Acid for Blood

PAX 2008 Pics

I didn't take nearly as many pictures this year as last year because I was working at the convention, but here is the photoset anyway.

The Bethesda booth to promote Fallout 3 was very impressive. They brought in an old 1950s trailer, put a white picket fence on one side, and plonked a 1950s style nuclear family on the inside of the fence.

The inside of the trailer was a lounge furnished in the 1950s style, complete with TV where I guess you could either watch the demo of the game or play it.

The SingStar presence was at the back of Sony's booth. There was a stage where you could try out the game to win copies for the PS3.

At the ArenaNet party, some fans created a big furry statue of a charr.

Two Guild Wars cosplayers at the party were dressed as a Monk and Gwen:

Job News

I left my job at Xfire last month to work at a company that I couldn't speak of until today. It was my first day on the job as a Community Manager for Guild Wars. How cool is it that I've been writing about the game as a player and now I'm working at ArenaNet? Pretty damn cool, I must say.

I relocated from California to Washington last week, and the move and associated stresses have left me exhausted, a bit sleep-deprived, and not inclined to play games, so I don't have any updates on that front. Oh yeah, I played the hell out of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and I'm looking forward to Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.

I tried to troubleshoot my computer yesterday to no avail. I'm going to try one more thing this week and if that doesn't work, I'll have to reinstall Windows. I'm irked that I'll be losing all those Guild Wars screen shots that I haven't saved somewhere on the web yet. Also, my save game files for Portal and The Longest Journey. Doh. Must back up more often.

Right now I am not sure whether I will continue to write about Guild Wars here or not.

Holiday Gaming and Gaming Priorities for 2008

I'll be out of the country for Christmas. I don't plan on taking anything but my DS with me. I'll also be taking reading material with me and that will compete for time, so I'm not sure how much I will actually be able to catch up on my neglected Final Fantasy VI save game. Still, I should be optimistic, yeah? I'll bring it along just in case.

After Christmas I'll be back in the States. I will be popping into Guild Wars for the Wintersday festivities on New Year's Day, but that will probably be about it. I may or may not have time for quests, but I definitely need those hats!

Gaming Priorities for 2008

• Finish Guild Wars Nightfall -- Not finishing Guild Wars Nightfall is fairly pathetic on my part. It came out in Autumn 2006, and I really have no excuse for not finishing it except the following: a brief dalliance with World of Warcraft (September - December 2006), good stuff related to the personal life (Autumn - Winter 2006), getting a new job (January 2007), relocating from the East Coast to the West Coast of the US to take up said job (February - March 2007), adjusting to the new location and job (Spring - Summer 2007), trying to find time to play Nightfall with people instead of alone, not being in the mood (various points throughout 2007), having a personal life which was more interesting than playing games (Autumn - Winter 2007), having a social life which included playing games that are not Guild Wars (Summer - Winter 2007), and so on.
• Finish Guild Wars: Eye of the North -- I played it a lot when it first came out several months ago. I finished all the Ebon Vanguard surface quests and made significant headway into the Asura surface quests. I needed a break from constant Guild Wars after a while, and then National Novel Writing Month happened.
• Finish the Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack -- This came out at the end of November. I haven't touched it yet. This fell victim to the social/personal life. I love games, but other activities took priority.
• Finish Portal -- This also fell victim to the social/personal life. I'm at level 15. Still. I know. I know! Eventually, okay?
• Finish Shadow of the Colossus -- Arguably, I have even less of an excuse not to have finished this by now. Shadow of the Colossus has been with me, unplayed, for almost two years. I'm playing it now though. The difference now is that I have a wonderfully persuasive (and generally wonderful) person in my life who issues constant threats against my person if I don't play. I've defeated four colossi so far.
• Play my 60-day trial of Lord of the Rings Online -- I recently acquired this at a party. (Yes, it was a party filled with gamer geeks.) I won't apply the access keys until after the holiday, for maximum gaming damage. Rather than play on my friend's spare account, I will use this trial.

I'm not sure about longer term gaming priorities at the moment. This bears some thought, but not right now. I need to stop blogging and get packing! This will probably be my last post before the New Year. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

Wintersday Calendar

The Wintersday Calendar is the Guild Wars version of an Advent Calendar. There's a new piece of fan-created artwork each day from December 1st - 24th.

[Via the Guild Wars LiveJournal Community]

More Guild Wars Stuff to Buy

The new Guild Wars Skill (and Item) Unlock Packs are on sale for 50% off until 31st December. The Skill Unlock Packs provide players the following benefits:

• Immediately use these unlocked skills for your Heroes and PvP characters.


• These skills (except elite skills) also become available for your PvE characters to learn from any Skill Trainer.

