Cant talk, old republic

I'm busy playing Old Republic

Yes its out

Yes its awesome

Some things are better and some are worse from my expectations

Took some getting used to an MMO (yes this was my first)

I plan on writing longer blog posts, I just cant now... must get back to game lol

Star Wars beta: storm before the calm

Me:

In 24 hours time from this time I will be playing the Old Republic beta. Between then and now I will be working black Friday at Target.

It is a weird mix of dread and excitement. Honestly I have tunnel vision and the fact I will soon be playing Old Republic will keep me smiling the whole time.

I promise either during, or as soon as the beta ends, I will post some sort of review on it.

I plan on being a class I do not plan on playing for a while when the game is released. The smuggler. I will review this class and the game itself.

In other news my xbox decided it does not want to play CD's anymore. So no more Battlefield until I get a new one. Christmas? Tax return?

More info on SWTOR:

The game will be released on December 20th but will be playable via internet download for people who pre-ordered on the 15th.

I highly recommend http://db.darthhater.com/ for detailed information on planets, classes, skills, and more.

Home front:

My wife and I are doing well. She thinks it is a waste of money that I have donated money to the Legendary Craft server that I play on on Minecraft. The donation not only give me more abilities in the server, but shows the admins I care for the server, increasing my chances at mod, and keeps the server running smoothly.

She is afraid that when Old Republic comes out I wont pay any more attention to her. I already addressed this in a previous post. I myself realize the game will be addicting and hard to leave at any time. But I know over everything my wife comes first. No matter how hard it is I will make time to be with her during my "new game craze" phase.

Im back

So I am back

Long story short

I played a lot of Battlefield 3, got to rank 33, bumped the xbox while game was running and scratched the disk, now got back into minecraft, been playing a lot on legendary craft server and forum, trying to become a moderator on legendary craft, was invited to semi-open Old Republic beta which will happen sometime within the next two weeks.

Last night I went with a friend to the midnight release of Assassins creed revelations

My wife has really gotten into Soul Calibur 4 on 360

It is one of the only games she has more achievements than me

So I will try to update the blog more, get back into the habit.

Priorities:

9:30am-4:30pm (7)

minecraft

7 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

Played a lot on the LC server and did things on the forum. Got to be very active to become a Mod. Gotta get noticed by the staff.

I built most of a tie fighter! Ill post a pic of it when it's complete

BF3 release: night before the storm

Battlefield 3 comes out tonight and I am super excited!

I am going to the midnight release where I will finish paying for, and pickup my pre-ordered copy.

Then I will play until 6am ish. Take a 3 hour nap, and play all day :)

I have already warned my my wife about the amount of time I will be dedicating to BF3.

Since I am able to play the game next to non stop since the moment it is released there is a good chance I can get a high rank on the leaderboard and that is exactly what I am going for. A week of almost non stop BF3 in an attempt to get a good leader board rank record.

I bought 2 redbull to help out for the next 48 hours

I will record my time playing and post another blog, probably the end of the week showing my time played. A day or two after that, I will review the game and share my thoughts.

See you on the battlefield, otherwise, in a week!

Segway

Sorry I haven't been adding new posts lately. Iv'e been sick and watching a lot of the office. Two things that don't pertain to my blog.

In Minecraft LC server news we finished building that town.

I put my old house up for auction. Started at $3000 and sold for $5000. I was pleased :)

Battlefield comes out in a few days!

Think of this lull in blog posts as a segway between my Minecraft days and my Battlefield 3 days. Its taking some time for servers to switch over, so there is downtime. Metaphorically.

Making a MC village

Priorities:

11:00am-9:30pm (10.5)

minecraft

11:00pm-2:00am (3)

minecraft

13.5 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

So through a series of events I made a friend that ran a village on this server I've been playing on. I helped him with some town renovations and he promoted me to the title of builder within his town. We decided to make a new town together. I was assuming he would be in charge and let him call the shots but he got off a good 5 hours before I did and under

my command the new town went from some cobble stone on the grou

nd to a legit town! Its so cool directing people and helping people and managing a town. It is a lot of work to though and can be frusterating. I am interested to see what my partner thinks of the product of my work. Also, I feel like I am in charge now, I have been for hours, which feels like weeks in the virtual world. So it will be interesting to see who really takes the throne when he comes back.

I'll put up some pictures of the old town, new town, and current progress.

The old village. My house and shop.

Villagers at work setting the foundation of our new town.

Got some houses and road up.

I was going to upload a picture of my house in the mountainside too but it was having problems. I'll do it in a later post.

Thoughtful gab:

WOW! A big day for me in Minecraft. Not only was this the most I have played in one day while writing this blog, but it is also the most I have played in one sitting. Yes my body hurts, and I am hungry, and I miss my wife. But I got a lot done and it was fun.

No media night

Priorities:

9:30-12:00 (2.5)

minecraft

2:30-4:30 (2)

minecraft

5:30-6:30 (1)

minecraft

5.5 hours of Minecraft

Thoughtful gab:

Today is no media night for reals. So this is all I'm posting.

Legendary-Craft

Priorities:

11:30-3:30 (4)

minecraft

4:30-5:00 (.5)

dead island

5:30-6:00 (.5)

minecraft

10:00-12:00 (2)

minecraft

7 hours of games.

The most I've played in a week or so.

Virtually virtual:

Been playing on the Minecraft legendarycraft server. I was going to take some pictures of the house I made but kept forgetting. Most servers are chaos but LC server is fun. They have a functioning economy, the admins are friendly, and its real survival; they don't just give awaway stuff you have to find it.

Thoughtful gab:

My wife and I decided that we were going to have a media free night. Meaning no electronics or books, just productive work and us time. That lasted about half an hour then she started reading and I got on Minecraft.

