Things I Miss: World of Warcraft

My third year of college was - for all intents and purposes - one long game of "World of Warcraft." Somewhere between finding treasure and slaying things, I found time to pass my courses. At least, that's what my transcripts later said. I have no actual recollection of the classes that led to this fact.

That was my video game hayday. Since then, I really haven't found the time to be that obsessed about any game. "World of Warcraft" in particular, I haven't played in a long time. I'm convinced there's no way to play it except obsessively. Being in a relationship - not to mention needing to occasionally eat, sleep and shower - doesn't leave me time for such obsessions.

But there are definitely times I miss it. And why not? Everything in that game is so immediately rewarding. Killing something gives me gold. Finishing a quest gives me experience and items.

Real life is rarely so rewarding. Sure, I kill a lot of bugs and such, but the drops are lousy. And then I have to clean them up.

Even that snake didn't give me anything good.

With the next expansion pack looming, I'm tempted to get back into it. Though I would also be single within a few months, so maybe not. Of course, if I can convince Jess to play, all bets are off.

Monster Hunter: Deeper Cleaning

Like many of the monsters in Monster Hunter Tri, the Royal Ludroth has a real-world counterpart. The Gobul is a big devil frog. Kelbi are just deer, pretty much.

For whatever reason, the Royal Ludroth is a large cleaning sponge.

Granted, it's far more ornery than most sponges I've used. And I couldn't begin to guess which side is the abrasive one. After all, it's all pretty abrasive. And I don't just mean he has a very bad attitude. Some sides literally have claws, teeth or little spines jutting out.

I'm not sure how well it would clean. I mean, after all, it would probably destroy your bathroom if it went rampaging around. So...pretty much don't use it on frosted glass in showers and all that.

Happy hunting!

Conversation Collecting...

I just got back from the big Labor Day celebration. It was very fun. And very filling. At the best points, it was both.

Family get-togethers are always interesting for me. Because even though the years change, a lot of the questions stay the same from year to year. It's not anyone's fault - we just don't see each other enough to keep up-to-date on these sorts of things. So I tend to field these same five questions every year:

1. What are you doing for work lately?
This one, I probably dread the most. As I currently have nothing I would consider work in the technical sense (i.e. no one gives me money), it's never fun to answer. I think I rambled something about writing and then excused myself politely.

2. So...when are you and Jess going to get married?
Okay. I take it back. I dread this one the most. Luckily, no one asked about it this year. Which is good, because even when I know, I have to let Jess know first...

3. What do you think of this baseball season?
I'm not totally hopeless when it comes to sports. I could actually ramble on about football for some time. But for whatever reason, people are always asking me about the one sport I have no interest in. This year, I managed to slide away from that conversation before they really got into it. Thus, no one had to know how little I know about baseball. Are there still four bases? Cool.

4. How's college?
It's still there. I think. Beyond that, I have no idea - I graduated more than three years ago.

5. Give various reasons why "Cowboy Bebop" was an excellent anime.
So this really isn't a question. Also, it's never come up. But I wish it would. I have lots to say on the issue, if only someone would give me the chance. Then, of course, they'd regret it deeply...

Well, those were my Labor Day experiences. Hopefully everyone had fun in all the countries that celebrate that sort of thing. By my count, I think there's just the one, but who knows?

How were your big weekends?

The Wii Cycle

Some years ago, the Wii was announced. Immediately, it was seen as a way to get active, fight childhood obesity and secretly transform a generation of sedentary gamers into fitness machines. Today, I keep trying to find shortcuts to moving my entire arm to play.

Don’t get me wrong. What the Wii tried to do was as well-intentioned as it was revolutionary. It also ignored the fact that if video gamers were looking for a physical challenge, they probably wouldn’t be playing video games in the first place.

My first day with Wii Sports was crazy. I was running and jumping around. I was swinging my arms and diving into furniture. Of course, bowling doesn’t require any of these actions, but I was excited.

I bowled a 6, for the record.

Two years later, I get aggravated any time a game sneaks in motion controls. I bought the Wii for the novelty of movement. But I bought my couch for the novelty of remaining motionless except for my thumb and forefingers. And – to be fair – the couch was here first.

Now, I may be a bit lazier than most. But I doubt my story is totally unique. Is anyone else sick of the Wii trying to improve them as a person, or is it just me?

Though, the one upside is when my Wii warns me to use the wrist strap to keep from throwing my controller accidentally – that’s always good for a chuckle.

Good News!

For the sake of the sheer awesomeness of it, I wanted to note a recent event of note for the blog. My Monster Hunter Tri comics were recently featured on the Capcom site. As this is a legitimate company that makes video games and I was recognized by them, I was understandably very excited. When I saw it, I squealed like a little girl.

Luckily, Jess caught my squealing - the shame of it allowed my head from getting too big.