This is great because I don't have to spend time playing on other Professions so that I can have access to skills that I would like my Heroes to have. I have loads and loads of skills for Necromancers and Mesmers, but not so much for the others. Of course, if I want to have any of the unlocked skills in my characters' arsenal, I will still have to pay one platinum to a Skill Trainer for each skill. I will also need to capture any Elite skill that I would like to use myself.

Also, Guild Wars merchandise is now available. Unfortunately, they do not sell the t-shirts women's sizes. I snagged the shirts (with the Charr and the other one with Nika, Melonni, and Eve) in size Small before they ran out, as they tend to do.

NCsoft Europe sells Profession shirts in women's sizes, but I don't play an Elementalist, Ranger, or Monk. The Guild Wars hoodies are nice, but they're so expensive, and with the Dollar so week against the Pound, there is no way I am going to spend nearly $100 for one.

I keep posting about stuff to buy, but we are coming up on that time of year again.

Of Mice and More Mice

The Razer DeathAdder Guild Wars Edition mouse, which I wrote about in July, had been announced only for Europe at that time. I just checked the Razer website, and the Guild Wars edition mouse is now available for Guild Wars fans in the States. I'm not sure how long these mice have been available on the US Razer website. I have an email subscription to their mailing list and either I glossed over the announcement, it got sent to my spam folder, or they didn't send out an email about the Guild Wars mouse. The price for the Guild Wars Edition mouse is $69.99 at the Razer website. The cost $10 higher than the regular Death Adder mouse. Presumably the "go faster" Guild Wars branding and orange backlights on the logo and the scroll wheel are meant to give you the competitive edge when you're pwning n00bs in HA or for us fluffy PvE folks, working on that Vanquisher Title, thus making it worth the extra $10.

When I first read about the Guild Wars Edition Razer DeathAdder mouse, I was all excited and such. However, I also know that most gaming mice are too long for my hands. The Razer Copperhead which I had considered, is 130mm long. The Copperhead is a great mouse, but for me to use comfortably it would have to be a bit shorter. The Razer DeathAdder mouse is 128mm in length, and I'm not sure the 2mm will make much of a difference to me.

I recently won the Ideazon Reaper gaming mouse (as well as a couple of World of Warcraft "Fragmats") from WomenGamers.com for completing a survey and having my name drawn in the raffle. The Reaper is 125mm in length. I've been using it for about a day, but I'm not sure I am going to keep it for myself. The little curve the Reaper has at the butt of the mouse is awkward and completely unnecessary. It forces my palm back, and because my hand is small, my fingers feel as if they're straining to reach for the mouse buttons. I can't even reach the first and second side buttons with my thumb. If you have small hands, the Ideazon Reaper gaming mouse is not for you! I'm going to use it for a few more days to see if I change my mind, but if it takes me so long to get comfortable with a mouse, I'm thinking the answer would be "No" (in which case I would have to find a freakishly large-handed gamer to give this mouse to).

The Razer Krait, at 120mm in length, may be my best bet if I wanted to get a gaming mouse, and the price for the Krait is reasonable as far as gaming mice go -- $39.99. Still, that DeathAdder -- either version -- looks pretty sweet. Perhaps I should mosey on down to the shop in December (because I'm still NaNo-ing, geddit?) and see if there are any DeathAdders to manhandle.

Some mouse-making company should seriously start considering people with smaller hands when they design these things. I use a Logitech right-handed gaming mice at work and it's too long, too tall, and a bit too fat. I've learned to deal with it, but it could stand to have a few millimetres shaved off of the length, height, and width. My Logitech Ladybug Mouse, which was made for children (another variety of small-handed people), is the most comfortable mouse I've used to date. The only thing it lacks is the optical speed of gaming mice. So, Logitech, I love your products, but you (or someone else) need to start making gaming mice for those equipped with smaller hands or who prefer smaller mice. My suggestion? Ladybug mouse, reskinned in appropriately "gamer colours" (black and blue are safe bets, see the DeathAdder for a good example), add a button that allows you to switch DPI instantly (800, 1600, and 1800 DPI), add a couple of programmable side buttons, perhaps make the scroll wheel glow -- and boom -- instant seller! Man, I should totally go into product development, for serious.

[Link]

My Guild Wars Profession is…

           

What kind of Guild Wars profession best fits you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Mesmer The Guild Wars character that best fits you is the Mesmer character.  You are more of a classy person, and maybe even a little stuck up.  In game, you do not to take damage and rather interrupt or steal energy from other casters.  You are elusive, manipulative, and even stay classy while in the midst of battle.           Mesmer           94% Monk           78% Necromancer           72% Ranger           56% Elementalist           56% Warrior           25%

Mesmers rock. I need to get my only Mesmer out of Pre-Searing at some point.

