Reach For The Sky[rim]

As a single father, I don’t go and purchase a video game when it first comes out.  As depicted in the webcomic PVP (http://www.pvponline.com), I’m an adult living on gamer savings time.  I purchase a lot of used games and I purchase a lot of games after they’ve become greatest hits.  But this year, I had my heart set on one game that I had to buy on release day:  The Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim.  After playing many of Bethesda’s other games – The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas – I knew that this game was going to be something special.  And I’m happy to say that Skyrim not only lives up to its expectations, but it exceeds them.  (Note that this review may contain a few spoilers!)

It is hard to know where to start in a review of this game because it is so exciting, fresh, new, and huge.  The game world is awesomely huge and interactive.  From starting out in a cart on your way to your execution to being “saved” by a dragon attack on the town to taking off and exploring the world on your own, Skyrim offers so much.  I immediately felt immersed in the game.  It is clear that Bethesda put so much into every detail of the world.  You walk by a beautiful stream where water is rushing along and you’re amazed to notice salmon swimming upstream.  The mountains and nature in this game are breathtaking.  It is like taking a vacation to some wonderful place like New Zealand where the Lord of the Rings was shot without ever leaving your home.

I was surprised and tickled pink whenever a wolf howled when it came nearby.  My avatar looked at the wolf as it sat there growling at me.  Finally, it decided to attack.  I fought the creature off and claimed its pelt as a reward.  Later, I came upon an encampment of bandits in the woods.  One cool aspect of this game is that they did not immediately attack me.  When I got within a certain distance of them, they raised their weapons and warned me not to come closer.  When I came closer, they charged towards me only to meet their end on the point of my sword.  After poking around like this for a while, I decided it was time to get serious and move on to the first village in the storyline.  This village was not as big as some you’ll see later in the game, but it was still nice.

One impressive and fun aspect of this game is the crafting system.  You actually find all of the things you’d need to craft out in nature in this game (for the most part).  You can cook meat and other foods you find exploring.  You can mix ingredients to form potions as an alchemist.  You can use soul gems to enchant weapons and armor.  You can make and improve your armor and weapons by tanning hides to make leather, smelting ore you find exploring, and forging materials into new items.  You can even chop firewood for some honest money if so inclined.  I found myself spending tons of time just doing these things within the game as they are interesting, fun, and challenging.

People and creatures in this game are breathtaking as well.  Of course, the show stealers are the dragons.  Fighting your first dragon is definitely a rush.  I made the fatal mistake of going up to a dragon’s face and trying to attack it with my sword when fighting my first dragon.  He clutched me in his mighty jaws and flung me far away to my demise.  This was definitely a lesson learned.  And dying wasn’t even that disappointing.  Learning that the dragon could do that was really cool.

I could probably go on and on about this game until your eyeballs were ready to bleed from reading so much, so I’ll go ahead and cut this short.  In closing, I would recommend this game to anybody.  It is absolutely beautiful and completely open-ended.  You can go into the game at any time and go do anything you desire.  The leveling system is great and you have a lot of control over your perks as you level different skills within the game.  If you’ve played Oblivion and/or Fallout 3/New Vegas, then I suggest playing this game as well.  It is like taking Oblivion, making it stunningly beautiful, changing a few things to keep it interesting, and improving upon everything.  If Oblivion was the girl you had a crush on in high school, then Skyrim is the same girl when you see her at the reunion ten years later and she is twice as hot, totally single, and has eyes only for you.  So, if you haven’t bought Skyrim, take it from a single dad living on a meager income who never buys games on release dates…go ahead and get it.  It is so worth it.  Every penny.  (Not to mention that I totally lucked out and caught an awesome sale at Toys R’ Us.  They were having a sale this past Friday (11/11/2011) where you got a free $20 Toys R’ Us gift card when you purchased Skyrim.  So, that was awesome!)

Be Still My [Foolish] Heart

So, inspiration stuck.  And I drew for the first time in a long time and wrote a poem.  You see, I’ve met a pretty rocking girl.  I don’t think she’s into me the way I’m into her…I’m not sure.  But she has a lot in common with me and is totally sweet.  So, yeah…who knows what is going to happen?  I’m not getting my hopes up because I’m sick of getting hurt.  So, there it is.  Enjoy.

When [Broken Hearts] Prevail…

Fair warning, people…this post is probably going to be a little emo and sad.  :’(  So, have your tissues ready!

Yep...I'm probably going to die alone.

So, where to begin…in writing, it is always so hard to find a good beginning.  I guess this beginning could “begin with an ending” in a sense.  You see, sometime this month my ex and I will be filling out and signing our divorce papers.  Yep.  We’re taking our obvious failure of a marriage and slamming the “FAIL” rubber stamp on it officially.  So, that is going to be tough.  I still hurt a lot and get upset a lot when I think about it.

