Friday, April 16, 2010

The WAR is over, for now.

A few weeks ago the unruly folks over at Multiplaying.Net started playing Warhammer Online again and talking about it on their podcast. I have always felt that on paper WAR is the MMO I should love the most: multiple races with differing starting areas, lots of PvE, and varied PvP gameplay that I can participate at my discretion. I think the main sticking point for me is the PvE content; the quests are really well written, seem pretty varied at times, but there is so much running around and the level grind was tough to stomach after playing WoW so much.
But I decided to use my Call to Arms 10 day free play, and I have been reminded of why I both like and dislike the game. I will say that leveling seems to be going much faster now, primarily due to the huge amounts of rest xp I have, so that was a pleasant surprise, but there is still a lot of running around at my level. In the short amount of time I did play that was really the only complaint that I had with the game, it's been a lot of fun doing scenarios and running around doing oRvR in T2.

But my free play ends today and with all the hockey going on right now I will not be reactivating my account. At least not yet. I figure that once the first round of the NHL playoffs are over there will be more time to play games, but right now I am DVR-ing everthing and watching games before and after work, I love it.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Steed.

The popular topic today in the blogosphere happens to be about Blizzards new RMT items, in particular the Celestial Steed. I am thinking the main sticking point being that the Steed happens to cost $25.00!

Darren over at The Common Sense Gamer has a nice post on  the comparisons between the cost of the new Steed offered by Blizz and full games offered by a few digital retailers for the same price. I like the comparisons cause it does give one a new perspective about the amount of content versus the price.

But with that said, I have no problem with Blizz selling this, I just don't understand why anyone would spend this kind of money on a mount that will not be as unique as some other mounts in the game.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Dub's NHL Playoff Prognostication, Western Conference Style.

Yesterday I gave my predictions for Eastern Conference matchups, today I want to give my predictions for the Western Conference. As much as I love the Sabres, I do think that the Stanley Cup winner will come from the west, it's just that strong of a Conference. So without delay, let's get started:




San Jose Sharks (1) vs Colorado Avalanche (8) My prediction: Sharks in four.

Living in San Jose I am very much interested in the Sharks, and working one block form the Tank I am not looking forward to the traffic. Sharks should win this series and I would be surprised if they lose more than one game. But, this is the Sharks we are talking about and their playoff record as of late is not very good, so I will throw this out there; if the Sharks lose game one then they are done.



Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs Nashville Predators (7) My prediction: Blackhawks in six.

Yes Chicago has a great offense, but the big question is in net for them. The Preds had a great season and they finally get to play a team in the playoffs not located in Detroit or San Jose. This series features two teams with goaltenders with no playoff experience, but I think Chicago's potent offense is going to overwhelm the Preds.



Vancouver Canucks (3) vs Los Angeles Kings (6) My predictions: Canucks in five.

This is another tough game to predict. Vancouver has the playoff experience, a gold medal winning goalie and the league's top scorer, and LA may have a decent mix of young and vet players, but the big question for them is in net. Of all the series in the west, I feel this could be the one big upset.



Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs Detroit Redwings (5) My prediction: Coyotes in seven.

For me this is probably the most interesting series in the first round. Phoenix is this years cinderella team and Detroit is trying to make the finals for a third straight time. Detroit has the experience, they are the hottest team in the NHL since the Olympic break, and no one thinks Phoenix has a chance to win this. And should rookie goalie Jimmy Howard not be up to task, Detroit can turn to Chris Osgood who has won a couple of cups for the Wings. Here is what I think; Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov is going to play like there is no tomorrow and take the Wings to a game seven and win it in Phoenix, at least that's what I hope.


Well there you have it, i'm sorry if this isn't as informative as yesterday's Eastern Conference preview, but I really wanted to get this out before the puck dropped tonight. Let's go Sabers!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Dub's NHL Playoff Prognostication, Eastern Conference Style.

The NHL playoffs start on the 14th, and being a huge hockey fan I thought I would give some thoughts to the matchups in the first round of the playoffs, commonly referred to as the Conference Quarterfinals. So let's get started with the Eastern Conference matchups shall we!