6 year old plays Minecraft

Priorities:

10:30-11:30

minecraft

9:00-11:00

minecraft

Virtually virtual:

Was just messing around on some minecraft servers. That's all you really can do with them

Thoughtful gab:

Yesterday my 6 year old sister came over. She has played a few video games, like castle crashers on xbox, but not really any 1st person games. I had her play Minecraft. It was difficult to try and describe the game to a 6 year old. First thing she did was dig. She dug two blocks down and made a long trench. Over the course of about 2 hours she put a roof on her trench, added doors to the end, made torches, and expanded the inside. Of course I told her how to make the doors and all the crafting, but I wouldn't do anything for her and I tried to make her remember and figure things out and not just tell her what to do. It was fun and a neat experiment. Just see how someone who has never really played a first person game before handles it. I was surprised how well she remembered how to make a torch from scratch, using the charcoal method, and I was surprised how well she picked up digging and building. Out of everything, the thing she had the most trouble with was jumping. She would ask me to get her up a hill because she still had trouble moving. She would forget to press W to go forward and furious wave the mouse around or she would move forward, then jump, but had trouble coordinating them at the same time. Once she perfects navigation I'm sure she expand her level of play much faster. It will be interesting to watch the progress whenever she comes over.

A little of everything

Priorities:

3:30-5:30 (2)

minecraft

Virtually virtual:

I am already kind of tired of Dead Island. I like it, but it is certainly overrated. It is to repetitive, You are always on the run or fighting zombies, there is less of a survival feel and more of a tunnel shooter feel, gets old quick.

Minecraft on the other hand does not get old quick but even so... It's finally getting old. I just don't find building on my own very fun anymore. Iv'e built so many things and explored so far, I've seen the sights, I've made some sights, and if one more creeper ruins my creations I might explode myself. And multiplayer is lame because its chaotic and people build a bunch of random crap. Or they have made the world to civilized and "surviving" is no fun. The only time I find Minecraft fun now is when I am playing on my survival server with my friend Austin. I played a little bit today and had some fun being nomadic.

Iv'e made myself to expectant of BF3 and Old Republic and now they are the only games I want to play. I'm just killing time till then really. Minecraft 1.9 will hopefully come out soon so I can play that until BF3.

Thoughtful gab:

Today was nice because it had a little of everything. I watched TV with my wife and we... bonded, Then we went out on a picnic with my friend Jake and even got some dessert from the Mexican ice cream man. Then we came home and I played some games. Just had a little of everything.

Going out with a bang

Priorities:

3:00pm-5:00pm (2)

dead island

9:30pm-11:00pm (1.5)

minecraft

11:00-12:00 (1)

dead island

4.5 hours of games

Virtually virtual:

Dead Island is a little more extensive than I thought. There is a small level up bar, with no indication of it being so, and there are more areas of the game than I thought.

Thoughtful gab:

I can't believe its already have 22 submissions. It seems like just last week I started this blog. I've enjoyed writing near-daily and I hope there are a few people out there who have enjoyed reading it.

So excited for Old Republic and Battlefield 3. The end of this year will be going out with a bang!

I wont be playing much Minecraft after BF3 is released but the 1.9 update will probably be up by then. So Minecraft is going out with a bang too! Hopefully with no connection to creepers.

Dead Island review, MC poll results

Priorities:

10:00-11:00 (1)

dead island

1:00-3:00 (2)

dead island

6:00-9:00 (3)

dead island

6 hours of Dead Island

Virtually virtual:

Dead Island (on xbox 360) feels a lot like Fallout 3 but just zombies. You run around completing quests for people in a large free roam environment. Awesome graphics. I love the animations and how the zombies act and feel in the game. The combat is decent too, although you just mash the right trigger, it can be really awesome swinging a nailed baseball bat around in a fluid of cool moves. Unlike other games its not just the same swing over and over. As you continue swining the character goes from different, natural, angles, also depending on where on the zombie you are aiming.

Sometimes a small hoard of zombies rush your from essentially nowhere which is always intence, an awesome aspect.

All is not cookies and rainbows for this game though. I don't like how your stats are presented, or should I say I don't like the lack thereof. There is no simple/fast way to see your stats and notice your progress, sometimes your get xp without even realizing it and you seem to randomly level up. This doesn't keep me invested in doing quests for xp because its an next to invisible aspect of the game.

The map doesn't feel that big for what Iv'e seen so far. I havn't played the whole things and an area outside of my current map may be unlocked. But the map that you start with is not very big for a free roam game.

Things are confusing. There were next to no tutorials and I had to clumsily figure things out on my own. So an inexsperianced gamer would likely have a lot of trouble picking up this game.

There are a lot of issues I have with it so far that are really disappointing. I won't count it out quite yet and keep playing in hopes for improvement.

Thoughtful gab:

The Minecraft play style poll results are in. Not very many people did the poll but going off the results I did receive...

60% said they play both. Meaning they switch between playing creatively and surviving, or they meld them into one.

40% said they mostly play survival. Meaning they not only play the actual game mode, survival, but once in game they treat it like they are trying to survive. Typically you build a small base, gather basic resources, mine, explore, expand base, explore, expand territory by building other bases, mine, build big base or city and then enjoy it and start a new game.

Since the two highest voted play styles both have survival-style in them, the survival aspect seems to be the more popular in the game. The fact that you are thrust into a uncivilized world that you are forced to survive in, not only survive but thrive and build up your own utopia from nothing, is what makes Minecraft so gosh darn awesome.

Although I did not vote, I would fall into the 40%.

Dead Island

Priorities:

I fell asleep and watched TV and then came up with a plan to get a new game. I played the new game for a few hours, was busy, out, with the wife, then went to bed.

Virtually virtual:

small Dead Island review coming next post.

Thoughtful gab:

I love zombie games. Surprisingly enough I am just now hearing about this game called Dead Island which is supposed to be a really fun zombie RPG. Sounds awesome.

