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The Paladin appeared in the Rogue Encampment and then he went to the Blood Moor and then he saw a Fallen Demon and then he hit the Fallen Demon and it died and then he hit another one and it died too and then he hit another one and another one, and then he hit the Fallen Shaman a few times and it died, and then he hit a Fallen Demon again and then he hit another another Fallen Demon and then another another another Fallen Demon and when all the demon were dead he picked up three golds and five golds and three more golds which make up eleven golds and then he hit a Quill Beast and then he walked a little bit and then he hit another Quill Beast and it dropped a cracked short sword but he didn’t pick it up because he already had a short sword and the one he had wasn’t cracked so he walked some more and then he hit a Fallen Demon and another one and another one and another one and the last one dropped a minor potion so he picked it up and then he hit the Fallen Shaman who dropped a club and then he picked it up and then he dropped it because clubs are lame and then he found a stamina shrine and then the weight of the world seemed lighter and then he ran a little bit and then he found a Den of Evil and then he entered it and then hit an Undead and it died and then he walked a few feet and then he hit another Undead two times and that one died too and then it dropped four golds and then he picked up the four golds and then he found a Champion Undead and hit it around six or seven times and then it died and it dropped two minor mana potions and one health potion and twenty-three golds and then he leveled up and then added some five stats to whatever and then he allocated one skill point to Thorns Aura because Thorns Aura is cool and then he hit a Gargantuan Beast and then it hit him and then it died because it hit him and then it dropped six golds and then he took six golds and then he hit a Fallen Demon and then it dropped two golds and then he hit another Fallen Demon and then it dropped a crude sash and then he picked up two golds and then he hit a Fallen Shaman and then he hit it again and then it died and then he hit a Fallen Demon and it died and dropped a skull cap and then he picked up the skull cap and equipped it and then he hit a more different Fallen Demon and then it died and the Den of Evil was cleansed and the Paladin used a scroll of town portal went back to the Rogue Encampment and then Akara said thanks and gave him an extra skill point and then now he has two thorns Aura points. The end.

Been playing a little bit of a lot of games lately. Here’s the rundown, in brief:

Diablo II is smashy, smashy, killy, killy fun. My paladin, Ashenden, one-hits everything, except that cold-arrow firing boss in that one cave. It’s the kind of game that so far is ridiculously fun for twenty minute spurts. I suppose I’d get more sucked in, except the damned inventory is so very small and portalling back to town breaks up the action far more than I’d like. Then again, perhaps those trips back to town are good for my soul. Else I’m no better than the monsters, or something.

On the whole though, my other paladin, Ashenden, had a much more eventful weekend on his new server, running Karazhan for the first time. Yes, he’s level 74. Yes, his groupmates were 80s. Yes, he only gained ~4% of his next level. The thing about the raid encounters in World of Warcraft is that they’re the best, most elaborate scripted content in the game. Even stripped of the sense of achievement that comes from doing the content when it’s fresh, it’s worth seeing and experiencing. Also, some bosses are no respecters of level–I’m looking at you Netherspite (but not too hard, don’t take it the wrong way.)

When we weren’t beating on bosses (and running away from infernals), the lovely girlfriend and I spent some time with the fab four. We started late at night on guitar and bass, but after some beauty rest, it was time to break out the mic. Beatles: Rock Band is really a triumph of presentation. The between-set cinematics were great stylized slices of the Beatles’ history and added to the overall wonder that a single band could justify an entire game and such lavish presentation. Every element of the game says “Beatles.” You might not think of the Beatles as having a unique visual style, but they had several, and the visuals that accompany songs from the band’s various periods express that almost distractingly well. The only complaint we had was that it ended, minus a few beloved songs that we can only assume were held back for DLC purposes. But for anyone interested in a Beatles primer, I can’t think of a better way to first experience them.

Speaking of old things made new, the lovely girlfriend got me the Metroid Prime Trilogy for my birthday. I haven’t played much of it, but as an ardent lover of the Wii controls for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, I can say that the Wii control scheme has arrived as good as ever to the original games. I thought the original Gamecube control scheme was rather ingenious when I first played the games–a clever way around the problem of aiming on a console, and of setting the games apart as first person adventures rather than pure shooters–but the Wii control scheme only serves to highlight its deficiencies. Make sure your sensor bar is at a comfortable height so you can rest your arm on your knee when you play, and once you’ve played these versions, you’ll never want to go back. I can’t wait to try Echoes, the only game of the three I never finished. I’m hoping that the breezier control scheme will ease the frustration of navigating the game’s oppressive dark world.

But my new, minor gaming addiction from the weekend is Little King’s Story. A kind-of RTS, the lovely girlfriend says it’s a bit like Pikmin, which I’ve never played, so I’ll just take her word for it. You run around as the titular king, collect townspeople of various jobs to do your bidding, collect treasure, commission buildings, gather lost art, and generally aim for WORLD DOMINATION. Except that your advisers are so hilariously inept, they keep underestimating the size of the world. I’d object to the fact that the first group you attack are little black monsters whose culture has a generic-tribal-African vibe, except I just got a cannon that shoots me around my kingdom for ease of travel and I, uh, still need a few million bol for that shopping center I want to build.

Liebe Freunde,

ich muss Euch auf ein neues tolles Spiel aufmerksam machen. Bei Torchlight handelt es sich um ein Action-RPG im Stile von Diablo, d. h. kämpfen, magische Ausrüstungen und Waffen finden, seine Superattacken hochpowern und weiterkämpfen. Alles was Blizzard so gut an Diablo gemacht hat, ist auch in Torchlight enthalten. Das Spiel birgt ein gewisses Suchtpotential also Vorsicht . Einen ersten Eindruck könnt Ihr im folgenden Video gewinnen.

Das wohl einzige richtige Manko ist der fehlende Multiplayer. Je nach Erfolg von Torchlight soll in 15-18 Monaten ein kostenloses MMO entwickelt werden, wo man mit seinen besten Freunden Quests lösen kann. Aber an dem Problem arbeiten jetzt schon findige Modder:

Bereits jetzt gibt es eine Vielzahl von Mods und das bevor der offizielle Editor erschienen ist. So etwas ist immer ein gutes Zeichen für die Langlebigkeit eines Spiels. Außerdem ist innerhalb von 2 Wochen der erste Patch erschienen. Ich kann wirklich nur bestätigen das Torchlight ein klasse Spiel ist, habe es mir direkt zum Release gekauft. Der Kaufpreis ist geradezu lächerlich. Wer direkt über die Entwicklerseite kauft, zahlt umgerechnet gerade mal 14 Euro. Über die bekannten Plattformen wie Steam, ist natürlich das Spiel auch erhältlich.

I figure it is better late than never.  This will be the start of a few posts about the games that we have been playing lately.  Here they are in no particular order:

WoW – I quit…again…we shall talk about it.

Champions Online – Tried the beta

Aion – Epic, will discuss

HoN (Heroes of Newerth) – Good stuff, basically DoTA++

CS: Source – Been getting back into it, still fun

L4D & L4D2 – Much to discuss

Borderlands – Just bought it, initial impressions

Modern Warfare 2 – Have not purchases, still in debate, we will discuss why

Diablo 2 – You read that right.

Call of Juarez – 5 bucks on D2D, initial impressions

Chronicles of Riddick (Both) – Initial Impressions, another 5 bucks on D2D

As you can see, I have been keeping myself busy during my gaming time.  I will do my best to get these posts done within the week. But, considering my track record…God knows when that will actually be.

‘Til next…

Strief

Torchlight is over last night but there still some more additional content to explore. This post gonna be quite a spoiler so just click away is you don’t want to spoil your game.

Torchlight ends at level 35 where you fight the last boss which is Odrak. Quite tough boss. Bummer though, it is not much challenging. Odrak is a huge monster, a dragon, and he summoning bunch of dragonkins. The dragonkin is the only part where it get hard cause I could died is they spray fire in group. Other than that, Odrak is nothing. Just click and slash him and keep your health and mana steady, than it is just a matter of time when he’s dead.

