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!)

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.

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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.

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!

Life With Hammy – I take my jokes very seriously. (AKA: Don’t Censor ME!!!)

So, this comic is actually a mixture of two things.  The joke is seriously a joke I thought up today and told my wife whilst we were shopping…and, like the poor sap in the panel with me, she shot it down.  I may have been tempted to smack her as though she were my beyotch, but I refrained because, not only do I love her, but she has the rare ability of making my life miserable if she so chooses to do so.  I don’t consider myself whipped…no.  I’m more of what I would call…cautious.  The wrath of a woman is something that is just horrible to feel and, honestly, not worth the trouble, usually.

Anyways, this comic is also a sign of how I don’t take criticism well.  So, next time I tell you a joke, just go ahead and laugh it up…not so much for me, but for your poor bicuspids and molars.  Consider their feelings.  Do you really think they would prefer to be seperated from your soft, pretty gums?  No, I don’t think they do.

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So, in other news…I’m really, really tired.  We spent the entire day doing errands and such.  In fact, I haven’t gamed at all, today.  Yikes, right?  Not cool at all.  I’ve gone back and been playing through “Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.”  It’s basically a gameplay version of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” with a few extra embellishments to make things more exciting.  It’s a fun, difficult game…the characters all look quite a bit alike, but still…who doesn’t enjoy a game where the horror and evil of the creatures is enough to drive your character to insanity and, possibly, suicide?

If you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, then I definitely recommend the game.  You’ll find yourself enjoying being thrust into the fantastical world of his horror stories.  They are weird and while not altogether horrifying, they do get under your skin.  Plus, having fishmen chasing you is always terrifying.

Anyways, I’m off to bed for now.  Will try to post another tomorrow…

Life With Hammy – Chick Magnet Punk Rawker Totally Went There!

So…basically, this is the price of boredom, a love of punk rawk music, and me trying to “stretch” my artistic abilities.  I’m sad to say I’ve come to one unfortunate conclusion about my art…….I can’t draw women.  And, I mean, I’ve spent so much time observing them that you’d think that it’d be easy.  But it’s not.  I mean…you’ve got the curves and the hair and the curves and the eyes and the curves and the lips…did I mention the curves?    Although difficult to draw, they are one of the best parts of women if I do say so myself.

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In other news, today we went to our friend Andrea’s house to hang out for a little while.  She’s really Kristen’s friend and then she became my friend…yadda yadda yadda…long story short, I spent some time with her little girls.  They’re absolutely adorable, hilarious, and they’re teaching me how fun and difficult parenting will be.  I got to hold her youngest (who is too young to talk and walk but old enough to crawl).  It’s the first time I’d really ever held a baby before.  I hadn’t realized that until here lately.  But it was a good experience, nontheless.

As a reward for my time spent with her, she decided to go poo in her diaper and her mother forced me to watch to prepare me for the inevitable.  Needless to say, it was horrifying.  I can handle the poo being there…but the smell was quite rank.  Methinks that we will definitely be purchasing some air fresheners when the little guy gets here in December.

Speaking of Aiden, we got our first real “baby shower” gift, today.  My Uncle David & Aunt Kay sent us a package with a $75 gift card for Wal-Mart and a cute little outfit and some socks for Aiden.  So, if you guys happen upon this, THANKS SO MUCH!  It is nice to finally be receiving some things and to know that people out there care.

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Well, that’s that for tonight, I suppose.  Happy Fall Break to everyone out there experiencing some of that.

G4 Sux –> Does Anyone Else Miss TechTV? –> Star Wars: Force Unleashed

I was just surfing the net, tonight, fighting the urge to go to sleep at a decent hour.  I was watching television before this and, of course, nothing was on.  Well, other than reruns of Futurama and some stuff on Adult Swim…but I could feel the Internet calling.  You guys know what I mean, right?

Anyways, while surfing my channels, I always check G4 to see what’s happening on there, being a die-hard gamer for a long time.  I’m always disappointed, though.  I mean, sure…occasionally you’ll see a good episode of something like X-Play or coverage of Comic-Con, and I think that’s great…but what the heck.  Why the hell would a gaming network show a billion reruns a day of Cops, Cheaters, and all other sorts of sad-sack shows that should be reserved for some other channel like Fox or ABC.  I mean, honestly…these shows are interesting if you’re really so bored that you can’t think of ANYTHING more interesting to do.  Actually, these time-wasting shows make suicide seem like a fun option.  Death seems like a way better alternative…

It might seem just a little extreme, but I just miss the good old days when, occasionally, when I could get access to Tech TV (it was a premium channel for ever so long) and watch shows that were actually interesting and, *GASP*, relevent to the focus of the channel.  Hell…don’t make more shows about gaming if you can’t think of any.  Make shows about technology!  Make shows teaching new techniques for programming and how games are made!  Make shows that actually have SOMETHING to do with technology.  If we want to watch COPS, we’ll flip to Fox at 4 am.