I have two problems though. I am already buying a monitor, BF3 and Old Republic collectors edition the end of this year, and don't really want to drop another 60 of our hard earned dollars for another game quite yet. Not sure if the wife would appreciate it and even if she didn't mind, I would somehow feel kind of bad considering she makes more money for us than I do.

The second problem is the same as the first but for a different reason. I am getting those other games so I will be playing a lot of them. I don't want Dead Island to gather dust while I'm playing those other games, and even more so, I don't want Dead Island to take priority over them. I want to get as much BF3 in before I get Old Republic so I can have played my $60 worth and so I can have a better rank to be sitting on, so if someone asks, I'm not some wimpy enlisted rank.

I really want the game though so I don't know what I will do.

-later-

With the help of my friend Jake, we both ended up getting it. He is playing the sword girl and I am playing the throwing knife guy.

The wife had some reservations about me getting another game but we talked it out. I still can't help feeling kind of bad that she works more than I do and I'm spending more than she is on extra things.

I guess that just goes back to one of my earlier blog posts though.

Betas

Priorities:

Didn't keep track but Iv'e been playing a lot of the BF3 beta.

7:00-7:30

StarCraft 2

7:30-9:00

minecraft

then more Battlefield 3 beta

Virtually virtual:

My Battlefield craze is dying down a little bit. Due to the face I have few friends to play with and it is only one map. It's still great though and I look forward to the release. I'm currently at level 20.

To switch things up I played some StarCraft 2 with my friend, unfortunately he didn't want to play much.

Also waiting for Minecraft 1.9 update to come out so I can stat a new survival server. Should be fun.

I wonder when they will be done with the Minecraft beta and finally release the full version?

Ug I just wish BF3 was out so it could eat my time until Old Republic!!

I've noticed more glitches in the BF3 beta. When in the open park area I sometimes fall through the ground. Blank nothing beneath me and the world above me. Its weird and dumb because the only way I can seem to get out is suicide.

BF3 Beta: Results

Priorities:

Played Battlefield 3 beta, xbox, off and on over the past few days. One level, Metro, over and over again.

This picture is not me but found on the net.

Review:

When the game first started I wasn't feeling it. The sensitivity seemed weird and I felt like the game was a clone of Battlefield bad company. After I played more my opinion changed.

I have not played the PC version yet, not by choice, so I can't compare it, but the graphics are great. One of the best I've seen on the Xbox 360. But it's still a console game and you can tell. The lights can be better and the crisps can be crisper. This is only one representation of the game, but graphics wise, I never got the awe factor. (When you step back for a second and sit in awe over some kind of amazing background animation or from how the sunlight pours through a crack in the wall.) There are some nicely animated scenes, but no awe... yet.

Two things that stood out to me was the destructibility and how the soldiers run.

Battlefield bad company started the whole, destruction of the map aspect of the game series with the frostbite engine. Destroying a building an enemy is in or some cover he is behind is awesome. In bad company two, the destruction was cool but not great. You would shoot a wall and it would break in a specific spot and radius, an obvious predetermined chunk of the wall that could be broken. It was good, just still video game programmed destruction, and you could feel it.

Battlefield 3 has the new frostbite 2 engine which is supposed to raise the bar with the destruction of the map. I noticed next to no destruction for most of my game time. There were wooden areas you were meant to destroy to get through and some cover by the objectives that was destroyed, but it wasn't anything to mention. I was actually somewhat disappointed. Either because I wasn't using explosives, nobody was due to no vehicles, or the frostbite two engine was a flop. There just wasn't much destruction. But wait, let me set up this story.

There is an building on the last objective area on the map where you can go upstairs and shoot from some windows. I went up there multiple times, it was always the same, and I got the cover and sight I wanted from the windows every time. Sometimes there would be small chunks out of the walls, obviously their attempt at destructibility, I thought. Later, I was running up the stairs so I could get the vantage point, but where my previously reliable windows used to be, the wall was no more. The wall and windows were all gone and not in predetermined sections. The wall was torn very unevenly and devastatingly. This sight produced two emotions, admiration, enter the slow clap, good job DICE; and shock. Shock from the unexpected awesomeness of the games destruction capabilities, and shock because my once reliable area was now a pile of rubble, bringing me to realize nowhere was really safe in this game, a kind of of new and scary feeling.

In video games you create rules in your mind without thinking about it, and one rule I had was that I could rely on that area and that the destruction of it, and anything, was minimal. Iv'e seen what is possible now, my rules were crushed along with my vantage point.

For instance there is an objective in that same area where you typically destroy the boarded up windows to get inside. That isn't necessary though. The more difficult, and sneakier way, would be to find the other side of the inside wall, blow it up, and enter through the inside. Something my internal rules assumed was not possible before, but now assume the contrary.

I like watching the soldiers run. It's like how the zombies run on Left for dead. They aren't stiff like stiff like boards but they lean into the direction they turn. On that note, I love running too. It almost feels like I am free running. I can feel so BAMF when I'm sprinting towards the bomb to defuse it, use one hand to vault myself over a short wall, shoot a guy waiting on the other side, and defuse the bomb. It all happens so fast and smoothly.

Whats to come:

Considering I only played operation Metro, on rush mode, over and over and over again, enough to get to (at this moment) level 13, they must be doing something right. Usually playing the same level more than twice in a row gets boring but.. it didn't. One reason is because the level is like two levels. You start outside in a large park and move into a long subway tunnel. If this one level on this one mode is this alluring, the full release with multiple game modes and multiple maps will be epic.

Metro doesn't have any vehicles. One of the things that sets Battlefield apart from other games are the vehicles. But playing Metro so much I forgot the game usually had them, and I was happy playing with just infantry. When I play a map with them in the full release will be an entirely new element from the beta, a pleasant surprise.

The game had its share of glitches:

• People flying abnormally far when killed
• Sound getting stuck on one loop
• Sound getting really quiet
• Bullet trails lingering in air
• Gun not doing the reload animation sometimes

But I'm sure these will all be fixed by release.

