First Episode of TERA Podcast underway!

   Alright so here we go, I've been home from Afghanistan for a little under a week and I'm itching to get started on all these hobbies and fun again. Today Nathalie/ZodicalCandy and I record our first episode of the TERA Podcast. We plan to keep it around 20 minutes with tips for noobs from noobs, the latest from the TERA website and tips for various fights within the game. The kicker is, the fights we give tips for will be shown in our uploaded TERA Tips videos on Youtube. All of this should be uploaded and viewable by this weekend. Should be a fun ride, luckily I already have a idea how to do a Podcast and what it takes to keep one going. For those of you who don't know, before I deployed I ran a Podcast for about 8 months about in general MMORPG's. It was fun, and good practice for the one we're looking at doing now. So look for our first Podcast by this weekend!

   But the fun doesn't end there. Nathalie and I are looking to begin our Youtube channel this weekend also. We're coming up with names and working with the video editing software to gain at least a beginners level of understanding on it. So far we're thinking of calling our channel Couples Therapy, since basically she just takes out her frustration on me during the games.

   So she intends to begin recording all her gaming during Battlefield 3, Minecraft, Diablo 3 and of course us playing TERA. I plan on launching a channel with some insane runs on SSX. Its going to be a lot of fun. 

   So in short, a lot of big things coming from me and Nathalie real soon. I hope everyone gets to have fun with us during those times. I'll post again once I have something completed within a few days.

-BP

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Home at last...

   Its over, its complete. My year long tour in Afghanistan and seperation from my wife and the real world is over. I've only been back for two days now so I have a lot of things to catch up on. Just making a quick post to let everyone know that we're doing all the initial work on the Youtube Channel, Podcast and other works. Trying to sign up for TERA right now and already have Diablo 3 working. So expect some more posts soon about both of them! The first Podcast should go live within the week with the Youtube videos!

-BP

The Escapist Expo!

   So Nathalie and I have booked our tickets to the Escapist Expo! Crazy excited about this one. Go to www.escapistmagazine.com to book yourself some tickets, takes place in North Carolina!

   Not much else to say today, this is my last night in Salerno, Afghanistan. Tomorrow begins my 5 day trip back to Fort Bragg North Carolina where I take some much needed R and R and prepare to leave the army.

   Lastly on the gaming front, I finished off Dark Souls. 1000GS in the bag, next up is the completion of my copy of SSX!

   Talk to you all you followers once I'm back stateside! PEACE OUT AFGHANISTAN! HELLO STATES!

-BP

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I have a idea, lets make the same game!

    So just going to make a quick post. What is with gaming companies lately and just rehashing the exact same game! We've seen it a lot folks, but allow me to bring to your attention our two culprits for the day. Dead Rising 2: Off The Record and Prototype 2, both of which are newer titles, both of which got a lot of hype and both of which are just attempts to cash in more money on the same game.

Now lets start with Dead Rising. The idea behind this title is that its a re imagining of the original Dead Rising 2. They wanted to tell the story of what if Frank West was at this scene instead of Chuck Green. Alright on paper that sounds like a good idea. I also wont try to hide the fact that I was pretty excited by this concept. I pictured scenes of Frank West going into areas Chuck never got to go and us as the audience getting to see that Frank was there the whole time working to help Chuck! This is not what we got, we got a game where they pretended Chuck went crazy and we play out a story that basically doesn't happen in the Dead Rising canon. to top all of this off Frank West is running around all of the same areas that Chuck went. The exact same areas, which only a couple of items moved around to keep you guessing. To warrant this as a new game they re scripted a few characters to talk to Frank, threw in two new bosses and a new area. I bought it and about a hour in realize I basically wasted my money. I had already spent so much time on the original that I didn't care to go through this game more then once, even finishing it that one time was painful. Just a shameless attempt to cash in on a successful game.

The next culprit is even worse then Dead Rising 2, and is my current game I'm trying to play through. Prototype 2 had a ton of hype behind it, it was supposed to build upon what the original gave us. We were promised a great story in which our new lead character was trying to kill our old lead character. New powers, new areas, new story and new graphics all of it promised at some point. What we actually got was a game with one new power, the exact same area(new york city) as the first game and basically a plot that is a excuse to rewrite everything they already created. The graphics are rehashed, even the cut scenes are ass. The game is just a attempt to make a quick buck off the original game.

