Lenovo S10 Netbook
I ordered a Lenovo S10 netbook computer and it just arrived today. It has a 10.2″ screen, Atom processor, 512mb RAM, 80gb hard drive, wifi, camera, express card, etc. I have only messed around with it for a couple of hours but I am already impressed. It runs well, even with just 512mb of RAM. I have a Kingston 2gb stick on the way that I only paid $17 for. It is amazing how cheap RAM is these days. I also bought a bluetooth module for it from Ebay and will be installing it when it arrives.
I will post a review of the unit once I have had more time with it. I plan to dual boot Windows XP (which it comes with) and OS X. I have missed using OS X since moving to my Alienware laptop. More to come as time permits.
Read MoreRemembering Ultima Online 2 – The Game That Never Was
What could have been…
This was made back around the 2001/2002 timeframe. I don’t know who put the video together, but they did an incredible job. It also looks like they were doing some great things with motion capture.
Read MoreThe Only Thing That Can Dethrone World of Warcraft: Sex
I have returned to working more soul-crushing hours at work, so I haven’t had much time for playing games lately. The fact that Vanguard keeps screwing me over hasn’t exactly drawn me to the computer. That doesn’t, however, keep me from thinking about the games that I play.
Gaming companies keep trying to find the right formula that will allow a game to become as popular as World of Warcraft. They have tried emulating WoW, being completely different from WoW, and trying to be something in between. None of them has worked as well as they had hoped. Well, I have the secret sauce that will make a game even more popular that World of Warcraft. The game companies have shied away from it, but if they want to make the huge dollars, someone will need to do it. What is it, you ask? Why, an MMO based on sex, of course.
Everyone knows that sex sells. Heck, it sells everything from Barbie dolls to fried chicken. Since this is a fact, I am suprised that a company hasn’t jumped on this for a game. I mean, just imagine a high-budget MMO with stellar graphics geared towards the perv in all of us. The social gaming potential is staggering, and in my opinion, the reason why a great many people play and stay a long time.
Imagine, if you will, a 350 pound behemoth, sitting at his computer in a basement somewhere. He will never get laid in the real life. But, what if he could create a customized avatar that made him look like a 20 year old stud muffin? Or reverse the idea, and a female 300 pound goliath could make her avatar look like a young Pamela Anderson. They could meet in a bar, have a few digitized drinks, flirt in text or voice chat, then go back to his/her apartment and do the dirty deed. The stellar graphical engine would allow for some amazing visuals as they live out their wildest fantasies. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t draw a ton (no pun intended) of paying customers.
Oh, but don’t stop there. Design amazing virtual strip clubs, malls, and sex toy shops to titillate their every desire. Allow them to wear whatever they want, whenever they want, so that they can live out an online life they would never be able (unwilling) to do in real life.
The biggest draw, of course, would be the sex. Allow players to have consensual sex in any way they see fit in high graphical detail. It would draw paying customers by the millions.
If you want to be king of the mountain and topple World of Warcraft, a porn MMO is the only thing that has any chance of doing so for quite some time. Will a company be bold enough to do this? I doubt it, but if they did, I would love to be on the design team!
Read MoreVanguard Pisses Me Off – AGAIN
Look, it is a well-known fact that Vanguard has its share of problems. Coming back, I was willing to overlook them in the hopes that I would like the game enough to continue with it. With that said, I’ve just about had enough with these stupid quest problems. The same quest line that gave me major problems earlier now has me banging my head against a wall again.
I am on the next phase of the URT: Undead Envoy quest line. The quest is named “Soul and Brain Power.” The objective is to run over to Veshka’s Monastery, kill a few of Veshka’s followers, and aquire a brain and torso from their bodies. I also needed to go to the graveyard behind the monastery and absorb the spirit of a Wandering Spirit that can be found there. Veshka’s Monastery can be found along the road east of Misthaven.
I easily found the monastery and killed a few of Veshka’s followers that were milling around outside. I quickly obtained the brain and torso. I then ran around the back of the building and found the graveyard. It is full of aggressive undead. I spotted the Wandering Spirit and watched what he was doing. The Spirit will slowly wander around the graveyard, which made this part of the quest much easier. I killed several of the undead to clear out a corner of the graveyard. I then waited for the spirit to wander past. I used the URT Spirit Absorber when he came into range and it was done in an instant. So far things are going great.
Quest completed, I ran back to Misthaven to turn in the quest to Helave Velore. Just one problem. She doesn’t think I have completed the quest. My quest journal shows all objectives complete. The quest tracker shows everything complete. Why won’t this bitch acknowledge it? I tried putting all the items in the bank and then logging out. I put the items back into my bags upon re-entering the game but that didn’t work when I tried to turn them in again.
This is frustrating beyond belief. How long has this game been out? As a casual player, I don’t have the time or inclination to be put through crap like this. I want to have fun playing a game, not cursing at my screen and writing articles like this one. Right now, I can’t see paying to play this game when my free time is up. Why should I when everything I try to do is broken?
Read MoreVanguard: URT Or Bust
After receiving that response from a Vanguard community representative, I had hoped that they would fix the quest Harvesting The Parts in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, nothing had changed as of the last time I logged in. But, I was not going to let a screwed up quest defeat me, so I decided to work it until it was finished.
I needed five broken hand bones from my undead friends, so off I went to the nearby hilltop to kill a few of them. As I mentioned before, due to the problems with this quest, once two hand bones drop, you won’t get another one until you run to town and put them in the bank. A hand bone dropped on each of the first two undead that I killed. I killed several more to see if the quest had been fixed. It wasn’t, so I ran to town, dropped them in the bank, and ran back. I did this until I had the required ten that the quest called for. What a pain.
Helave Verelore, the NPC that I need to turn this quest into, is located in Misthaven. Since it is a long run to get there, I flew a griffon north until I reached Misthaven and turned in the quest. She then gave me the quest “Soul and Brain Power,” which is the next task in this URT quest line. It seems she needs a good brain and strong torso for this undead envoy they are building, so I must go to a monastery and kill some minions there in order to aquire what she needs. I am also to use a device to absorb the essence of a spirit that wanders the graveyard there.
I dinged level 20 after completing the Harvesting the Parts quest. The druid spells I received were:
- Thunderclap 1: 810 to 855 arcane damage
- Venomous Thorns 3
- Sooth 3: 578 heal and 1206 heal over 16 seconds
- Tranquility 1: Invulnerability for 20 seconds
- Okeli’s Shield 1: Reduces damage taken by 100% for two hits or 30 seconds
- Ire 3
I have so many quests in my journal that I don’t know which ones to go after. Many are lower level quests that I never got around to. I am assuming that the URT quests are more important because they give nice equipment upgrades for the level.
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