PC vs Xbox? I don't know honestly. I've decided to go with the Xbox because I am enjoying the game on it and my friends are on Xbox. Could the PC version be better? Yes, but ignorance is bliss. :)

Overall though I think this game will rock. Anyone intrigued by FPS should get it.

Beta night

Priorities:

12:30-2:30 (2)

minecraft

5:00-6:00 (1)

minecraft

6:30-7:30 (1)

minecraft

4 hours of Minecraft

I was just watching Regular Show until midnight so I could play the Battlefield 3 beta. It didn't show up for download so I went to bed.

Can gamers be parents?

Priorities:

10:00-2:00 (4)

minecraft

3:30-5:30 (2)

minecraft

6 hours of Minecraft

Thoughtful gab:

I'm really not feeling it today. Played alot of Minecraft but got really bored of it. Now I'm just waiting for 1.9 to come out, or Battlefield 3. Whichever comes first.

Can a gamer be a parent? Can he work, care for his kids and wife and play video games well enough to get better and feel immersed in the world? Can he still be a hardcore gamer?

My wife and I were talking about how much time I spend playing video games. Mostly about how might I plan on playing once we have children. I learned of a couple where the husband likes to play StarCraft 2. His wife talked him into only playing it one night a week!! One night?! How can you get anything done with 4 hours a week accomplish anything? In Minecraft it would take you a month just to build a simple project. How does he better himself in StarCraft with that play-rate? By the time he has honed his skills the next game would come out! It's just hard to imagine so little game time. I accept that my game time will decrease dramatically when I have kids, but I don't plan on accepting one night a week willingly.

Creative mode

Priorities:

did a few hours of internet browsing this morning. Mostly youtube videos

3:30-4:30

minecraft

6:00-6:30 (.5)

minecraft

9:30-1:00 (3.5)

minecraft

4 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

For the first time I am trying creative mode on Minecraft 1.8.

It's fun I guess. I certainly am feeling like Minec

raft is loosing its luster. When the 1.9 update comes out I will start a new survival server. That should be fun again.

My plan in creative mode is to build a Fortress as a main point, then have branching off track that leads to a testing facility and a village, that I will both make. Here are the beginnings of the fortress.

I have stayed away from creative mode until now is because I like the challenge of survival. I like having to mine for resources and facing mortality. Building an epic structure in survival mode is just that much more epic because Minecraft players know how much more difficult it would have been to make it. Creative mode is fun if you want to build something on a large scale or test something out. Which I will be doing both. I'm making a civilized world, with buildings and intricate tracks, but one of the stops is a testing area where I will be testing a lot of redstone contraptions.

I'm getting bored of 1.8 survival and will probably get back into it with 1.9

I will actually probably make a new survival server with ever major update.

Thoughtful gab:

I've noticed that when playing with my friends, we play very differently. I love survival. I like making it realistic and making it feel like I am in this world trying to survive and making it for myself in my own frontier.

Whereas my friend Jake is very different. He likes building. I like building too and later in the game I will build more and more intricate structures. But almost right off the bat Jake is building. He doesn't care about utilizing redstone, minecarts, or ever pressure plates to make his "survival" easier. He just builds. He builds creative towers and smiles out of cotton and floating islands in the sky.

For instance, my friend Austin plays a lot like me, and all three of us were playing my server.

Austin and I made a simple bedroom and put signs by our doors saying who's room it was. Jake did not care to indicate his room with a sign, and he spent a lot more time expanding his room.

-Austin and I make a quick and essential room to upgrade later, once we have gotten other things to make life easier.

-Jake skips that step and starts upgrading.

-We mine to get better pickaxes to mine faster to get a bigger stash of stone when building, meaning less trips back to mine. We also start a farm to obtain a food supply and explore.

-Jake makes due with the stone and Iron pickax, gets stone, and starts building, often having to ask us for food and does little to no exploring.

Just interesting. I wonder how other people differ and what their play style is.

Survival VS Creative

I will make a poll and post the results in a week. Please vote :D

Remember, this doesn't mean which mode do you like better but what playstyle you tend to use in survival mode.

BF3: PC vs Xbox

Priorities:

6:00-6:30

Soul Calibur 4

7:30-8:30

minecraft

Virtually virtual:

Battlefield 3 is coming out soon. It will be a good thing to get my mind off of Old Republic. My problem is that I am still undecided on whether I should get it for xbox or PC. Here are some personal comparisons.

PC

-possibly bigger servers

-better lighting, graphics, ect..

-better effects, added detail?

-mouse precision

Xbox

-More comfortable on couch

-Have a friend or two that would play with me

I want PC mainly because I am excited that I have a top of line gaming computer and I want to utilize it. Battlefield 3 is supposed to be cutting edge in the fields of graphics, beauty. I want my breath to be taken away with the stunning visuals that only a computer can offer.

This is my reasoning behind even considering xbox.

2 months after this comes out I will drop it like a bad habit and dedicate my time to Old Republic. I'm sure I will occasionally play BF3, just for a change of game though. If I get it on PC this means I will be sitting in the bedroom, on my not so comfortable office chair, on the computer for hours playing Old Republic, then what if I want to play BF3? I stay on the computer and do it some more. But if I get it on xbox it will be a nice change of location and comfortableness to be on the couch in the living room.

Battlefield, unlike call of duty, is best playing with a team. I like having people I know instead of random noobs being on my team, and I have more confirmed friends getting it for xbox.

I am really torn between which platform to play it on. Either way I will regret not choosing the other. I am really excited to play the xbox beta on the 29th of this month. The beta will give me a chance to see for myself how the xbox handles the game play and graphics, hopefully giving me enough opinion on it to make a decision so I can pre-order.

Thoughtful gab:

I was talking to my wife about buying Battlefield 3, Old Republic, and a new computer monitor (around $300 total) which are all non essential items. She was kind of frustrated that I get to spend all this money for myself, where she works more than I do and she doesn't spend as much as I do.