[Via the Guild Wars LiveJournal Community]

Happy November 1

Hallow's End has come and gone in Guild Wars. The two masks this year are much better than last year's offerings, the Wicked Hat and the Furious Pumpkin Crown. I disliked the Furious Pumpkin Crown so much that I simply destroyed mine without showing it to the festival hat maker. In other words, I cannot acquire the Furious Pumpkin Crown through any means except time travel.

The Scarecrow Mask:

The Mummy Mask:

It was a productive evening for minipet trading, as I acquired a Miniature Juggernaut from Bish in exchange for my spare Fire Imp, and from Toktic a Harpy Ranger in exchange for a spare Jade Armour that my Paragon had just received for his first birthday present. My neglected Dervish also celebrated her first birthday and she received a Kirin. One of my storage tabs is becoming very crowded with my minipet collection.

In other news, I'll be pretty busy this November, so blogging here will be light.

[Guild Wars Hallowe'en 2007 Photoset]

EDIT: One of the new events for Hallowe'en this year was the Costume Brawl. I didn't have time to participate, but Clamatius has all the details. Meanwhile, Van Hemlock has an account of his Hallowe'en experience in Guild Wars.

GW, HG:L, D&D

I haven't been doing much (electronic) gaming in the past couple few weeks.

I played Guild Wars: Eye of the North hardcore when the servers opened at the end of August. I amassed over 20 nearly 30 hours of game time during the three-day holiday weekend of release. Since then, my Guild Wars play time has gone down. Last weekend, I think I mustered about an hour or so, and I didn't even finish any quests.

Last week, I started playing the Hellgate: London beta, but I can't write about it in detail because of the NDA. Apart from creating a Summoner and completing a few quests, I haven't done much. I half-heartedly created an Evoker, but decided I didn't like the Class. My graphics card, unfortunately, is not modern enough to pick up all the details of what, from screenshots, appears to be a very cool game, visually. I think I've played Hellgate: London for all of an hour, all told.

Most of my hardcore gaming these days consists of the table-top variety. My Dungeons & Dragons group, which meets fortnightly, had its third session last week. I created an in-your-face melee character, a Barbarian. I generally don't play front line melee classes, either in table-top or electronic games, so this has been an interesting change of pace. The storytelling/role-playing aspect has also been quite enjoyable.

What else have I been doing with my free time? Socialising with people on the internet, preparing for a personal project beginning next month, and wanting to smash people's faces in.

Play with Anyone, Anywhere

One of the best things about Guild Wars is the ability to play with players located anywhere in the world through the International Districts. In most online games, you must choose one server and may only play with people on that server. Not only are you limited by the server on which your characters live, you are also limited by the territory you play from. When I played World of Warcraft, I played from an American server, Magtheridon. If I wanted to play with friends on another server, I would have to create another character for that server or pay money to transfer my existing character to the new server. It would have been impossible for me to play World of Warcraft with my friends in Europe unless I bought a European copy of the game and paid another monthly subscription fee.

Prior to the 23rd August 2007 game update, Guild Wars players had to choose a Home Region and they could change their territory a limited number of times -- five in total. When I first started playing Guild Wars, I selected America as my Home District. In practice, my choice didn't matter because I played (and still play) almost exclusively from International Districts. People from all territories could go to the International Districts. Some outposts in International Districts are underpopulated, and for some Missions (and prior to Heroes) I occasionally needed real people to fill out my party. I decided to change my Home District to Europe so that I could play with random Europeans, who are generally better behaved than random Americans. At this point, I no longer had access to American Districts, so any American friends had to travel to the International Districts to play with me, which worked out satisfactorily. I later joined a guild with many members in Europe.

Later, an American friend started playing Guild Wars. A few months later, a friend of his (also American) started playing. They expressed interest in eventually going to the elite PvE areas of the game, the Fissure of Woe and The Underworld. These areas used to be inaccessible from International Districts. A particular territory had to have Favour of the Gods, which is gained by people in PvP, before anyone in that territory could enter. With this in mind, I switched my Home back to America, using up another chance to change my territory back to Europe.

Earlier this summer, ArenaNet changed entrance requirements to the elite PvE areas. Favour of the Gods is no longer based upon PvP achievements per region in the Hall of Heroes, but is now based upon PvE achievements globally. ArenaNet also removed limits on territory changes for an account. You can change the territory you're playing from via the drop down menu in the District List or from the map. Now you can set your default region to International, which is great for me. I have switched between European and American several times to play with people based in those regions. I'm incredibly happy about this change. This gives me even more freedom to play with whomever I want, regardless of where they are located or what territory they usually play from.