Not much more to say about it than that. Of course, I will say thank you for all the support I've been receiving. In addition to the entire Monster Hunter community, I'd like to thank all the other nerds who have made all this worth writing. As I'm so fond of saying, without all you, it's pretty much just me talking to myself about video games and movies.

Oh, and the link to the article is here:
http://www.capcom-unity.com/snow_infernus/blog/2010/08/31/monster_hunter_fan_comics_to_start_your_tuesday

Monster Hunter: Wyvern Eggs

Personally, I can't imagine a worse situation than living next to a store in a video game. Have they ever stocked anything useful? I mean, sure, they tend to have firearms, swords, medicine and other things like that. But what if I'm jonesing for some Doritos at 3am?

Or, as is often the case, what if I'm jonesing for them at all hours of the day?

Granted, they tend to focus on the necessities, but the Moga Village Farm is pretty ridiculous. I can grow honey and mushrooms there. I can even grow assorted bugs. But if you want milk or eggs, you're out of luck. It's not one of those fancy farms with cows, chickens or livestock of any kind. (I'm not counting the pet pig - he's too adorable to eat.) If not for the fishermen in the village, I'm sure everyone in Moga would starve to death.

Then again, maybe I expect too much realism from a digital farm worked by talking, bipedal cats?

And yes, I know there's not really a "Panera" in Loc Lac. But there should be. By virtue that there should be a "Panera" everywhere - that Broccoli Cheese Soup is hauntingly good.

More Effective Birth Control

There are times that I worry my children will get involved in dangerous activities. Then I remember that, in fact, they will have my DNA. There's already a fair chance they won't have a chance to get involved in anything dangerous.

Or fun, depending on how nerdishly they might lean.

Looking back, getting into anime and video games was probably exactly what I needed as a teenager. I had a lot of energy. It very well could have been used for evil. Well, actually, it was used for evil. But think of the most evil thing you could do while sitting on a futon and playing your eighth straight hour of "Star Fox 64." It's not exactly super-villainy at its best.

Of course, this all assumes I have children. Either way, that's a ways off. I haven't even begun to consider things like names, religion, or how exactly I plan to grow that sweet mustache in the comic.

My current mustache took twenty-six years to grow, and it's patchy - and that's being awfully generous, too.

In other news, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote! By a fairly overwhelming margin, the consensus is that people want to see lots of comics and comic/articles. As this is what I was hoping to do anyway, things really worked out there. Phew.

I apologize to the one person who voted for "invasive advertising" - if they really want it, maybe you can click on an ad and tell it open in a new window so it feels like a pop-up.

Now Even Avatar-ier?

Next week, the film "Avatar" is being released back into theaters as a Special Edition. At this point, there are two lingering questions on everyone's mind:

1) Will "Avatar: Special Edition" be the next "Avatar?"
2) As James Cameron currently has all money in the world, how will people be paying to go see this?

This particular blog hasn't been around long enough, but my views on Special Editions are well-documented throughout my own history. My commentary has ranged anywhere from "this movie didn't need to be remade" to "this was so bad it ruined the original movie" to non-verbal gagging noises.

Not all Special Editions are rampant grabs for money. Probably. That being said, releasing these do-overs is essentially like mowing someone's lawn badly, having them pay you, mowing it again and then asking to be paid a second time.

In summary, this strategy - at least from a money standpoint - is brilliant.

Oh, and I know I don't normally post on weekends, but this was a special occasion. One, it gives me an excuse to use the phrase "nerding for the weekend." Two, and more importantly, the blog has now reached 2,500 views! Thanks to everyone's eyes - who made all this possible.

Monster Hunter: Cha-Cha Masks

Sorry I've been on such a Monster Hunter Tri kick lately, but the game, frankly, is awesome. At times, there's not really much else I want to talk about. In fact, that being said, I withdraw my apology.

Anyway, it occurs to me that the masks available to Cha-Cha - your little in-game companion - aren't all that helpful. They might help you find a monster or cook meat, but these are all things you can do yourself much better. What you end up with is a tiny little masked helper who tends to run directly in your path when you're about to fire a weapon.

Here are a few new mask ideas I had that might have helped in Tri. At some point, I may do a few more of these, since I had fun with it. In the meanwhile, any others you think would have been useful?

Keep an eye out - I've been getting so much traffic lately I feel tempted to do a weekend edition as thanks.

Monster Hunter: Dragonator

I've been doing this fight enough lately that it really got me wondering.

Why in the world would an ancient civilization build a giant set of hydraulically-powered spikes? I assume it could be for the very same purposes I use it - jabbing big angry monsters. But part of me wonders if it originally had less sinister applications. Perhaps it was a primitive back-scratcher. Or maybe it was a large tool for getting at those hard-to-reach spots between teeth. And why, regardless of its use, was it given the name Dragonator - a name more suited to a heavy metal band?

Oh, and the writing is too small to see, but I can only assume the writing on his cooking apron is hilarious.