on the back of my truck). One of my outlets for my geekyness is playing role playing games. I'm not talking about the virtual kind, although those are fun too. I'm talking about the kind where you get a bunch of friends together, sit down at a table and play a game.

I'm currently playing as a character in one game and running another as the GM, or "game master" for those of you not familiar with the lingo. While I will probably post about both, this blog is going to be focusing on the latter. At some point over the next couple of days, look for the column to the left to be updated with a bunch of info from the game I'm running. I'll have links to a storyline synopsis, session reports, stats of various defeated opponents and, if I can find a way to do it, character sheets of the players' current stats.

Why didn't this happen sooner?

Left 4 Dead

Hundreds of zombies. Lots of weapons. 4 survivors. 1 way out.

It's such a simple equation. I can't believe it hasn't been done before. How many zombie movies does one have to see before saying "Oh man, I should turn this into a video game!"

I will be getting this the day it comes out. For more info, see the following:

Left4Dead411
Gamespy Preview
Shacknews Preview

The Fallout of Fallout

"War, war never changes..."

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 10 years, you should recognize that as the opening quote from the first 2 Fallout games. Games recognized as 2 of the most innovative, creative and fun games of all times. Nay, games worshiped as the pinnacle of CRPG (that's "Computer Role Playing Game" for the uninitiated) development. Or at least, that's what the franchise's rabid fan base would have you believe.

And unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 6 months, you've undoubtedly heard that Bethesda Softworks, creators of Morrowind and Oblivion, are creating Fallout 3.

...wait...did you hear that? That small snap? Yes, that was the sound of the all too familiar phenomenon in the gaming world known as "intelligent debate". It is a sound not unlike a twig, breaking in the forest...just before the trees uproot themselves and use each other as clubs. It was the sound that was heard on May 2 of this year, when Bethesda opened up their Fallout 3 teaser site to the world.

Now, for those of you who do not destroy your brain cells by browsing internet gaming forums, let me clear something up before I continue. The sarcastic quotes on "intelligent debate" above are there to denote...um...sarcasm. Here is a close rendition of how these conversations go:

Fallout Fanboy (FF): "Wow, they are finally making Fallout 3! This is going to be great. I hope Bethesda can live up to the quality Black Isle Studios put into their original game."
General Gamer (GG): "Sweet! I'm sure Bethesda can do it, just look at Oblivion."
FF: "Um, well that's what I'm kind of worried about. Oblivion had some problems at release, and I really don't want Fallout 3 to be 'Oblivion with Guns'."
GG: "Dude, it's ok, they know what they are doing. Look at the articles. Bethesda said they are fans of the series and are doing everything they can to keep the feel of the original. Geez, lighten up."
FF: "No, I won't lighten up. Black Isle Studios really knew what they were doing. I don't think Bethesda can match the feel of their original games. Don't tell me to lighten up."
GG: "You have no idea what you are talking about. Bethesda is going to make a great game. Just because you can't bring Black Isle back from the dead is no reason to get your panties in a wad over someone else making Fallout 3."
FF: "Listen, (insert 20 page dissertation on why Bethesda can't make Fallout 3, let alone make it well). And for your information, if I'm wearing panties, it's only because they're your mom's."
GG: "Oh yeah? Well (insert 40 page dissertation arguing FF's dissertation line for line, including quotes of EVERY. SINGLE. POINT.) And your dad sleeps with goats."
FF: "ZOMG!!!1111!!one ur moms a whor3e!!!1111"
GG: "STFU!!11111!!eleventyone! My 1337 skillz r0x0rs u!!!!"

Etcetera, ad nauseum. Don't worry if you can't read the last 2 lines. Those are the brain cell killing parts.

Now that my explanation of the general degradation of intelligence in gaming forums is complete, lets move on to the point.

I've often wondered why people get frothy at the mouth when the original developers of a series of games cannot or will not write the next iteration of the franchise. Other examples of this include the Freespace series, any other Black Isle game and Microprose's entire line of 4X games (Master of Magic, Master of Orion, etc). The fans go absolutely crazy when anyone other than the original developer wants to make sequels to these games. The guys and gals over at the HDP (the people who have upgraded and beautifully enhanced Freespace and Freespace 2 beyond believability) have their own saying: "If it isn't [V], it isn't Freespace"; [V] being the logo rendition they use for the developer of that game, Volition. Why this loyalty? This undying need to carry the flame of usually long dead development houses into the future?

Fear.

Loyalty is not the reason I see fans flocking to their respective gaming grails. I really don't think, that deep down, they hold any true altruistic feelings toward the original developers of those games. Don't get me wrong; I think those emotions are there, they just aren't the driving force behind going to arms over their games.

The announcement of Fallout 3 and all the reading I was doing on it triggered a small, happy emotion in my chest. Nostalgia, I guess. I remembered how much I thoroughly enjoyed playing those games. I would stay up hours and hours trying to find every quest, trying to get the best equipment, trying to beat that one last bad guy that I just couldn't overcome. It made me happy. I liked the way that felt.

What if that feeling were jeopardized? What if all the fond gaming memories I had were suddenly being threatened by a developer, other than the original, who wants to make a sequel? In my head, only the original developers obviously know how to get their game "right", so anyone else isn't good enough. I'm suddenly afraid. I may not realize it, I may call it something else (loyalty?), but in the end, it's fear.

Fear about a video game not making me happy like it's predecessors made me happy.

Kind of ridiculous, no?

For all the fanboys reading this right now, do me a favor. The next time you read a post that you don't agree with about that game that you so vehemently love and you find that little area in your chest getting warmer and your eye brows start coming together, remember; that's not anger you're feeling. It's fear. Fear that whatever game you currently feel the need to defend really won't give you that rush you had when you played the ones before it.

So before you respond, before you make your battle cry and try to rally the troops to the defense of what you see is an important part of life, pull your hands away from the keyboard and walk away.

It's just a game.

I finally dove in.

After weeks of prodding by my friend Paul, I have finally started a blog. Yay me.

My initial concerns of what I would write about in a blog were dashed away by the comments on this post on his blog. It got me thinking about what I could write. What would other people really want to hear from me. Then it hit me; if they are reading my blog, they probably want to hear about me. Novel idea, no?

So that's what I'll be writing about. And seeing as how my main interests involve blowing things up virtually, shooting other people in real life, and using my noggin to come up with new and interesting ways to crush my opponents, i decided to name my blog Ordnance. Seemed to fit with the whole aggression thing I'm apparently into. I'll also be writing about other various things about myself, and will be using this space to post about a D&D game I'm running for some friends.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Let the me begin.