In other news, I’ve been looking at dating on some of the dating websites out there and I’ve got to say that it is pretty depressing.  I thought I took my time and set up a pretty good profile.  My pictures were the best I had of myself.  I’m really trying, right?  So, why is it that I’ve only had a handful of girls contact me?  I’ve had dates with two girls who were nice and who I’d like to get to know more, but after one date with me they haven’t been too eager.    Yep.  Evidently, I suck at life.  I just don’t understand what is so wrong with me.  I’m polite.  I bring flowers.  I pay.  I make conversation.  I make sure I smell good.  Yeah, I can be a tad shy and I’m not a fricking male model with a perfect body…but I always thought girls were supposed to be able to see beyond that.

Maybe people can look at me and see that I’m practically dead inside or something?  *sigh*  I mean, I work full-time as a computer technician.  I take care of my home, my child, my dog, and myself.  No, I don’t get out a lot because I’ve got a lot of responsibility.  I chose to make my son the top priority in my life when my marriage failed.  I thought that women admired a man stepping up like that.  I know I am a good person and not just a total jerk or dud.  My coworkers like me.  Yeah, my light has faded a bit and I’ve been hurt really bad by two women.  But I’m doing my best…I really am trying.  Maybe I’m trying too hard?  Maybe I’m sad, lonely, and I reek of desperation?  I don’t know.  I don’t get it.

Is it time for the self-proclaimed "chick magnet" to throw in the towel and admit defeat?

Is it so bad to just not want to be alone and to want to find somebody like me out there?  Do girls just see my mug and think, “My God, how dare that ugly oaf even send me a message?”  All in all, it is more than a little depressing.  But I will continue on and try to believe that there must be somebody out there who is perfect for me…any advice on dating and life would be appreciated, though.  Ciao.

World of Warcraft Administration = Unfair, Biased, & Unjust!!!

Ah, World of Warcraft.  You have never let me down in the past.  One might even go so far as to say that you are the perfect MMORPG.  You’re fun.  Exciting.  Innovative.  Entertaining.  You succeed where every other MMORPG has failed.

Now, that being said…why hast thou forsaken me, World of Warcraft?  I’ll admit.  I had to quit you for a while.  I got married.  I had a kid.  Life got busy and I had to focus more on work, family, and real life.  But I told you that I would come back…couldn’t you wait for me?

You say I cheated?  I never cheated.  I never even touched you for the entire time I was away…so how could it have been me?

I spoke to Blizzard Technical Support today because I want to get back into World of Warcraft.  A buddy of mine wanted to “bring me out of retirement.”  I was so freaking stoked.  Until when I first tried to log back into my account only to find that it was permanently closed/banned.  Why?  Because, somehow, somebody using my account was caught cheating during my absence from the game.  How is this possible?  You tell me.  I wasn’t there.  I don’t know.

So, I say to the technical support representative (his name was Fabio), “Well, what can be done to reactivate it?”

His response is simply that he will send the account back to be reviewed for possible reactivation…but there is no guarantee.

I say, “Fabio…can’t you make something happen here?  I was the victim of an unfair and unjust crime!  Can’t anything be done.”

He proceeds to tell me that my account getting hacked is my fault/responsibility.  There is nothing he can do.  Fabio doesn’t care about my dilemma.  Blizzard doesn’t care about my dilemma.

I have a bad feeling that my account will not be reactivated.  Blizzard will not show kindness to somebody who has been there since the open beta before the game went live.  They will not give me back that which has been taken away.  And why…because I’m a victim…or because I was mistreated and abused…or maybe because they’re too busy counting their money?

As the following Penny Arcade comic shows, perhaps Blizzard simply can’t help themselves:

I am so upset, right now.  Has anybody else experienced these issues?  Does Blizzard not care about the gamers as they sit upon their throne not made of ice but of money?  Please, gamers, help  me to rise up and bring fairness, justice, and a caring attitude back to World of Warcraft.

---

Notice:  I am actually pretty impressed.  Blizzard – I take everything back that I said about World of Warcraft and Fabio.  They reviewed my account, found it had been hacked, and helped me take action to secure it and get back into the game.  Thanks, Blizzard.  You really are the best.

Aiden’s First Halloween – AKA: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

So, Aiden experienced his first taste of Halloween, tonight.  We got him a lion costume at Wal-Mart and we dressed him up to go visit his Great-Grandma.  He was so darn cute – check out these pics!

Well, until Thanksgiving, that’s all we’ve got, folks.  Enjoy!!!

Aiden = Almost 9 Months

So, as time goes flying by the milestones in my son’s life just keep rolling on, too.  Just the other day, we walked into his room in the morning to see him sitting up on his bottom by himself just smiling so proudly.  And, today, just now…not even 15 minutes ago, he pulled himself up to standing by himself in his playpen.  I was just like, “Whoa…”  I mean, he’ll be walking in no time…seriously!!!  It’s insane!