Compared to Diablo act boss, Andariel, Duriel, Mephisto, Diablo and Baal. All of them are quite tough to remember. Worst if you don’t have resistance to their attack type like poison for Andariel, cold for Duriel, lightning for Mephisto, fire for Diablo and.. I can’t remember Baal attack type;p

Well Odrak should thank me. At least I remember his name.

After killing Odrak, that means completing the main quest. Sylr comes to the dungeon telling about our killing and victory. She tell Odrak soul still dwell in the mine vein. So we can still explore level beneath the mountain. That mean to continue the play grinding for item and exp.

There is still other end option other than to keep playing. At the shared stash a new NPC appear. She said that we can keep playing or we can choose one item to give to a new character and play again. At the moment, I still not trying this.

There is also some more side quests like The Quest for Glory and Through the Portal quests. I’m not sure though whether this quest will be infinite or not.

Other than quest at the town, there are new two quest at the graveyard. Two NPC appear that are not there before. Both of them give a quest in a new dungeon of the crypt there. I’m not trying this yet.

So, thats Torchlight. Quite refreshing and not much of bummer. Overall it is quite good. Character is powerful and that’s make the game too easy. Maybe should try at least hard difficulty. Level area size is not much big. All is ok for me since I only want to finish it quickly.

If I should compare Torchlight to Diablo, it is Diablo 1 that’s the closest. Torchlight is not anywhere near Diablo 2, forget Diablo 3. Torchlight is just too small of ARPG. For the small price, it is not too bad. Diablo 1 have 16 levels and Torchlight have 35 level. But the fast gameplay make it just smaller than Diablo 1. In Diablo 1, I need to play it slower because, in Diablo 1, I usually cannot just face a lot of monsters at a time. That’s could mean instant. Usually most of us use the door tactic to make monster come one by one.

In Torchlight, my destroyer could just slash through the monster using ultimate skill in Might tree, the Devastate. With crit almost 5k, each monster only need 1 hit. That’s why it is so easy. I can even count the total time I died. And that not even because of monster strengh, but because I was careless.

Diablo 1 seems longer than Torchlight. That’s some memories.

Although I knew it is Matt Uelman that composing all the Torchlight sound and music, it’s bg music is too much like Diablo 1 or 2. You could say there’s Tristram living there. Well, at least that’s could, if not cure, lessen our diablo 3’s craving.

All is good. Good job and much gratitude to Runic for Torchlight. I hope Crate could make a decent game since they use the Titan Quest engine. And what’s the deal about Dungeon Siege 3 under development? Hey Chris, it has been over a year already and there’s still no news or hype about DS3? That’s killing your fans hope. At least release some screenshot

See ya later!

ps: Some Torchlight cook recipe here: Torchlight Transmutation Recipies

Nice of you to visit, my RPG player. As I’m sure you probably already know, tons of developing video games are ready to be released not too long from now.

While the majority of online gamers are MMORPG gamers, FPS and real time strategy gamers still take a substantial part of the gaming world. It just so happens that nearly all die hard gamers (the ones forgetting work or class to game until 4am everyday) are infatuated to RPGs; namely WoW. Some RPG players believe that playing RPGs are most worthwhile, since high levels and rare items are easier to identify than first person shooter and strategy skill. Despite this, there still are loads of shooter and strategy online game addicted gamers around. For example, the devout Starcraft and old school Counter Strike gamers. Both groups play a game that very likely older than their youngest relative.

Exactly why it is important to acknowledge these trends of PC gamers, is that this new period of computer games has quite a selection designed for these hardcore gamers. SC 2 will certaintly generate the most significant impact, because the advantage of being the follow up of the greatest computer game ever created. Even a complete country is anticipating SC 2, seeing as how Brood War is practically the biggest game in Korea, who boast the amazingly popular PC gaming league, KeSPA (Korean e-Sport Association). Diablo 3 is one more upcoming highly anticipated Blizzard game, as it is the the follow up to the hugely popular game, Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the opening title of the Diablo legacy, and lead the way for dungeon crawling, hack and slash games following. Reproducing Diablo I’s original formula is a challenging objective that most copy cats have failed to reproduce. Luckily, maybe regrettably for playeres, role playing games have changed their interest away from perfecting the hack and slash genre and in the direction of the slow paced MMORPG design of World of Warcraft.

If you set up a historical index (yes, time is a significant role in this analysis) of the most flourishing PC games ever created, you would notice that Blizzard has been the leading company of the PC gaming industry, to the sense of being a monopoly. Through the first generation of online games, Starcraft I set the benchmark for Strategy games, and really all PC games in general. Then appeared Diablo 2, which gripped a whole new category of gamers, making previous MMORPGs look obsolete. In this generation, no game makes nearly the sum of income WoW’s 3+ million players produce. Up and coming MMORPGs view WoW as the game to top. It is practically anticipated that every new MMORPG executive questioned is asked, “Tell us, in what way your game top World of Warcraft?” Regardless, I think it is universally agreed upon that World of Warcraft ought to fall from its perch shortly from now, and give some opportunity for the next era of online RPGs. But if the tenacity of earlier Blizzard games act as a guide, you shouldn’t wait patiently for the death of WoW.

Yes, while Diablo 3 and Starcraft II have a huge advantage over less recognized games, there are still some new games that serve a reasonable oppnonent. Hype and being backed by a absurdly powerful company doesn’t always result in the recipe for a winner, a perfect example being AoC (Age of Conan). Guild Wars II is the sequel to the game that was originally glorified to be the WoW killer, which for a while seemed quite realistic. Star Wars: the Old Republic is another anticipated game backed by a large number of enthusiasts, but of different kinds. Earth Rise is one more title that is seldom recognized but may end up being a winner. May we witness another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we view a World of Warcraft-esque revolution in MMORG gaming? Only time will tell; but I have my money on SC II.

]]> http://finalfantasy14wallpaper.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/an-analysis-of-this-fresh-era-of-online-gaming/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:47:18 +0000 lonniemcgowan1979 http://finalfantasy14wallpaper.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/an-analysis-of-this-fresh-era-of-online-gaming/

Hello there, young video game fan. I’m sure you probably already knew, a huge wave upcoming PC games are to be released in the near future.

Even though more than half of gamers are RPG players, FPS and strategy gamers still are a noteable part of the online world. Nevertheless,Nonetheless, nearly all die hard gamers (the gamers escaping class and work to play until 2am everyday) are fanatical to RPGs like World of Warcraft. Some MMORPG players believe that playing RPGs are most worthwhile, since rare items and high levels are easier to recognize than aiming and RTS management skill. Even so, there still are plenty of FPS and strategy hardcore gamers all over. For example, the hardcore Starcraft and hardcore Counter Strike gamers. They both play a game that is most likely older than their youngest brother.

Why exactly it is curcial to acknowledge these facts of PC gamers, is that this new age of PC games has quite a selection aimed at these old school gaming addicts. SC 2 will undoubtedly generate the largest impression, thanks to the advantage of being the follow up to the most successful online game ever created. Even a country is waiting for SC 2, seeing that Starcraft:Broodwar is nearly the most popular game of Korea, which feature the staggeringly big gaming organization, called KeSPA. Diablo 3 is one more new hyped up Blizzard title, thanks to being the follow up to a mega hit game, Diablo 2. Diablo I was the opening title of the Diablo franchise, and guided the way for hack and slash games following. Reproducing Diablo’s original recipe is a tricky goal that most imitations have failed to accomplish. Fortunately, maybe unfortunately for fans, role playing games have moved their focus away from developing the hack and slash genre towards the slow paced RPG style of World of Warcraft.

If I were make a chronological graph (yes, time plays a considerable part in this examination) of the most flourishing computer games ever made, one could observe Blizzard has been the leading figure of the industry, to the point of almost being a monopoly. Through the first period of PC games, Starcraft 1 set the standard for Strategy games, and ultimately all online games in general. Then came Diablo 2, which mesmerized a whole new collection of online RPG gamers, making previous online RPGS look like child’s play. Now, no PC game comes close the sum of revenue World of Warcraft’s 3 plus million players create. Debuting MMORPGs regard WoW as the game to out do. It is practically inevitable that all new online RPG representative interviewed is asked, “Tell us, how does your MMORPG compare to WoW?” Regardless, I think it is often agreed that WoW ought to die out in the near future, and leave some room for the next era of MMORPGs. Yet if the persistence of prior Blizzard games acts as a guide, don’t keep your fingers crossed for the fall of world of warcraft.