Washington Capitals (1) vs Montreal Canadians (8) My prediction: Caps in four.

The Capitals are an offensive machine, if Montreal is to have any chance they need to hope they can take advantage of the Caps poor PK and pray that Jaroslav Halak plays like the second coming of Patrick Roy.



New Jersey Devils (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (7) My prediction: Flyers in seven

If there was one team the Devils did not want to play in the first round, it would have been the Flyers. Philadelphia went 5-1-0 against the Devils this season. The biggest question for the Flyers is their goaltending, is it going to be good enough.



Buffalo Sabres (3) vs Boston Bruins (6) My prediction: Sabres in seven.

Being a Sabres fan I couldn't be any less happier to see them facing the Bruins. Boston went 4-2-2 against the Sabres this year, and Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask shut down the Sabres for the most part. On the flip side, Ryan Miller was 2-0-2 against the Bruins and is arguably the best goaltender in the NHL right now. The problem for both teams will be offense. The Sabres may have finished in the top ten in goal scoring, but that was mostly due to a late season surge in scoring while their defense was not at impressive as it was in the first have of the season. The Bruins are the worst scoring team in the NHL and if it wasn't for the play of Rask they would not be in the playoffs. Look for this series to be a low scoring snooze fest.



Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Ottawa Senators (5) My prediction: Pens in six.

They split the season series and all game were decided by three goals or more. But, the playoffs have a way of evening things out so expect a much tighter game from both teams with less scoring. In the end Pittsburgh has better goaltending and are a much more balanced team and it will be too much for Ottawa.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Borderlands for PC.

I have owned Borderlands for the Xbox since it launched, and I chose that version mainly for the online play. My thinking is that Borderlands for the PC uses the crappy Gamespy peer-to-peer multiplayer matchmaking and it's been my experience that games seem to not have much of an online community when using the Gamespy service. So instead I decided on getting the Xbox version and don't regret it one bit.

Even though I have completed one play through of Borderlands, I have played very little coop online like I thought I would. In the meantime I had been wondering just how great the game would look on my PC, cause it looks great on the Xbox, but I just wasn't ready to fork over fifty bucks for it yet.

On Friday I received an email from Gamestop with their latest deals and what not, and I noticed that Borderlands was 50% off for digital download! Hot damn, that's awesome, but I wonder if Steam has the same deal, and sure enough they did.

I love Borderlands, it great mindless fun with loads of loot. I was able to talk a friend into buying a copy as well, and once we were able figure the Gamespy garbage we played quite a bit of coop. It was pretty difficult because there were two of us, but it was a blast.

So if there is anyone out there who wants to play some Borderlands, feel free to send me a friends request in game @ xXJayeDuBXx. For now I leave you with a video on the making of Borderlands, it was the deciding factor for me when I considering on whether or not to purchase the game.


Friday, April 2, 2010

AoC time!

Today is payday, and as is customary on payday I tend to surf the web looking at computer and gaming stuff and convincing myself that I don't really need any of that stuff. But what did catch my eye was on the Gamestop website, they are selling Age of Conan 60-day time cards for only $12.99! Why that's less than a monthly sub, I should get some of those, and so I did!

I picked up two of these cards, so essentially I have four months of game time for the cost of less than two, if that made any sense. Looks like Jayedub is heading back to Hyboria!

It's a Dark Age.

Music in games can be such a magical thing. A good soundtrack can really add to the mood and atmosphere, as well as a bad soundtrack can be a detriment and detract from a someone's experience.

The reason I bring this up is because the other day my son was watching a tv show that had on it a trio of family members who could play some musical instruments, two playing the harp and on playing the violin. The music was great, but I couldn't help think that it sounded familiar.

And then it hit me, that sounds like the music from Dark Age of Camelot! And suddenly my mind was flooded with all sorts of thoughts, emotions and images from the days when I played DAoC. So the other day I was thinking of giving the DAoC trial a run, and I noticed that my old account is eligible for a 10 day free return time.

I am only into my second day of the ten days, but I am having fun running around getting reacquainted with the game world. Will I stick with it after 10 days? I really don't think so, but for now I will just enjoy my limited time with an old friend.