This is an interesting dilemma.

Living in this apartment has been the first time I have been away from my parents house. I am used to spending 80% of my money on every check I got on games and silly things. Now, I've been spending a lot more on bills but a part of me still tries to get those fun things when I probably shouldn't. I think we can handle getting those 3 things over the coarse of the rest of this year but that is not the problem. The problem is that my wife feels like she doesn't get to buy anything for herself because all the extra spending funds go to my expenditures. This is actually mostly true, only for the reason that she just doesn't have many expensive things to buy. She buys books now and again but they are cheap. Otherwise she is happy on the internet and playing my games. It's not the same with a gamer. Games are expensive and the hardware to play them even more so.

Lets just not count the numbers here, but measure how happy we are. My wife is happy getting her few books a month, and I am happy buying games. We spend different amounts but achieve the same level of contentment.

So I say to her, you don't need to spend as much money as I do, as long as you are happy. If you want to spend more, lets talk about it, I can wait longer to get a computer monitor :)

Old Republic and Nyan cat

I find it funny that it just so happens that the day I play no Minecraft, it's an amazing day.

The wife and I decided that we needed a day together where she didn't read her books and I didn't play Minecraft. An us day. We had fun

which I don't want to brag so watching TNG and some Buffy the vampire slayer that she wanted me to see. We played some Soul Calibur 4

I won't :)

We did other married couple things ;) and cleaned the house and stuff.

Then had a awesome date night pick nick in a field.

I am currently listening to Nyan Cat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyan_Cat

I have actually been listening to this video for 1

hour, 37 min. I don't know why....

My wife made me turn down Nyan cat at 1 hour, 12 min :(

I didn't make this but kudos to the Minecraft-teer who did.

If that wasn't enough to make it a good day... Star Wars: The Old Republic came out with a release date!!!

Countdown will be on the side panel until release. ------->

Which brings me to my next topic. The pre-ordering.

SWTOR Pre-ordering and you:

If you plan on getting the game and have not pre-ordered yet, do it. Do it now. If you don't have money right now, do it through amazon.

Pre-ordering the game gets you

-a guaranteed spot in the servers which will be like a can of sardines

-early access which means you will be able to play a day to a week earlier than the actual release date. But depending on how fast you get the pre-order determines on when you will be invited to early release. So hurry and get it so you can play sooner!

-a color customizer for your weapon

There is also the epic bundle you can get and electronic version which both offer an more perks.

you can read that info here

http://www.swtor.com/preorder

Which store should you buy it from you ask? Best buy and gamestop are usually reliable. They are walk in's meaning you walk in to order it, and walk in to pick it up. This is good in the fact that it means as long as you are there and it is open on release day, you walk home with your copy. Now Iv'e never used Amazon to pre-order something before, but by culminating my knowledge of online shopping, my wife's Amazon pre-order experience, and things I've read online, I don't know when you get the game. Will they ship before the release date so you actually get it in the mail? Or will all the Amazon buyers be playing late because they had to wait for the shipping? Price is nice because Amazon does not charge you for a pre-order until it ships. So save the money now and make sure it will be in the account come December!

I chose Amazon because I was low on money at the time. The jury is still out on the shipping. Will I get it in the mail a few days early or late? Has the potential to be awesome or stupid.

As far as I understand it though, they give you a link to the game client so you can download it off of the net and play for early access so this is no problem. So it really comes down to:

Wait in long lines at a store (chance they run out?)

or

pay extra for asap shipping (chance it comes late?)

P.S. I made it to two hours of Nyan cat! Now I'll go to bed... if I can get the song out of my head...

Not much

I played about 30 min of minecraft today, watched a lot of youtube videos, and hung out with my wife. Tomorrow might be a lame blog post too, since I will be hanging out with the Mrs. all day :)

I feel like I may be moving from a heavy PC phase to a PC/xbox hybrid phase. I look forward to Battlefield 3. But once Old Republic comes out, its back to computer!

Trouble on the homefront

Priorities:

9:30-2:00 (4.5)

minecraft and online research about it

3:00-4:30

sleep

Virtually virtual:

I found an awesome mapping program! It maps your Minecraft maps with a click of a button!

This is my survival server a few friends and I are working on.

Thoughtful gab:

It finally happened. When I lived with my parents my mom would often get on my case about playing to many video games. I'm sad to say for the first time my wife said this to me this morning, "All you ever do is play Minecraft." which we all know to be untrue. I go shopping and on dates and out to eat and watch StarTrek and other things with my wife almost on a daily basis. I think the main reason for her upset is that I'm not going into work with her today which she likes, only because I was planning on doing other things thinking they didn't need me but she told me they did at the last second. And because I once again stayed up late last night and didn't come to bed with her. Iv'e always loved that she accepts my passion for video games so it makes me sad that she said that. I agree that I need to come to bed with her, so we can talk and snuggle and stuff. But its silly and kind of hurtful to say that I only play Minecraft. Does she not remember all the work I did around the house too while she was at work? I hope that just how she thinks she feels, and after one night of me going to bed with her, she view on my video game playing will be back to normal. If you're ready this Ky, I love you and I'll do better about getting obsessed with minecraft projects.

Later in the day she felt a lot better about the situation. Still, tonight I'm going to bed :)

Sleepy

Priorities:

1:30-3:00

netflix

3:30-4:30

assassins creed

9:30pm-2:30am

minecraft

6 hours of gaming

Virtually virtual:

Ug. stayed up late trying to finish this automated animal trap in minecraft. Takes forever in survival mode. Can't write much. Must sleep. Ill update more tomorrow.

Thoughtful gab:

I can't really think right now. I have been writing these blogs last thing before I go to bed. It's late. Goodnight everyone.