Yes, even if D3 and Starcraft 2 have an advantage over lesser recognized titles, there are still a few upcomers that act as a visible threat. Hype and support by a incredibly powerful company does not always equal the guidelines for a winner, take a look at AoC (Age of Conan). Guild Wars II is the sequel to the MMORPG that was formerly hyped to be the World of Warcraft slayer, which for a time was quite plausible. SWTOR (Star Wars: the Old Republic) is yet another anticipated online RPG supported by a significant amount of enthusiasts, but of different kinds. Earth Rise is another title that is little recognized but could possibly become a winner. May we witness another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we behold a WoW-esque transformation in online gaming? Only time will tell; but I have my money on Starcraft 2.

]]> http://diablo331.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/a-view-of-this-modern-era-of-gaming/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:32:10 +0000 jasonmiddleton1974 http://diablo331.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/a-view-of-this-modern-era-of-gaming/

Hello there, young video game fanatic. Though you probably already know, many, many upcoming online games are to be released in the near future.

While a large amount of online players are MMORPG gamers, the FPS and real time strategy players still play a major slice of the industry. However, the majority of die hard gamers (the individuals avoiding class/work to play until 2:30am everyday) are captivated to online RPGs like World of Warcraft. Some MMORPG players claim that playing MMORPGs are most worthwhile, since powerful characters are easier to show off than aiming and strategy talent. That being said, there are still tons of first person shooter and strategy addicted gamers around. Some that come to into mind are the hardcore Starcraft and devout Counter Strike players. Both play a game that is most likely older than their youngest sister.

Why exactly it is important to recognize these trends of online gamers, is that this new era of PC games has quite a variety targeted at these old school gamers. SC 2 will very likely create the most significant effect, because the honor of being the sequel of the greatest PC game ever created. Even a complete country is eagerly anticipating SC II, given that SC:BW (Brood War) is virtually the major sport of Korea, which own the surprisingly intricate gaming association, called KeSPA (Korean e-Sport Association). Diablo 3 is an additional upcoming Blizzard title that is highly anticipated, as it is the the follow up to a widely popular game, named Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the original game of the Diablo franchise, and paved the way for hack and slash type games. Replicating Diablo I’s original recipe is an ambitious objective that most imitations have failed to reproduce. Fortunately, maybe regrettably for playeres, role playing games have moved their attention away from refining the dungeon crawling to the slower paced online RPG style of World of Warcraft.

If one were to set up a historical index (yes, time has a significant role in this analysis) of the most popular PC games ever created, you would observe that Blizzard has almost always been the most successful entity of the PC gaming industry, to the point of almost being a monopoly. Within the first period of complex computer games, Starcraft I set the bar for real time strategy gaming, and pretty much all PC games in general. Then came Diablo 2, which enchanted a whole new audience of RPG gamers, making previous MMORPGs look obsolete. In the present, no PC game makes nearly the sum of income WoW’s 3 plus million players generate. Debuting MMORPGs view WoW as the game to top. It is almost unavoidable that every new online RPG executive questioned is asked, “Tell us, in what way this online RPG improve over World of Warcraft?” Regardless, it is pretty much agreed upon that WoW needs to die out shortly from now, and give some breathing room for the next generation of MMORPGs. On the other hand if the stubbornness of past Blizzard games serves as any indicator, you shouldn’t keep your fingers crossed for the death of WoW.

Yes, while Diablo III and SC 2 have a huge advantage over less recognized titles, there are still some upcomers that serve a reasonable threat. Hype and support by a incredibly powerful company doesn’t always equal the guidelines for success, a perfect example being Age of Conan. Guild Wars II is the follow up to the online RPG that was initially worshiped to be the WoW destroyer, which for a while was quite plausible. SWTOR (Star Wars: the Old Republic) is yet another hyped up game supported by an immense number of enthusiasts, but of different kinds. Earth Rise is yet another game that is scarcely known but may end up being a winner. Will we behold another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we view a World of Warcraft-esque uprising in PC gaming? Only time will tell; but Ifor one have my bet on SC II.

]]> http://sigonasr2.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/ubuntu-and-linux-beat-windows-to-death/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:02:51 +0000 sigonasr2 http://sigonasr2.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/ubuntu-and-linux-beat-windows-to-death/

I couldn’t think of a more nicer title for this post, so basically you know what this is about. Me bashing Windows and praising Ubuntu.

What is my case you may ask?

It all started on Saturday when I was thinking about how I could use Ubuntu to my advantage and I remembered a long time ago (I believe 2 or 3 years ago?) I tried it once but after a few weeks I switched back. I was reading some of my old blog posts and came upon my Linux tips. Then I started thinking you know, Linux is actually amazing. So I got out my Ubuntu 9.04 disk and installed the system onto my computer. Now, I still had my Windows XP installation with the GRUB bootloader when I came across a problem. I put Ubuntu on the Largest Continuous Free Space on my hard drive, which was 2.4 GB…Just enough for an install of Ubuntu. I realized this when I tried to install the updates and it said I had 216 MB of hard disk space left, not enough to update. Then I knew I was in trouble. What could I do? I thought. I got gparted and tried to edit the partition when I came across, heh funny thing, a triangle icon with an exclamation point inside of it. This meant it couldn’t be resized and had to be formatted. Great, so now what? I tried to get it checked with CHKDISK (I believe that’s the program, too bad if I’m wrong!) and when it finished the exclamation point went away in gparted. So I thought yes! I can change it now, right? Wrong. It just gave me an error message and eventually leading me to just deleting the partition.

So now I put Ubuntu on with 80GB, and the other 50GB goes to Windows XP. So now that that was out of the way there was another problem. GRUB disappeared! Huh? I installed Ubuntu first and then Windows XP. So then I thought about trying to be smart. Maybe I can edit the Windows bootloader! So I go in there, set it so that it boots to partition 1, remove the ugly windows stuff, and try it and…..FAIL. So now what….? It failed. I brought out my Ubuntu Live CD, popped it in, and accessed my ext3 filesystem drive with ubuntu. Hooray! I have access to it! I looked up how to get GRUB installed using Linux Live CD. Since it came with the wireless driver, no worries about having to deal with that. So I reinstalled GRUB by itself, I changed the GRUB Bootloader file and tada! I had a working bootloader again that was GRUB and booted into Linux and Windows XP. After that I simply said, Screw Windows! You can’t do anything Linux can do!

And that is so true. Think about it…. Linux can do anything Windows can do, but Windows can’t do everything Linux can do? Eh…Maybe Microsoft should learn something from this. So guess what Microsoft? I’m a Ubuntu freak now! For real though.

So why is this time different? Well you see, I finally realized how much more I can do with Linux than with Windows. I am still able to do my daily things, I am still able to play my games I like, and I get to do all this in lovely Linux. Who cares if I have lost some of the high-awesome graphics games? I don’t play games all my life, sheesh. I like to make practical use of my life. So what did I do once Linux got installed? (Jeeze, lots of questions today, right?)

I started putting stuff on there, I backed up about 3GB of my stuff I needed to keep, installed Diablo 2 and Diablo 2 MedianXL on there, and they work perfectly fine with Wine. Then I tried Game Maker, and boy was that fun to deal with. You see, I’ve been using Game Maker for about 5 years now, and if I didn’t have this, as you know with the Z-Gamers V.3 website, I would be saddened alot because I wouldn’t be able to use Linux all the time now. But guess what? I got it working under Virtualbox Windows XP installation! Awesomeness! There are three catches to it, but they are minor:
1) I have to import a mouse cursor so that I know where the real position is if it is offset.
2) There are no sounds. But that’s not hard to add in because you just play them….And that’s it! I could go on XP for 2 seconds if I needed to verify if it worked or not.
3)Games must not be 3D and must be tested in fullscreen. No 3D may be a big deal, but here’s my plan for FF3D. Most of the stuff I have to develop is through code. I develop all my code, just run it on Linux to make sure no errors occur, and LATER deal with the 3D coding if there are problems. I think I am so fluent in GML coding and trust my abilities with it that I will not need to test every little aspect of it to know it is working. In fact, I found out you can test stuff in 2D mode, and then just activate 3D mode with the models and 3D drawing once you get on Windows XP. And fullscreen? No big deal, just aligns stuff. Again, number 1 with the mouse cursor makes sure it is not off center.