So as my heading says, I have a idea, lets make the same game! I swear that must be how these corporate meetings go.

-BP

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Dependency...

   So this will be a short post, just wanted to let anyone who is reading my blog that currently I have broken my computer. Well the cord that plugs the computer into the wall and I will not be able to get a new one until I get home from Afghanistan in sic days. So what this means is that I wont be able to post again until I finally get home.

   But this did get my thinking of how dependant I have become of my laptop. Everything I do is on my laptop since I don't have use my smart phone or tablet while deployed. This means checking my e-mail, twitter, face book and even just checked what songs I want to put on my Ipod shuffle for the gym is a impossible tasking for me. Its shocking how dependant I have become to a simple laptop, but that's the case. In the end I actually borrowed a friends laptop just to do this post. I have no idea how I would survived centuries ago before all this technology.

   On the gaming front I have completed my second play through on Dark Souls officially bringing me up to 885 points for it. I also picked up a copy of Prototype 2 to get started on, honestly was kind of stupid of me to get it at this point since I'm going home in less then a week. But this is one I expect to play more once I'm home.

   On the military front, we're officially prepared to go home. Everything has been mailed off and now I just kill my time playing games waiting for a airplane to take me home. This "easier" deployment was definitely harder then my combat deployment. I didn't realize dealing with such complete idiots for a whole year would take such a heavy toll on me. It also has taken a severe toll on my decision to currently stay in or get out. We'll see how that pans out once I'm home finally and able to hold my wife again.

   Well planning on writing another Geek Culture history soon, cant decide on a game like mine craft, or chapter two on the Star Wars situation. We'll see once I'm home and able to post.

-BP

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May the 4th Be With You

Don't know much about the Geek pillar Star Wars? 

Geek History 101: Star Wars IV

   So happy May the 4th be with you day everyone!

The Short : Star wars is a space adventure, in which we learn about a mysterious power known as the force and meet a father and son.  It originally was released in the late 1970's and re released multiple times since 1997. May the Force be with you is a standard greeting between Jedi to so have a safe journey.

The Long : So you want to be more involved in the Geek Culture, yet you dont know much about Star Wars except it has glowing sticks. Well Star Wars is a space opera released originally in 1977. The first movie released was actually the fourth part in a six part story. Why would you make the first movie the fourth in a series? As George Lucas explains, over the years of writing the story he came to realize that he was writing the middle of a Saga. He had written out the entire saga of the Skywalkers and the Jedi Knights and realized he was writing the middle portion.
   Anyway he went on to write this movie, with the intention that if it wasn't successful in the box office it would continue as a series of novels, which it did anyway, but we'll continue with that later. So George Lucas gave us a story about a young man who didn't know his father. His name was Luke Skywalker and he grew up not knowing much about his father. He then buys two droids from local alien vendors which conveniently contain a hidden message for a local Jedi master. Our good samaritan Luke decides he will take it upon himself to bring the droids message for help to the local Jedi.

    It is here that every young boys dream comes to fruition. Every young boy dreams of waking up one day and finding out we were destined for more then we have been living and on top of that we have magical powers!
   Luke finds Obi Wan Kenobi and they watch the recording on the droid which is princess Leia asking for help from the Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi as she has been captured. Obi Wan proceeds to inform Luke that the Jedi and the Force are real. He explains that Lukes father was killed by the evil leader of the Sith, Darth Vader. So to break this down, the force is a supernatural ability that both the Jedi and the Sith use. It allows them to do countless things, but is mostly displayed within the movies as being telekinesis, mind control, levitation, enhanced speed, enhanced jumping and the ability to shoot lightning from their finger tips. Throughout the history of Star Wars the idea behind the force is expanded on and added to, both for good and bad in the eyes of the geek culture, but we'll get into that later.