Why parents stink at video games

Priorities:

9:30-12:30 (3)

minecraft

4:00-5:30 (1.5)

minecraft

6:00-6:30 (.5)

minecraft

5 hours of Minecraft

Virtually Virtual:

Worked more on renovating the village. Made a lot of progress including finishing the fence around its perimeter.

This is a picture of our new neighbors at our main gate. -->

Thoughtful gab:

Gaming requires time. Certain games more than others. I don't think I could consider myself a gamer unless I was very knowledgeable about the games and felt comfortable with them. Which is nearly impossible to do unless you spend a lot of time playing them.

Take this man, Rob. He just came home at 5 PM from his full time job to his three children and wife who all demand his attention, which he is happy to oblige. But he's tired and has fleeting memories of a time when he used to play video games frequently. Later that night when the house quiets down he gets on StarCraft 2. Maybe its only the third time since he bought it 4 months ago. He plays a campaign mission, not understanding what everything does or means, but its fun because its a game again. Then he plays a match online only to be swiftly destroyed by his much superior oppenent. He closes the game realizing that he can't compete with people like that and accepts that he will never be considered a dedicated gamer again.

VS me. Who works some, still cleans around the house and still goes on date nights with his wife and hangs out with friends, who also plays video games full time. I play so much that I know how everything goes. It becomes a second nature to me. Since I have passed that level of general learning, I can focus on fine tuning my skills, exploring and being even more creative. If it were Minecraft Rob was playing, he would probably die the first night, have a little fun mining some random resources, and at the most construct a mediocre base.

I would continue saying;

Like even I did the first time. But where he stopped, I continued, getting a better feel of the game.

But this is not even accurate. Because my first time wasn't that bad. I picked it up very quickly. Yes I wasn't as generally good at it as I am now, but still.

Why is this so? Because I think like a gamer. I have played so many other games that my brain is hardwired in a way to already be thinking in the manner of the game and absorb its knowledge quicker than the average middle aged man.

This brings me to the point of the generational technology drift.

My parents are horrible at video games. They weren't to bad at Mario Cart 64. But I had both my mother and my father play portal and it was... sad. I gave them tips, I gave them time and patience. But they had a hard enough time adapting to strafing to think about the puzzles. Even when they got that down they just didn't understand the concept.

This makes me wonder, will it be the same for me when I have children? I think the answer is no, for a couple reasons.

1. I am more dedicated to technology in the realm of video games, computers, ect.. So I will continue to keep updated about them as I grow older.

2. When my parents were young they didn't have computers. Then when they did, they were simple and impractical. The technology jump from record players to super computers was massive. So much, that almost nothing can happen in my time as an equivalent. What could be so much more upgraded, so new, in the next 30 years that I just can't comprehend it unless I grew up using it? Nothing. Computers only keep getting more advanced, which leads into virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Of which I am accustomed with already, at least in some form.

My parents had nothing to compare computers to in their day, so when computers became so popular, once they were busy with their lives, they were lost and just could never grasp the thought process behind video games.

Not trying to argue any point really and I know there are middle aged men out there that can game. I was just speaking in general terms.

Life transition

Priorities:

11:00-11:30 (.5)

minecraft

1:30-5:00 (3.5)

minecraft

8:00-12:00 (4)

minecraft

8 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

I didn't really feel in the mood for minecraft during the day. I really just wanted to make a minecart system but my friend whom I'm doing it with is was busy. Nothing else sounded appealing. So I went on some servers and tried playing but they were lame. I ended up just going back to my server, mining, and expanding my farmland.

Later, my friend got on and we made a really long mine cart rail from our main base, over an ocean, forest, and dessert, to an abandoned village. The rail ate nearly all of my supplies but it was worth it. The project we are now working on is restoring the village an claiming it our own!

Thoughtful gab:

Intense gamers like to play videos games all day with little to no socialization. A married gamer can't do that. Lately my wife is asleep by the time I get to bed. Neither of us like that.

Just tonight she said, "I'm a freaking Minecraft widow."

It was a joke but I know in all actuality I spend a little to much time playing games and not enough with my wife. It's the battle between the gamer self and the married self.

She likes games and doesn't mind me playing them to much. But there needs to be a balance. The sooner I find it, the better

Today's married gamer...

Router needed. Loosing game time

Priorities:

5:30pm-7:00 (1.5)

minecraft

8:30-11:00 (2.5)

minecraft

4 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

I finished the tower. It's awesome and all. But I don't have any use for it really, got dull quick. But its still just cool that I took all that time to make it. Im just glad I don't have to burn any more sand...

Yes that tiny thing down there is my boat

The most exciting moment!

The final product

There is another 1/3 of the tower under the seabed

Thoughtful gab:

I need to get a router so we can have more than one device using internet so she can stop using my computer! I would already be started on my next Minecraft project if she hadn't taken her time watching Youtube videos of cats. I had nothing else to do besides clean the house! D:

In all actuality I like cleaning the house. Mostly because its messy and I don't like living in the mess. But I have a hard time doing it on my own when I could just play games. So if anyone, or more specifically my wife, helps me, it changes my mindset to work mode and I do it. Sure I like to play games a lot but I still take responsibility when needed.

My wife and I watched more Star Trek TNG together today. She has not seen the series where I have. And she has been showing me Dr. Who where our situations are reversed. I enjoy our time spent together watching nerdy things. She plays StarCraft 2 and shes actually not bad at it but she doesn't have an account so we cant really play together. Now only if I could get her to play Minecraft...

Inter-spacial exponential observatorium

Priorities:

12:30-2:30 (2)

minecraft

6:00-8:00 (2)

minecraft

9:00-12:00 (3)

minecraft

7 hours of Minecraft

Virtually Virtual:

I am taking a break from mapping to work on my next Minecraft project, a tower that scrapes the sky at its tip and rests in the ocean on its middle but penetrates the seabed and goes all the way down to the bedrock. I have named this mighty tower the "Inter-spacial exponential observatorium."