So what else do I love about Ubuntu? I can access my server directly from the OS….awesome.
I can install packages right on the fly and have new programs….Awesome.
Starting to learn Java Object-Oriented Programming….Awesome also.
Improving my Bash programming skills….Awesome.
Learning new things about Ubuntu everyday….Great!
Able to do alot more than with Windows and still do everything I did with Windows…EPIC.

I have to say….I just LOVE Ubuntu now. I just can’t stop now…I haven’t logged on XP since that epic failure described above…I do not wish to go back unless I have a super problem, which is fixable with Linux of course and not Windows . I guess that is about it.

Continue to support us on http://z-gamers.net! Read my previous blog post for more info on donating to our server!

Greetings, young gaming master. Like you probably already knew, a huge wave developing online games are ready to be released in 2010.

While a large amount of gamers are MMORPG players, first person shooter and RTS gamers still take a hefty part of the online world. But the majority of extreme gamers (the players forgetting work or class to play late into 4:30am everyday) are obsessed to MMORPGs; mainly World of Warcraft. Some RPG players believe that playing MMORPGs are most worthwhile, since rare items and high levels are easier to show to others than aiming and RTS management skill. Even so, there are still loads of first person shooter and strategy online game addicted gamers out there. Some that come to into mind are the hardcore Starcraft and hardcore Counter-Strike players. Both play a game that probably older than their youngest brother.

Why it is curcial to acknowledge these trends of PC gamers, is that this new age of PC games has quite a collection designed for these old school players. SC 2 will very likely create the most noteworthy splash in the pool, having the privilege of being the follow up of the most successful computer game ever created. Even a whole nation is in anticipating of SC II, as Starcraft is basically the most popular sport of Korea, who possess the marvelously big Starcraft association, named KeSPA (Korean e-Sport Association). Diablo 3 is another new highly anticipated Blizzard game, due to being the sequel to a widely popular game, called Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the original game of the Diablo series, and paved the way for hack and slash type games. Improving Diablo’s perfect recipe is a big goal that most imitations have failed to reproduce. Luckily, maybe unluckily for fans, role playing games have changed their time away from refining the dungeon crawling and in the direction of the much slower paced RPG design of WoW.

If I were set up a historical chart (time is a major role in this examination) of the most successful PC games ever created, you could see Blizzard has almost always been the most controlling figure of the gaming industry, to the sense of being a complete domination. During the first period of online games, Starcraft I set the bar for Strategy gaming, and pretty much all PC games in general. Then appeared Diablo II, which captivated a whole new category of gamers, making previous online RPGS look like child’s play. In the present, no PC game makes nearly the sum of revenue World of Warcraft’s 3 plus million gamers produce. New MMORPGs look at WoW as the game to beat. It is almost unavoidable that every new online RPG representative questioned is asked, “So, in what way this MMORPG outdo WoW?” Regardless, I think it is often agreed that WoW must die out in the near future, and give some opportunity for the next generation of online RPGs. On the other hand if the persistence of prior Blizzard games serve as a guide, I wouldn’t hold your breath for the fall of world of warcraft.

Yes, despite the fact that Diablo III and Starcraft II have a lead over less recognized titles, there are still a few new titles that act as a visible threat. Hype and support by a ridiculously powerful company is not always the recipe for success, a perfect example being Age of Conan. Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to the online RPG that was formerly worshiped to be the World of Warcraft destroyer, which for a time was quite believable. Star Wars: the Old Republic is yet another anticipated MMORPG supported by a substancial number of fans, but of varying kinds. Earth Rise is another game that is seldom recognized but may become a winner. Will we see another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we observe a World of Warcraft-esque transformation in online RPG gaming? Only time will tell; but I have my wager on SC II.

]]> http://zumodecaos.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/diablo-3/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:43:06 +0000 britman http://zumodecaos.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/diablo-3/

Bien, como fan de la saga estoy tan emocionado como el que mas por el lanzamiento, que los rumores sitúan a finales de este año, porque para el año que viene blizzard anunció que los juegos que va a sacar son el Starcraft 2 y la 3ª expansión del Wow: Cataclismo, así que si no es 2009 tendría que ser 2011 y no creo, vamos eso espero, me jodería un huevo.

Hasta ahora la saga ha sido perfecta, legendaria, digna de recordar en la vida de todo jugador.

El Diablo 2 es al que mas jugué y el que mas disfrute personalmente, este juego batió un récord al vender un millón de copias en las primeras dos semanas en el año 2000, y en el 2001 se convirtió en la sensación del momento en multijugadores online, lo que lo hace glorioso es que aun sigue siendo muy jugado en internet.

El 1ª es menos llamativo aunque que tiene un encanto old school innegable.

Y el 3, la pinta que tiene es buena, con más peso de la historia del mundo y sobretodo muchas cosas bonitas que hacer, aplastar gente con muros, desmembramientos, etc.

Así que espero que cuanto antes podamos jugar a este jugo, no pediré que sea tan difícil como el Livealive, pero bueno, que haya que sudar un poco por favor, aun recuerdo la cantidad de veces que palmé matando el consejo zakarum en infierno, o los bárbaros del monte arreat que son unos hijos de puta muy jodidos, sobretodo el de los torbellinos.
Después del Baldurs Gate 2 es el juego que más ganas tengo de reinstalar.

Nu am mai jucat de foarte mult timp nici un joc pe calculator, pentru ca nu am mai avut nici timp si recunosc nici foarte mult chef. Azi insa cineva a reusit sa “imi faca pofta” de celebrul hack & slash de la Blizzard. Asa ca am purces la o instalare si am ajuns sa-mi petrec toata dupa amiaza omorand monstrii si am reusit sa termin primul capitol al jocului. Cu ce ma joc? Cu o asasina dezvoltata pe fire traps, cu care am reusit sa gasesc foarte multe itemuri gold. Si inca nu m-am plictisit…as mai fi jucat inca pe atat, jocul asta e ca un microb si nu te mai lasa pana nu pierzi zile intregi sa-l termini pe normal si apoi pe hell.
Am jucat aproape cu toate carcaterle (barbarul nu mi-a placut asa ca am zis pas, iar vrajitoarea mi s-a parut foarte slaba) si am terminat cele 3 nivele : normal, hell, nightmare. Si m-am lasat, ultima oara cred ca am mai jucat Diablo acum vreo 2 ani daca imi aduc bine aminte.

Mi-aduc aminte si acum cate zile si nopti am pierdut ca sa-l termin, cu sound-ul inchis si muzica buna pe fundal (pana si acuma am melodii pe care daca le aud imi aduc aminte de perioada Diablo). Ma ridicam de la calculator doar ca sa mananc si sa beau ceva (can nu le aveam langa mine pe birou) si ca sa mai trec prin baie. In rest omoram monstrii si exploram hartile colt cu colt.
As zice ca toti care nu suntem straini de un calculator am trecut printr-o perioada asemanatoare si ne-am jucat pana dimineata ca sa terminam un level sau sa omoram un mob.
Aceasi nebunie am avut-o pana acum cateva luni cu World of Warcraft…dar asta e deja doar un detaliu

Tu ce jocuri te-ai jucat ? Sau, chiar ce jocuri mai joci acuma? Ai mai juca Diablo din nou, daca l-ai jucat macar o data?

Welcome, young online gaming lover. Though you most likely already knew, many, many developing computer games will be debuting in the upcoming year.