   So the story continues onward as Luke ad Obi Wan are now on a quest to save the princess from Darth Vader and the Empire. Obi Wan explains to Luke that he has the same abilities as his father and that with the proper training he could also be a Jedi. Once again this is every young boys dream, now not only do I have powers, but I have a mysterious past and a quest to save a princess! IN SPACE!

   In order to get off their planet Luke and Obi Wan will be needing a ride on a space ship. This is where another of the fan favorite characters comes into play. Han Solo is your typically anti-hero. He is in it entirely for money, at first, but by the end comes to be another hero who forfeited his money to help save the princess.
   This scene is also the first of many that many geeks consider "ruined by George Lucas." In the original airing of this movie you find Han Solo originally in a argument with a bounty hunter who is here to capture Han Solo and turn him over to Jabba the Hut for dumping cargo where he wasn't supposed to. The term "Han Shot First" came out of this scene. In the original Han shot Greedo after a little argument to prevent Greedo from shooting him. In the rerelease in 1997, George Lucas changed the scene to make it so that Greedo was shooting first and that Han was shooting in retaliation.
   George Lucas stands by his statement that the change was to make sure children knew that Han had no choice but to shoot Greedo. Regardless of the change it has long been a argument of Star Wars fans that the change needs to be removed as it makes Han's change from anti-hero to hero less meaningful. Regardless, any good fan knows the truth, Han shot first.
   From here Luke, Obi Wan, Han Solo and Han's co-pilot a furry teddy bearish alien named Chewbacca begin their journey to save princess Leia. They go to her home planet, only to find it destroyed by the Death Star. It is here that Obi Wan dies in a fight with Dark Vader and the final last ditch plan to destroy the Death Star comes into fruition. In the end of this battle Luke uses his new found powers with the force to destroy the Death Star himself by launching a torpedo into a small hole in the side, the space stations only weakness. From here the story continues into The Empire Strikes Back, but we'll get to that another time.
   The reason that Star Wars is such a big deal in the geek culture is the whole idea of people discovering they have these abilities within the force is just fascinating to everyone. Its like a child's dream to discover your more then you seem to be and to have this grand destiny. The universe of Star Wars expanded out of this whole movie also into novels, comic books , video games and even rides at disney world. But now that we have gone over the idea's behind Star Wars episode IV we'll move onto the rest of them another time.

   Also for the record, Star Wars is still a amazing property and the Imperial Deathstar will take out the Enterprise D anytime.

   Oh and I also have beaten my current Xbox title that made me literally break a controller. DARK SOULS IS DOWN! I ended it with 735 Achievement Points completed and am currently plowing through my second play through to wrap up these achievements.

 

You defeated EVERYTHING. Isn't that translation amazing?

-BP

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To give me a ulcer, or to give me the most rewarding experience

Dark Souls Rant

   You died. Yep I saw it again, for the 78th time...So here's your review of Dark Souls, not a full fleshed out one that everyone and their brother can give you, but a Benny special. The game is simply amazing the graphics, the game play, the online(from what I understand still in Afghan.) and my only complaint is the lack of any music.
   All of that being said about this game, I'M GOING TO THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW! Seriously I'm all for bringing a challenge back to my video games. I'm tired of putting in the latest triple A title and blowing through it on hard in 2 days. So its very refreshing to be working on the same game for two weeks now. But do we have to go to such a extreme. The game is already insanely difficult with the regular enemies able to take you down in 2 swings. The difficulty by itself is so insane to cause you to throw the game out a window, but throw in the death penalties. I have played MMORPG's with less harsh death rules. When you die you lose all your humanity and souls. Both of which play very rare and hard to come by currencies in this game. Your given one chance to get your things back, by recovering them where you died. If you die again on the way there; that's it you've lost it forever.
   Its just too much! I hate to think that I'm whining or complaining, but you make a insane amount of progress, the gets more and more tense as you go because your gaining more and more humanity and souls, only to eventually lose them to some random skeleton who was hiding in the dark that you didn't see and back stabs you.
   I don't think very many, if any, people are reading this yet as I havent advertised that I'm writing it yet, but if anyone does read it, what do you think. Is there a point where games are just too punishing? Or is this a favored change and more and more games should go this way.

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-BP