Note that I am not in creative mode, and the only mod I am using is the server to change the time of day. All this was mined and built the old fashion way.

The hardest part was at the

beginning. If you place a block over water, and there is no water to rush

back in, when you remove said block the water will be gone. I essentially did that but on a much larger scale. Built a solid 11x11 slab all the way down. Yes I ended up swimming up for air alot. Then I carved out the inside leaving a dry empty rectangle.

I have dug past the sea floor and hope I am close to the bottom. After I hit the bedrock im building up!

Thoughtful gab:

I was shopping at walmart with my wife today when I took this picture, on the left. I couldn't resist...

Bigger version

Minecraft build credit goes to Adam Gunsch. Thanks Adam!

Map Quest

Priorities:

11:00am-2:00pm (3)

minecraft

4:00-6:00 (2)

minecraft

11:30-2:30 (3)

minecraft

8 hours of Minecraft

Virtually Virtual:

I basically spent the whole day mapping. Meaning I walked the entire LOS in two map sectors. Meaning I walked a lot. Why would I take the time, to do somthing that does not nessisarily effect game play, and that I have to go outside of the game to edit? Because it makes me feel like I am really charting unexplored lands. When else are you going to do it? It's unrealistic to explored the unexplored in real life. But here its relatively easy, safe, and there is plenty (infinite really) land for me to explore! Who knows what crazy landscapes I will happen upon. The picture is the product of today's work.

This is a bigger version.

Click here

Thoughtful gab:

The line between real life and video games may be thinner than you think. In video games I usually don't like consumable items. Mostly when it comes to stockpiling them. In the video game Diablo 2, I hate potions because I am constantly worried I will run out of them and die. So I always have a belt full of them and 2-4 in my inventory. As soon as I use one I have to get another one immediately. If I don't then I may use more and have to use the ones in my inventory. And if that happens then I may run out and die! The only thing that brings me peace is to either overstock, or always have a set number. The silly part is that I sometimes get even more potions that I am ok with the number fluctuating just to fill into my inventory stock if I have to use any, so my belt and those 4 in my inventory are always fully stocked.

In Minecraft I always have a certain amount of stone on me just in case I have to build a bridge or something, and I always have as much food as I can get my hands on in a chest back at the base. And even if I have more than enough, I will gather food along my travels, just to be sure.

Now in real life something similar happened. To save electricity my wife wants me to turn the Air Conditioning down (warmer) during our electricity peak time, when it costs more. I hate this. I hate the fact the air conditioning can't take care of itself anymore and I now have to worry about changing it on a daily basis. So far I haven't planned on changing it. Im content with it staying the same so I don't have to worry about it, much like the potions in my inventory.

"This level is the devil"

About once a week I go to work with my wife and work there for the day. Today is that day.

Priorities:

8:30

Work

5:30-7:30 (2)

Minecraft

2 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

I started mapping my Minecraft world today. I never re

ally liked the map but I came up with a neat idea. I'm going to take multiple maps and combined them in paint and make notes on them. Idk it just sounded like a fun project.

Thoughtful gab:

My wife is a very vocal gamer. While I was in the bedroom playing Minecraft, I couldn't help but hear her almost constantly yelling at the Burnout 3 game she was playing in the other room.

"Where is that first place bastard?!"

"I am my own worst enemy!"

"That's the finish line you rat bastard!"

"I'm restarting, I'M RESTARTING... ahh don't start yet!"

"I will not remain in 6th place, It is you who will be eliminated!"

"This is such a freaking violent game."

"You are mine for the taking! There see, I took you!"

"This level is the devil"

And that was just a few...

Fear for the future

Priorities:

10:30-11:30am (1)

Minecraft

4:00-7:00 (3)

Minecraft

8:40-11:40 (3)

Minecraft

7 hours of Minecraft

Virtually virtual:

Today was the day two of my friends and I launched our new 1.8 server. I didn't work on an epic projects today besides making a large hollow room deep underground. I was mainly exploring the caverns, gathering minerals, and tending to my garden :)

Thoughtful gab:

My wife was a little upset today when she got home. Usually I greet here happily at the door but today the 1.8 update held me to my seat. I still greeted her but the game sucked me in to much and sometimes and it can be frustrating for her. If she thought that was bad though.. I fear to see what will happen when Old Republic comes out!

Reasourcefulness

Priorities:

8:45

woke up

9:20

Minecraft

12:15

Went to lunch with mother

2:00-4:20

Minecraft

4:35

A friend came over

5:30

Wife came home, watched TNG, and Dr. Who

10:00

Minecraft

11:30

Bed

Virtually virtual:

So last night, a friend by the minecraft name of BomberMan88 not only helped me find my lost castle, but he helped me purge it of the lava and water! Thanks a lot BomberMan88! You saved me from a lifetime of searching in an infintently generating landscape.

Minecraft, like most games is best played with friends.

Thoughtful gab:

So an hour or two into playing minecraft my left wrist started to hurt. I looked around for something to rest it on and noticed the stack of used tissue on the desk. I crumpled the used tissue in a ball, laid a clean tissue over it, and used it to rest my wrist on. A gamer can be resourceful when it comes to not leaving his games... or just lazy.

Castle-gedon

Just got home from work. I was thinking about what to blog about today while I was at work and I was mad that I couldn't type up my thoughts at that moment.

So I was thinking about how to format my blog, what to really have in it. I came up with the idea of have 3 main parts to it.