Despite that the majority of PC gamers are RPG gamers, shooter and real time strategy gamers still are a large share of the online world. It just so happens that most hardcore gamers (the gamers missing class/work to game past 3am everyday) are infatuated to online RPGs; namely World of Warcraft. Some WoW players believe that playing RPGs are more worthwhile, since powerful characters are easier to show to others than FPS shooting and strategy talent. With that being said, there are still loads of FPS and strategy online game obsessed gamers around. For example, the diligent Starcraft and diligent Counter Strike players. Both gamers play a game that very likely older than their youngest relative.

Now why it is important to acknowledge these trends of PC gamers, is that this new era of computer games has quite a variety meant for these old school players. SC 2 will most likely produce the most significant impression, owning the privilege of being the next game to the best online game ever created. Hell, an entire nation is eargerly awaiting SC 2, given that the original Starcraft is practically the major sport of Korea, which feature the marvelously large SC league, called KeSPA. Diablo 3 is yet another upcoming hyped up Blizzard title, and is also the successor to a widely successful game, Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the opening game of the Diablo series, and lead the way for hack and slash games following. Improving Diablo’s perfect formula is an ambitious objective that many replicas have failed to do. Fortunately, maybe unluckily for some gamers, RPGs have changed their time away from improving the dungeon crawling and in the direction of the slower paced RPG style of World of Warcraft.

If you set up a time list (time has a major role in this examination) of the most successful online games ever made, you would notice that Blizzard has been the ruling entity of the PC gaming industry, to the sense of being a monopoly. Within the first period of PC games, Starcraft set the benchmark for RTS gaming, and really all computer games in general. Then came Diablo 2, which captivated a whole new collection of RPG gamers, making previous MMORPGs look pathetic. Currently, no PC game comes close the amount of cash WoW’s 3 plus million gamers produce. Freshly made MMORPGs view World of Warcraft as the game to top. It is practically inevitable that every new online RPG director interviewed is asked, “Tell us, how does your MMORPG improve over World of Warcraft?” Regardless, I think it is commonly agreed that World of Warcraft must fall down soon, and allow some room for the next generation of MMORPGs. Though if the life span of previous Blizzard games serve as a guide, you shouldn’t keep your fingers crossed for the death of WoW.

Yes, although Diablo III and SC 2 have an advantage over lesser recognized titles, there are still various new titles that are a reasonable threat. Hype and development by a extremely strong company is not always the formula for a winner, as shown by Age of Conan. Guild Wars II is the follow up to the game that was formerly hyped to be the World of Warcraft slayer, which for a time seemed quite plausible. Star Wars: the Old Republic is another hyped up MMORPG supported by a large amount of fans, but of different types. Earth Rise is yet another title that is seldom known but may end up being a winner. May we observe another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we behold a WoW-esque transformation in online gaming? Only time will tell; but I have my wager on Starcraft 2.

]]> http://sigonasr2.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/z-gamers-v-3-fundraising/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:53:07 +0000 sigonasr2 http://sigonasr2.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/z-gamers-v-3-fundraising/

Let me start off this post by saying that Z-Gamers Version 3 is very epic. It has a very nice design, with a very nice layout, and all the pages are consistent and very nice-looking.

But there is an even more important task at hand than that. Michael Raines, the owner of the server has given me a task to attempt to raise $500 for a new server box. $500 is ALOT of money! I mean seriously, I don’t even think I can do it, but I need people to start donating! Even $5 or even $1 from various people will help contribute! And it’s not for a scam either, we really need a new server box before the hard drive fails and things start breaking down. The server will also run faster than it is currently running and thus will make pages come up faster and make my visitors and I very happy. Where can I donate and help? Go to http://z-gamers.net or http://www.chipin.com/contribute/id/72ec841e5b2f9b4c for direct pay to me. Just type in the value, fill out card/Bank info (Don’t worry, paypal is secure) and the money will not be used for anything other than what I told you above. Michael Raines will make sure of that. In addition, I hope somebody out there is nice enough to help out because frankly, we are small and don’t get much help but we are trying to go on with what we can.

Seriously, please think about donating for Z-Gamers, we really need help with the server and this is the only way…

(9:04:31 PM) sigonasr2: If I ever get money, I’ll be sure to donate it to the cause also lol
(9:04:40 PM) mikeyr71730: Yeah. I hate asking for money, but I have to do it this time before the system goes down.
(Later on in life…)
(6:00:26 PM) mikeyr71730: I’d hate for the server to go offline for good.

So After you donate or at least think about donating, click the more button to find out what I have been up to, because it’s a lot.

So Z-Gamers V.3….If you still haven’t visited the site, go to http://z-gamers.net NOW! Just kidding, no pressure, no worries. Just check it out, it’s really well laid out and planned. So what’s all the hype?

The site layout is now totally awesome looking!
All pages have a consistent look and feel and we don’t have any weird colors on the site anymore!
All games pages include game-related features you’d come to expect from an online games page including ratings, comments, and download counters. They also come with huge download buttons so you’re even closer to clicking that button and you’ll never miss the word “Download”.

So check it out, enjoy the epicness, join the forums if you want they are neat and will be very active for the next years to come. Which brings me to my next point! Future games!

So this year and next year, we planned out ALL our games that we will be making including what we will do until the end of this year and next year. So here’s the huge list, and yes we are planning to make a lot of games!

(Quoted from the forum posts)

My Planned Games:

2009

1 – Virus Attack. Almost complete, just need to make the story levels. (Planning 12 missions with 2 uber missions) – 1~2 Weeks

2 – Fighter’s Field 3D. Where the real work starts. Planning to spend 2~4 weeks at the most on this.

3 – Super Z-Fantasy. Definitely will be an interesting game, but hard work involved – 4~8 weeks on this.

[If Time Permits]4 – MegaLoManium. A platformer game that will be a classic with interesting storylines, goals, and achievements. Will be completed in 2010 if not completed in 2009 – 4~6 weeks

2010
1 – Z-Tower Defense. Have some features to create. (Custom towers, Sandbox Mode, Unlockable Difficulties). Create World 4 Towers and World 4 Levels (Extra Long) – 1~3 weeks.

2 – The Elementalists. A game that will mostly be an RPG fighter game with 3D graphics in third person view – 6~10 weeks

3 – The Weirdest RPG Ever 3D. Will Include Massive Storylines with 50~60 hours of gameplay, expected to be really large – 12~20 weeks

4 – Super Faceball 2010. An attempt to bring back an old classic game from the SNES. Goal is to create 80 levels of gameplay with online multiplayer battles and co-op mode – 6~12 weeks

[If Time Permits]5 – MegaLoManium. A platformer game that will be a classic with interesting storylines, goals, and achievements. – 4~6 weeks

———————————
Of course, there could be side minigames and other such things that come into play sometimes, but this is my main schedule for 2009~2010.

Robert Harper’s Planned Games:

2009

Tank Warriors – Hopefully my first release due by December 8th

2010

Crimson Star- February 8th

Code-X – (My Star game. The remake of my first game on Z-Gamers) My Birthday – March 15th

GMC(Game Maker Creatures) – May 8th (Read About in forums on Oct 19 or 20 for info)

Symbolers – July 8th

Z_Gamer Bash- (Look in forum soon for details) Oct 2nd(Look Familiar)

Switch’es – August 8th

The Last Letter – November 8th (Probably sooner, it’s a small game)

Hacker-X – December 31 Happy New Year

James Johnston’s Planned Games

Buttonhero 3? – I haven’t even started an engine on it, don’t be so sure i will get it done. If i do start it, i will be finished by 2011. Since there will be an music matching system towards it. (8 weeks~1 year)

Mutant – Based off PERK ENGINE, you will be able to morph into creatures and destroy the cities. This game will be Just for fun and maybe some missions will be added. It should be a free-roam game with unlockables. (8 weeks~1 year)

Perk playground: unlimited – Hang out with friends, kill zombies, build cities, build weapons, duel, co-op duel, and more online. Designed using perk engine (6 weeks~18 weeks)

Shotghun – A basic zombie Apocalypse game where, you can upgrade your shotgun and grenade. Basic game. With some cool features. (4 weeks~12 weeks)

Zombie Joe – Another zombie game. You have a jetpack and 10 fantastic weapons with hundred levels, and bosses. Can you handle it? (2 weeks~6 weeks)

Bawl maze 2 – With a new level editor and new levels. This new bawl maze takes you too adventures unknown, explore and get correct time your you’ll fall flat! Plus there will be multiple platforms for you too jump upon! (6 weeks~18 weeks)

No-fear FPS creator – Create an FPS game of your dreams, with your own levels and our own weapons. (Includes weapon creator and level designer) You are able to take an fps game to heights unknown. (10 weeks~16weeks)

And that is all the game releases for 2009~2010. Pretty large I suppose, we will be having fun with some of these large projects.