Just a little suggestion, G4.

(P.S. – Just because the majority of the viewers are guys doesn’t mean that having some “hot girls” as hosts to the majority of your shows makes them worth watching…I mean, c’mon…we’ve got access to the biggest source of pornography and smut right in front of us…the computer, if you’re too dense to take my meaning…so we can get whatever satisfaction necessary from that.  Give us gamers and nerds some credit…create some shows that reach us on a deeper level.  Thanks.)

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On another note, I recently purchased “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” for the Xbox 360.  Awesome game…it was a short play and some of the boss battles were frustrating as hell, but all in all, it was super fun.  There were a few glitches…nothing huge…but I think my character got caught on an invisible for a little bit.  I found the game really interesting.  I started playing through it a second time and, well, while still enjoyable…I find myself already considering trading it in for something else.  Sad, eh?  Well…that’s life, I suppose.

Anyways, if you’re a Star Wars fan, I think playing this game through is definitely a must.  You won’t regret it.  Overall, I’d give it a 8 out of 10.  Gameplay is enjoyable.  Force powers are cool.  Being a Jedi/Sith and customizing your wardrobe, powers, and lightsaber makes it a gratifying experience.  But after you beat the game, unless you’ve just got nothing better to do, then you won’t probably make it the whole way through.  I mean…you can only play the same game so many times before it’s just the same game, ya’know?  The only thing that might pull me through would be to see the alternative ending (if one exists).  I chose the evil ending last time.  I’m so bad.

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Also, I’ll be starting a new job at Pepsi coming up October 13th…so, that should be interesting.  I’ll be a snack delivery/route driver/sales guy.  Woot.  Hey, it beats Lynx, though.

I’m still hoping to hear something from USEC…keep your fingers crossed for me.

Also, in other news, the baby is healthy (December 9th seems so close now) and we’ve got a baby shower coming up on October 25th.  We’re excited.  I think it about 4 more weeks we’ll get to see the 4-D Ultra Sound where you can see his face and features.  I’ll keep you posted!

Also, I’m really trying to get back into doing my comics…I’ve just been busy, out of time, and, well, my confidence in my artwork is always pretty low.  I guess I’ll just have to try and try again until it gets better, right?  New comics coming up soon…that’s a promise.

Just Because I Can (And I Just Did)…

Things I Love +BONUS: A Few of My Favorite Penny Arcades!

I don’t know if I’ve ever written about this, but it is something I use almost daily.  A while back there was a website called Lik-Sang.com (that was run out of business by multiple lawsuits from Sony…but that’s another story…click the link for that info).  Anyways, on this website they sold all sorts of nerd goodies and imports that you could probably find other places, but they had great prices and service.  Anyways, I ordered this little device called the Game Boy Advance & Nintendo Dual-Screen Movie & Media Player.

Basically, it’s a little gadget you plug into your GBA or DS (or, in my case, I like to use my GBA SP) with a Compact Flash card and what it can do is amazing.  You simply buy a USB Compact Flash Reader, upload all sort of media to it (some has to be converted which is fairly easy), and then play it on your GBA SP or whatever gaming device you’re using.  It’s really nifty…I use it to watch movies, listen to music, read e-books (in notebook format…you can find them free all over the internet), and best of all…it has a NES Emulator.  What more could you ask for…?  You should really check it out…it’s definitely worth the cash.

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On another note, I was surfing the Internet today and came across some Penny Arcade comics I love.  Let me share with you and expand your mind.

Let me just say that I have felt this extreme hate before…and, unfortunately, you cannot hate a person to death.  Damn it!

The reason I love Penny Arcade (other than my general love for comics and webcomics) is their unending sarcasm…I mean, where do they get this stuff?  I love Tycho’s hatred which comes from nowhere and, in the end, causes Gabe to well up with tears.  If you love this comic, then check out this…it’s a nice voice over to match the words of the comic.  Enjoy!