1. I give an overview of my day to show you how much I really game.

2. Expounded gaming talk

3. I rant or give advise or just speak my mind. Mostly my life and wife.

I should name these sections... hmm

ok so

1. will be "Priorities"

2. "Virtually virtual"

3. "Thoughtful gab"

and I will publish my posts at night but wright throughout the day, as I am doing now :)

Priorities:

6:00am-10:50am

Work

12:00-2:00

played minecraft

2:15-3:45

browsed the web

4:00-6:00

played minecraft

6:05-10:30

wife came home and we hung out, ate, and watched Star Trek TNG

11:00-12:30

Played minecraft

1:00am

went to bed

Virtually Virtual:

Minecraft is actually really frustrating me right now. I put in many hours over the past few days making an epic castle. So at the top of one of my tower i wanted to put stationary lava with glass underneath for light. Turned out it wasn't so stationary. The lava flowed over the roof and all down my tower. It looked cool but was not at all what i wanted. unfortunately i placed the lava at the second to highest point. This means I couldn't place blocks to contain the lava, only water and lava could be placed that high. so I added water, which turned it to stone and obsidian. But then I had a waterfall coming down my tower. after much reconstruction I was able to stop the waterfall. There was still some lava though i had missed and I died multiple times trying stop it, falling to my death or catching on fire. So i moved my bed closer to the tower so i wouldn't have to walk all the way back. It was day time and I couldn't set my bed as my spawn point (sleeping in it) so I just decided to do it at night. Meanwhile i would work on fixing my tower. Once again the lava killed me. And then it spawn me in no mans land, who knows where in the infinite server. So I stopped playing. going to wait until I can get some friends to help me look for it.

-sigh-

That last hour was not fun. But its a game, why did i keep playing? Because I was making something and I was determined to finish. A little challenge is good, but.. can sometimes just suck and be annoying. Its also funny, I don't want to even play minecraft anymore after that. Sometimes with games when I've been playing

for a while and something like this happens, or it crashes and didn't save or something. I not only don't want to play any more at the time, but I usually stop playing the game entirely for weeks or months. In this case, I think I will just abandon, or postpone my castle project until after the 1.8 patch comes out.

Above is a picture of my castle project an hour or two before the calamity.

Thoughtful Gab:

Today at work I was just thinking about young kids and Black ops. Its sad that some kids have never played, or don't like, classics like Ocarina of time and only play these fast passed FPS. What is worse is being a mature gamer and having all these whiney high pitched voices yelling over their mics and talking trash. Come on parents! There is a M in the corner of the game for a reason. Not just because its violent, I myself wanted to play violent games at that age. But more because you really should just be at a certain maturity level to play the game! Or at least in order to have a headset..

Also.. The 4chan culture is funny and I respect that they have created their own way to talk and act.. their own culture. But I really don't think kids should be on their. Again, not necessarily because I don't think kids shouldn't read racist jokes or see tentacle rape. But because these kids spend A LOT of time on here and it becomes a part of them and 4chan.. come on lets be honest, 4chan is really messed up. And if 4chan is actually nurturing this generation of children... may God help us all.

At noon I had some New England clam chowder (chunky)

:)

History and goals

Intro

What defines a "Gamer?" For me its someone that happily works a 4 hour shift, 4 days a week, and comes home to immidiatley get on the computer and spend over 5 hours on it. Because that's basically me. There is just something about being submerged in a world, sometimes completely unlike our own, where you can act however you choose, that appeals to me. Having tasks that push the limits of your logic and creativity give me a sense of accomplishment accompanied by extreme fun.

Compare

Real life: I got another C on my math test. I hate math.

Games: I got a C on that level (test). I'm going to go back and get all the collectibles this time! I might need to check online for their hidden locations though (study).

Similar. But for me, why would I sit and study boring difficult math, when I could try and get all the collectibles in this virtual world?!

Maybe its the difference between, Math is on paper and a lot of memorization. Where Gaming is in another reality and you use more senses to learn and figure things out.

Touch: Pencil vs Mouse

Sight: Numbers vs worlds and colors and moving spectacles

Sound: N/A vs Sounds for almost every action with huge spectrum

Im not making this blog to argue..

But this section is to just possibly help any readers that don't quiet see eye to eye about video games.

Gaming History

The first video-esk game I remember playing is some kind of weird mushroom person learning game on a floppy disk. I played other games such as Treasure Mountain on the windows 98 when I was around 8. The next leap in gaming for me wasn't until I was 11ish when my parents bought me my first gaming console, The Nintendo 64. I was immediately hooked on Goldeneye and the fact you could play with your friends (a new concept for me) really pulled me in. After a myriad of other N64 games I started playing more PC games. Even though I never actually got it, my favorite game of the time was Battlefield 1942. Again the fact you could play with other humans was amazing! And not only 3 other but 15 or more! Unfortunately my parents not only wouldnt let me use the internet for gaming, but they also wouldn't let me get a computer or and Mature games. I was always jealous that my friends loved playing Halo but because if its rating I couldn't. From there it was Gamecube, Playstation 2 and PC where I played alot of Age of Empires 2 and StarCraft Brood War. Then Xbox 360, and current day, PC.

My current favorite games are Minecraft, which I have only been playing for a week and LOVE it. Love the power to make things only limited by your pickax, the time of day, and your creativity, oh and patience. Its really fun and I love making epic projects (only really done one), they really give you (me) a sense of accomplishment :)

The other game is Star Wars: The Old Republic. I am more excited for this game than I have ever been for anything ever and I am not even egsaturating. The day it comes out will really be the second best day of my life. My love of Star Wars, free roam, and games in general have made this game a drug for me. And it hasn't even been released yet.

Personal History

Most of it was in the last paragraph except that I recetly got married :)

Now living on my (our) own in an apartment. Got a nice TV recently so that was cool. And finally got internet a few days ago (idk how I lived those few month without it!).

I don't really want to write about my personality. If you are a consitent reader you can form your own visual of what I'm like.

Plan/Goals

In life? Idk. Game, go to school, love my wife, make a family.

For this blog?

Well... I feel like alot of people are confused about what makes gamers tick and why they devote so much time to games. They are often looked down upon as leeches in society or fat guys living in their mother basement. While I can't argue that I am the best contributor to my society, I just want to let people have the option to peer into the daily life of today's married gamer.

I know the it says it under the title, but I never actually lived in a basement, fyi