What else has been going on with me? Still lots of driving. Fun indeed.

Band has been interesting this year. Buena has been doing Themes from Scheherazade (Yeah that is hard to spell correctly) and they are real interesting. I guess the best part of our arrangements are that every 15 seconds, something new is going on, and everything stays exciting and interesting. Our first competition was at the University of Arizona which we got an “Excellent” in. I think we did really well for our first competition this year. The Freshman got to experience that excitement and amazing-ness of a competition and I was ready. We went up to the last day to practice and perform this darn thing, we were rushing but we ended pulling through, good job Marching Colts! In addition, we performed at CDO last weekend , Canyon Del Oro High School I believe, and we got an Excellent which I believe was the highest rating there. So awesome. We thought we didn’t get superior again when there wasn’t a superior! Go Buena Marching Colts! We’re doing awesome this year, and the music and marching is so difficult compared to my marching as a Freshman, so great job to everyone.

Still playing Diablo 2 MedianXL with a Lv64 Sorceress and a Lv40 Amazon now. Some other minor characters that are low leveled also. It is still fun, but now I’m busy since I’m on a Game Maker Schedule, so not much time for that. Plus the schoolwork.

So that is about it. I am reposting the top part again to really emphasize how serious this is. Seriously, please think about donating for Z-Gamers, we really need help with the server and this is the only way…

(9:04:31 PM) sigonasr2: If I ever get money, I’ll be sure to donate it to the cause also lol
(9:04:40 PM) mikeyr71730: Yeah. I hate asking for money, but I have to do it this time before the system goes down.
(Later on in life…)
(6:00:26 PM) mikeyr71730: I’d hate for the server to go offline for good.

We could really use it. Anyways, thanks for reading.

Thanks for visiting, online gaming lover. Though you probably already knew, tons of developing PC games are ready to be released in 2010.

Despite that a large amount of online gamers are MMORPG players, the FPS and strategy players still take a significant share of the online industry. However, most dedicated gamers (the players skipping work or class to game until 4am everyday) are fixated to online RPGs; for example, WoW. Some may say that playing online RPGs are more worthwhile, since high levels and rare items are easier to recognize than first person shooter and RTS management skill. Even so, there still are loads of shooter and RTS online game addicted gamers out there. Some that come to into mind are the dedicated Starcraft and dedicated Counter-Strike gamers. Both sets of gamers play a game that probably older than their youngest sister.

Why exactly it is important to recognize these trends of PC gamers, is that this new period of computer games has quite a variety targeted at these hardcore gaming addicts. Starcraft II will certaintly make the most significant impact, because the advantage of being the follow up to the most successful computer game in history. Even a complete country is eargerly awaiting SC 2, given that Starcraft is nearly the national activity in Korea, who feature the surprisingly large PC gaming organization, named KeSPA. Diablo III is an additional upcoming popular Blizzard game, thanks to being the successor to the widely popular game, named Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the first game of the Diablo legacy, and guided the way for dungeon crawling games following. Improving Diablo I’s perfect formula is a hard goal that most copy cats have failed to accomplish. Fortunately, maybe regrettably for some gamers, RPGs have shifted their time away from perfecting the dungeon crawling towards the slower paced online RPG style of World of Warcraft.

If someone was to set up a time table (yes, time is a considerable role in this analysis) of the most popular online games ever made, you could observe Blizzard has almost always been the most dominating company of the industry, to the sense of being a monopoly. Through the first period of PC games, Starcraft set the standard for RTS games, and essentially all online games in general. Then came Diablo 2, which captivated a completely different collection of RPG gamers, making previous MMORPGs look seriously outdated. In the present, no game comes close the sum of income World of Warcraft’s over 3 million addicts produce. Emerging MMORPGs look at World of Warcraft as the game to surpass. It is pretty much inevitable that every new MMORPG director interviewed is asked, “Tell us, in what way your online RPG surpass WoW?” Regardless, it is commonly agreed that WoW should fall from its perch shortly from now, and allow some space for the next era of online RPGs. Though if the persistence of previous Blizzard games act as a guide, don’t hold your breath for the death of world of warcraft.

Yes, while Diablo 3 and SC 2 have a lead over less known titles, there are still a number of new comers that serve a noticeable oppnonent. Hype and being backed by a ridiculously strong company is not always the recipe for success, take a look at Age of Conan. Guild Wars II is the sequel to the online RPG that was initially glorified to be the World of Warcraft slayer, which for a while actually seemed quite plausible. SWTOR (Star Wars: the Old Republic) is yet another anticipated title supported by a substancial amount of enthusiasts, but of varying kinds. Earth Rise is one more game that is little recognized but could possibly become a winner. May we behold another epic clash of gaming companies? May we spectate a World of Warcraft-esque revolution in MMORG gaming? Only time will tell; but I have my wager on SC II.

]]> http://starcraft2april.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/an-analysis-of-the-new-generation-of-mmorpg-gaming/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:54:48 +0000 isaacsantos1951 http://starcraft2april.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/an-analysis-of-the-new-generation-of-mmorpg-gaming/

Hello there, my online RPG fanatic. Like you most likely already know, many, many never seen before will be debuting next year.

While more than half of PC gamers are RPG players, shooter and RTS gamers still play a significant part of the gaming industry. But most radical gamers (the gamers avoiding work or class to game until 4am everyday) are infatuated to MMORPGs; for example, WoW. Some WoW players argue that playing online RPGs are more worthwhile, since powerful characters are easier to recognize than FPS shooting and real time strategy skills. With that being said, there are oodles of shooter and real time strategy online game hardcore gamers out there. Some that come to mind are the hardcore Starcraft and hardcore Counter-Strike gamers. Both gamers play a game that very likely older than their youngest sister.

Why exactly it is important to recognize these facts of PC gamers, is that this new generation of online games has quite a variety aimed at these hardcore gaming addicts. SC 2 will certaintly make the largest splash in the pool, possessing the privilege of being the next game of the best PC game produced. Hell, an entire country is anticipating SC 2, seeing as how Brood War is just about the main game of Korea, which boast the incredibly popular Starcraft Brood War association, called KeSPA (Korean e-Sport Association). Diablo 3 is also a new highly anticipated Blizzard game, and is also the follow up to the widely successful game, Diablo 2. Diablo 1 was the opening title of the Diablo series, and guided the way for hack and slash genre. Reproducing Diablo 1’s perfect formula is a tricky goal that most replicas have failed to reproduce. Luckily, maybe unfortunately for playeres, RPGs have changed their interest away from improving the dungeon crawling towards the much slower paced RPG design of World of Warcraft.

If I were create a historical spreadsheet (yes, time has an important role in this analysis) of the most popular PC games ever made, you would notice Blizzard has been the ruling figure of the gaming industry, to the sense of almost being a complete domination. Within the first age of PC games, Starcraft set the standard for Strategy gaming, and really all PC games in general. Then arrived Diablo II, which enchanted a completely different party of gamers, making previous MMORPGs look like child’s play. In this generation, no game makes nearly the sum of income World of Warcraft’s 3 plus million players produce. New MMORPGs view WoW as the game to out do. It is practically unavoidable that all new online RPG director questioned is asked, “So, in what way your game surpass WoW?” Regardless, it is frequently agreed that World of Warcraft should fall down in time, and allow some breathing room for the next era of MMORPGs. On the other hand if the persistence of preceding Blizzard games act as a guide, you shouldn’t wait patiently for the death of WoW.