Anyways, it’s been a long time since I’ve thrown some pics on here.  Unfortunately, my Olympus camera bit the dust – it saddens me because it just randomly quit working one day, and I’ve read such great things about Olympus.  It blows.  Oh well…here’s some pics from a camcorder.  The quality isn’t perfect, but better than nothing…enjoy!

He’s a heavy drinker…as you can see. 

Doesn’t he LOOK so innocent…?  Yeah, right! 

Why, hello, daddy…what do you have there??

I’m a little scared…how did I get way up here?  He looks so innocent and cute here!

And this is him showing his true colors…he’s so MAD!

And, of course, we can’t forget our little baby puggadoo…poor lil Havok.    We love you, too!

Computer Savings Time

I’ve been rereading PvP at work during my lunch breaks and I’ve been thinking a lot about this strip ever since I got married and had a little one of my own.  It really speaks to me because it is so freaking true!  Enjoy:

I want to throw some props to Scott Kurtz.  I don’t know if I’ve ever really talked about him on here – I’m sure I must have – but he really is one of the strongest influences in my longing to be some sort of cartoonist/webcomic artist.  Although my comics are horrid and I’m completely and utterly untalented, it is still something I’ve always enjoyed (both drawing and reading comics…especially the Sunday funnies…they’re the only reason I buy the Sunday paper!) and would like to pursue further.  Unfortunately, being a husband, father, and help desk technician comes first…not to mention I’m incredibly lazy and not that self-motivated.  I am getting better, though.

Well, it’s just me and Aiden tonight while Kristen goes to school for a few hours…won’t that be fun.    He’s so aggravating in the evenings.  He’s nine months old and all he does is whine, whine, whine.  Does anybody else experience this sort of behavior in their toddlers?  My natural thought is that his mother and grandmother have spoiled him rotten…but I’m unsure.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Okay – back to work.  Later!

Life With Hammy – Help Desk Stories

So, this is actually based on a true story…my co-worker storms into my office, today, demanding that I inform her how to “undo” an e-mail she sent to the wrong recipient with sensitive information.  I was like, “Uh…are you serious?”  And, of course, she was.  But I informed her that once you hit send…well, that’s the end.  It’s out there and you might as well e-mail the person you sent it to and say, “Oops.”    Anyways, I thought it was funny so I threw it in an e-mail.  I hope that Jamie won’t hold it against me that I used her here…sorry Jamie!  Enjoy.

Life With Hammy – Video Game Violence

Drew a new comic using one of my graphics tablets…not great, but I didn’t have a lot of time.  Sorry!  I will try to do better from now on…enjoy!

DigiPro T-6000U 6×4.5 USB Graphics Tablet Review

Okay, first of all, the price is unbeatable…honestly, less than $30 for a Graphics Tablet with wireless mouse and pen.  Not to mention that it came with a free 4×5 USB Graphics Tablet by DigiPro.  So, naturally when I see this deal on Geeks.com I jump on it.

Well…you know the saying, “It sounds too good to be true,”?  Well, this was one of those instances.  First of all, let me show you what I purchased:

DigiPro T-6000U 6×4.5 USB Graphics Tablet

DigiPro 5.5×4 USB Graphics Tablet with Cordless Pen (FREE with promo code DIGIPRO)

So, all in all, it looks like a great deal for around $35 plus shipping, right?  WRONG!  First of all, I’m going to focus on the actual product I purchased…the T-6000U.  Picture this:  The package arrives from FedEx.  I run in from work and begin gingerly ripping tape from cardboard in order to sink my teeth into my new toy.  I pull out the box for the T-6000U.  It looks pretty generic, which I expected, so I’m not upset yet.  I go into my office, install the software, and hook the bad boy up.  Now, the pen works pretty good (although it is a bit sluggish in Photoshop CS3) and is enjoyable to use for drawing for the most part.  I was disappointed to find that whenever you try to use the mouse that your pointer moves like a snail across your desktop – also, my left click button wouldn’t even freaking respond!  So, the thing was pretty much a generic piece of crapola…great, right?  Well, naturally after finding these problems I go to the Internet in search of consolation and new drivers/firmware/software for the device.  I search and I search.  After a while, frustrated as I am, I finally find a crucial little piece of information:  DigiPro is actually a company called UC Logic.  So, I thought, “Aha!  I’ve found them!”  So, I go searching their pages only to find that they claim not to make this particular device and send me back to Geeks.com for more info/software/support.  So, I contact Geeks.com to get no response even a week later.  Unsatisfied…you freaking bet I am.

The funniest part of all is that the smaller tablet, the white one with no mouse, works wonderfully and even has software support from the UC Logic page.  I am pretty happy with that tablet.  It works fine.  The only thing I would ask for is pressure sensitivity changes in the pen…but, honestly, it is by far a better product.

So, long story short…unless you’re desperate for a graphics tablet, save yourself some money and buy the smaller white one.  It is way better and actually supported by the company who made it.  Shame on you, Geeks.com, shame on you.