Yes, even though Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 have a lead over lesser known games, there are still various upcomers that are a visible oppnonent. Hype and development by a extremely powerful company is not always the steps for success, take a look at Age of Conan. Guild Wars 2 is the follow up to the online RPG that was initially estimated to be the WoW slayer, which for a time seemed quite believable. Star Wars: the Old Republic is another anticipated MMORPG supported by an immense number of enthusiasts, but of varying types. Earth Rise is yet another title that is little recognized but may end up as a winner. Will we observe another epic clash of gaming companies? Will we observe a World of Warcraft-esque revolution in online gaming? Only time will tell; but Ifor one have my wager on SC II.

]]> http://daquinegames.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/remembering-diablo/ Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:26:32 +0000 Daquine http://daquinegames.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/remembering-diablo/

Ah….gaming memories.  The memories of your favorite games, gaming moments and situations will always give you an endorphin rush, delivering warm feelings directly from your gaming nostalgia gland.  I am certainly one of those people who could recount many upon many games, moments and situations that would bring about that rush from my nostalgia gland, such as Super Mario Brothers, Uniracers, Warcraft 2 and Toejam and Earl, I would like to take the time to discuss one particular game in particular.  This game, was my first real PC gaming experience, Diablo.

Anybody in the gaming community who has spent any time on the realm of PC gaming will certainly recognize this title.  Diablo was, in my opinion one of the great games for the PC that I had ever played.  It kept me busy for hours, sucking me  into a world of dark, gothic fantasy, and then spitting me out again with, not a feeling of emptiness and regret, but of happiness, and coming out of it with more friends than when I first went in.  Let me start from the beginning.

When I first discovered the Diablo, I was at Costco, a wholesale store that I used to always love going to because of the nice selection of computer games.  I remember seeing it, looking at the box, and thinking it was pretty cool looking.  I read the box’s description of the game, and thought about how cool it was that when you play the game, the levels would be randomly generated when you played.  That was awesome, always a different experience every time you play.  Online play.  Always a cool thing.

But the problem with the game at that time was the fact my computer was unable to run it at the time I first found this treasure of a game.  Although my computer had the power to run the game, it was still running in DOS and Windows 3.1.  Anybody old enough to remember those two operating systems I’m sure will be able to remember the good old days before the mess that was Windows 95 and higher.  Those were simpler times. 

But I digress.

After a while, I was finally able to install a copy of Windows 95 to my system, thus allowing me to buy and play Diablo.  And man, was it good.  That dark and drab world of Diablo was creepy, it was atmospheric, the music was well done, and I could tell this was a game I was going to stick with for a while.

At the time when I was still popping my Diablo cherry, I was enjoying the single player mode of the game, mainly because my computer was not hooked up to the phone line.  The days of the modem were always interesting.  More like annoying.  Getting kicked off the internet by somebody else was always like a boot in the pants.

During this time, I will always remember this particular situation.  Any gamer who has played games that really draw you in and make you forget the outside world will understand what I am talking about.  I remember coming into my room in the evening time, let’s say about 6pm.  I’ve just finished dinner, and now it’s time to devote myself to a little gaming.  As I sit down, I check the time so I know how much time I have before bed, as it was likely a school night for me.  I put the game in, and I begin playing Diablo.  As I’m going through the dungeons, labrynths, and cavernous mazes, I do not notice how much time is passing.  What feels like perhaps, a half hour to forty five minutes of play time was in reality, more like at least an hour and a half to two hours.

I would look at the clock and think to myself, “Damn, I’ve been playing way longer than I  thought I was.  This is a good game!”   You know a good game when you see it when  it sucks you in that much.

By the time I got connected to the internet and I was able to play online, I was undoubtedly nervous.  I am by nature, very quiet and shy around people I do not know.  When I logged into the Diablo online Channels for the first time, and saw all these people chatting, I was too scared to talk to anybody.  So, I decided to just join a game and hope for the best.

At this point in the story, I would hope to be able to tell you of my first online experience with Diablo, but I won’t.  Not because I’m a jerkoff.  I don’t want to come off as an asshole here.  I honestly don’t really remember the first online game I had.  Needless to say, it couldn’t have been too horrible, because I continued to play for a long time after that initial online game.

Anyway, after a few weeks of being online, and joining random games here and there, getting into fights with idiots and occasionally being one myself, I once again found myself  sitting around in a Channel.  This particular Channel was specifically created for just the Warrior class in Diablo.  And surprisingly, I found myself actually talking to a few of the people in the room.  I don’t know how I did it, but I actually found the courage to start talking.

So, as I’m talking away, this guy sends me a private message to me, asking if I would like to join a guild.  This guild, called the World League of Knights, or the WLK for short.  The name of the guy was Coy.  Obviously not his real name, but for the sake of the story, I’m sure some of you folks would like to know this individual’s name.

So  Coy asks me if I’d like to join this guild, I am at first very unsure, but I still asked him questions about the guild.  I found out that this guild was an all Warrior’s guild, and that it was Anti-PK (PK being short for Player Killer, a type of person I didn’t like.) and that the guild was also a completely legit guild.  No cheating or hacking.  All this I thought was actually pretty cool.  That’s all I would ask for in a guild.

He was looking for a leader within the guild.  He was asking for somebody to be the leader of the Foot Soldiers.  This position was to be a very cool bonus.  Never had I been offered a position of power before.  It was cool.  In the end, I accepted.  This was the best decision I feel I could have made, and I’ll tell you why.

Because I chose to join this guild, two things happend.  One, it got me to actaully socialize with people.  Not just people inside the guild, but outside as well.  Because of the socializing I was exposed to, it ultimately led me to reason number two.

This second reason was that I was exposed to people that I befriended during my long stint with Diablo that I have become very close to and that I still talk to this day.  And some of these people are STILL friends to me.  It’s been over ten years since my first meeting with them.  It’s crazy.

Although I could keep rambling on about Diablo, I won’t bore you anymore.  I will say though before I wrap up, is that even though several of us Diablo vets went on to play Diablo 2 for a while, and I could tell you stories about THAT game too, I won’t.  That’s another story for another day and another blog entry.

Although Diablo 2 was obviously superior to Diablo, I will still say that if it wasn’t for that original game, I wouldn’t have been influenced like  to this day.  I wouldn’t have the friends I do today.  It makes me happy I bought Diablo.  If it wasn’t for that crazy game, I wouldn’t have met Kim, Deanna, Jace, Dale, and many other good friends that I still have today.  Hell, without having met these folks through Diablo, I wouldn’t have met other good friends indirectly through these original players, like my good friends Micheal and Amy.  You two know who you are.

Thanks for reading with me and enjoying my memories.  Until next time, ciao.

Daquine

Hello again.

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted that we’d been taking some ‘personal time off’ (Read as: We’re busy with real life) and that we’d be posting more soon?

I might have lied.

Life is still playing havoc with our time. But, with all the cool stuff happening with my gaming world, I figured I’d bite the bullet and write something about what I’ve been up to in the last few months…

Played a ton of demos. Say what you want about PSN, the demos are flowing in like no one’s business. The good: Brutal Legend  is fun and very smart. Double Fine did a great job so far and it seems that this is going to be a big game for them. Jack Black is very tolerable and is really funny in his role as….himself. Looking to pick this up. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is also continuing the win streak of getting a better ninja game after the fact. Again, the demo unlocks more content with every play through, like the first demo for NGS. Making it a favorite of people that can’t buy games as often as they used to. The combat is more of the same smooth, cut your arms off, crazy crap that you should be used to by now. The boss fight towards the end of the demo is pretty crazy. I felt like buying the game after playing it a few times.

More good: picked up the first of the Fallout 3 DLC FINALLY on PS3, Broken Steel. It’s great, as you already know. The Broken Steel story is longer then I thought and at one point, got so hard, I thought I was going to throw my controller across the room. The subway fight is the worst, most frustrating sequence in a game that I’ve played in a long time. It was still worth getting to start back in to a game that really is deep and expansive.  Also, finding three different flamethrowers is awesome for someone like me that seems to enjoy setting people on fire alittle too much at times.

Finally bought Trash Panic and Shatter. Both awesome, addictive games with quirky gameplay and wonderful soundtrack. Even if Trash Panic is the hardest fucking game I’ve ever played, I still love playing it. Shatter is another way for companies to get my money. Keep making Arkaniod games, guys and I’ll keep buying them. Between Shatter and Magic Ball, I should be doing an all ball returning game weekend. I love that stuff.

Speaking of stuff I love, I got into the Uncharted 2 Beta, and later the public demo/beta. Both times, I really couldn’t believe that this game was getting so much love from the gaming press and other news outlets. It’s still Uncharted. The gun play and scaling are back along with multiplayer. I mean, I came from a time, 2007 to be exact, where the thought of a PS3 game being good was something of a internet punchline. Now Uncharted 2 seems to be, many people think, the hands down, game of the year. What a difference two years can make. Looking forward to the showdown of Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2 and ODST fighting for GotY honors.

Been replaying all of my old games since money is tight and there are so many games coming in the next three to four months that I’m not going to have money for. Replaying Uncharted, Bioshock, Lumines Supernova, Zen Pinball, Fallout 3, (this time as the evil guy) and Wipeout HD is reminding me how much I love gaming. Planning on busting out some more trophies on these games, as well as Shatter and Marvel Vs Capcom 2.

In other news, I just got Diablo 2 like it’s the year 2000. Always up with the times. More on this when I get started. All you need to know is that I’ve always wanted to play this game, but never had the computer processing power to run it and with my type of gaming personality, I was afraid of the game destroying my life. But with 134 hours in Fallout 3 (not including the times that I had to start over  due to being trapped somewhere or erasing my save to start over with trophies)  and a embarrassing 481 hours in Oblivion, I think I’ll be ok playing a 9 years old game. More when it develops.

That’s all for now. More soon. Really this time………mabye.

J.

I want to start discussing about the aspect of ARPG I’d told you in the previous post before. Right now, these are all the main aspect of good ARPG (in other word Diablo) that I like; Storyline and Lore, Gameplay, Video and Audio. Right now I can think of only these three but I’ll add later when it’s comes to my mind.

It’s not like I sort this all things, but it just when I play crappy ARPG, thought just pop up and says ‘Yeah, that’s what this game don’t have, this is why it is crappy, this doesn’t feel right here, what a b.s. story, why doesn’t this work, why I cannot do this and that?’. It is just that kind of thought.

Storyline and Lore

Firstly, to me since after Diablo 2 and especially after Diablo 3 announcement, Diablo lore have became more and more diverse and exciting. Story needs at least a bit relevence and sense. If not, I’ll think it is just a crappy story. Of course most game story is made up, but it’s need to be acceptable in manner of sense.

Take a look at game with great storyline, Diablo, Titan Quest and Dungeon Siege.

Titan Quest Immortal Throne

In Titan Quest, the game took placed in world of mix of mythology of Greek, Egypt, Babylon and other (correct me if I mistaken) and most of it are Greek. Within the world, there are related mystical creature such as centaur, medusas, imp, lich and many others. And when you travel to different continent and places, you will faces different kind of monster relevant to the myth like jackal in Egypt and plant-monster in Babylon.

This kind of setting if important to the storyline and lore. It all blend together so well until player will feel that the world if alive. It is real and they will be sucked into the story. That’s Titan Quest world.

Dungeon Siege II Quest

Different setting we felt in Dungeon Siege 2. That’s Aranna world. The world so immerse with it many kind of lore and beast that never exists in real world like the shamanistic imp in the jungle and skath at the desert. The guy at Gas Powered Games really done their work in creating the DS universe. DS2 is one of the game the best lore I’d ever played.

And for Diablo, when we start playing Diablo 1, the world start with a small town, with dark and gothic feel. The world is town and dungeon in the monastery that change it feel every 5 levels downstairs. The world is not much bigger that any other, but where is the lore you think? Yes, the lore comes in the town when you talk to NPC, mostly from Cairn, and some from other like Pepin. That’s where the depth storyline of Diablo 1 comes. It’s not an immerse world but a universe shrouded with mystery.

When Diablo 2 comes around, that where Diablo universe emerge from the previous Diablo 1. Tristram become just a tiny part of the world. With more settings like Rogue Encampment, Lut Gholein, Kurast Dock, and Hell, and then Barbarian Highland, all the shrouded mystery before became clearer. Although some left unknown. Rescuing Cairn start the lore here. After that Cairn will explain all about the Diablo World. In Diablo 3, after the world map and timeline came, all the mystery became more clearer.

Next, we will discuss about other aspect, but I still not decide what to write yet. So soon! Please leave comment!

I might be don’t have much time to write long blog post but I still want to try write some about the good aspect of action-rpg. In other words, what kind of criteria they have in Diablo that we love so much. And for me good action-rpg is not just Diablo, there are excellent ARPG other than Diablo such as Titan Quest (strong graphic, audio, story and gameplay), Dungeon Siege I and II (although DSII is definitely better) and some others. Older linear one like Nox is quite good. Unfortunately, I’d never try Sacred 1 and 2. Never had the chance.

So, I hope to discuss this some aspects and then later we will talk about each ARPG I mention before. Keep hang out here.

I had it coming. People at work started playing Diablo 2 – so what do I do? I get along with them and start playing again, of course. Damn I love this game, and I always instantly get addicted to it. I’d play more if not for my job and the fact that I have to work 12 hour days.

It’s late now, and I’m terribly sleepy, so I’m just going to leave this post in a cliffhanger until I get back to it later today (after I sleep, perhaps). Have a good day .

EDIT:

Hmm, yeah. I guess I got 5 more minutes to write here. So I started playing D2 again, with my old character. He was a level 36 Necromancer, based on bone skills. Whoopedy whoop and he’s level 50 now, destroying most of everything in nightmare. I’m having an old time with my mercenary, since he keeps dying, but I think he’ll eventually be fine – he just needs more training and some better armor.

You know when some things are so obviously right that they are wrong? There is one such case in Diablo, among many others. Caster classes, which use mana to cast spells, need energy for mana. Yet it is not advised to dump any points into energy at all, no matter the class. That may be hard to understand, but if you use some basic math, you’ll see that you will never ever need any energy points if you learn to love the mana potion. Every class receives a bonus to the maximum mana every time it levels. While melee classes, like the barbarian or assassin, don’t get much in terms of mana (because they get more health), caster classes get a lot of it. And so it comes to pass, that when level 60-70 comes, there is so much mana there that you don’t actually need any energy to keep it up. Of course, because of the low stat, the mana regeneration will be low, but again, the mana potion is your friend.

So now I go to work, play a bit of my barbarian there (level 22), get home, continue playing the necromancer (and get items for the people at work too), sleep, rinse, repeat. I guess it may be boring, but it’s my addiction.

Good thing I don’t smoke, drink heavily, or do drugs anyway. Gaming is vice enough.

Hi, welcome to this blog. Thank you for coming over here. I believe that you’re a fan of Diablo game by Blizzard. Basically I just made up this blog just to post anything related to Diablo especially current Diablo 3 development. Of course if you’re a fan of Diablo or even Blizzard, waiting patiently for Diablo 3 to come out would be too much for our heart and soul to take it. Worse, it could be several years before it comes out and that is not a difinite but a fairly statement, based on previous Blizzard track record.

Please bookmark my blog and leave comment to encourage me to update this blog. Of course I don’t have much time to do this, but if only any person care for my blog, even if only ONE, I’ll definitely response to you beautifully. So, please, if you have any expectation out of my blog, please leave a comment so that I’ll know someone come here, somebody read my blog.

I hope to post only Diablo topic here, but since Diablo fans might be Blizzard fans too, if there is exciting news about Starcraft 2, I’ll post it here too.

Bear with my language and grammar skill since I’m not an English native but English comes as second most important language in my country. My writing sucks after I graduated from secondary school. And that is because of my grammar.

And that’s all for now. Future post will be something like update, list of news of Diablo 3 so far. Most of it will be from top Diablo news site.

Thanks again for coming over here.

Regards,
‘Alex’