Weekend gaming

After the hectic week at work it was nice and relaxing to have little to do over the weekend. I passed the time with a fair bit of gaming whilst also taking advantage of the wonderful weather by going out for a few walks. With my small but friendly World of Warcraft guild suggesting a possible trip to the Sunken Temple instance, with my warrior Sapphire as the tank, it became a World of Warcraft weekend for me. For additional gaming options and equipment visit https://scufgaming.com/xbox.

I really don't like when I have to buy wow gold classic but it is way easier that farming it so I go to Gold4Vanilla online for it. I am more of a PvP person, so i simply buy it off.

I wanted to get Sapphire ready for the Sunken Temple, which primarily meant picking up the warrior class quest for the instance. This meant first getting Sapphire to 50th level, which seemed to take longer than it ought. Once I got the class quest I then had two pre-requisite quests to complete before getting the quest in the instance itself, and because of the situation this got my tanking glands engorged. It was something of a shame then that I ended up taking Knifey with the guild to Hellfire Citadel Ramparts, as people are getting keen to reach 70th level with a character for the November release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Running the Ramparts instance was good fun, though, and Knifey got a new belt, his first piece of socketed equipment too.

Sapphire even got her run in to the Sunken Temple, being randomly asked to join a group heading there the next day. Even though I wasn't asked along to tank I ended up doing so anyway and had a complete blast in the process. I had forgotten just how much fun tanking can be! Part of the fun came back because of the new levels I've attained and the abilities that the extra talent points buy, and part of it is in just relaxing and enjoying the game for what it is.

Having completed the pre-requisite quests for the Sunken Temple warrior class quest, then fighting through the Sunken Temple itself, I found that Sapphire's experience bar shot up considerably. Having been fighting to reach 50th level at the start of the weekend I ended up being half-way through 51st level to 52. It's interesting how focusing on the experience bar speeds up quest progression at the expense of slowing down XP gain, and ignoring the experience bar almost grants you with surprise levels because of the speed it advances. My progession and excitement at tanking has again made me consider whether I should focus more on Sapphire than Knifey.

I also found a neat consequence of playing on the US servers. Short John Mithril, the goblin pirate, places a treasure chest in the middle of Gurubashi Arena every eight hours, free for anyone who takes it. The only drawback is that the arena is a free-for-all PvP zone, which includes same-faction PvP. However, when he drops the chest at 3 am in the morning, server time, this is 11 am local time for me. I coincidentally heard him yell his challenge when in the area and wondered how easy it would be to get the chest. There were only a handful of other players in the same region, all lower level than me, so I headed to the arena. I opened the chest and plucked its contents from it as soon as it appeared without any challenge. Sapphire got a nice new sword to play with and an arena master trinket, which gives a nice +5 stamina boost. If I manage to sneak this eleven more times I can apparently become an arena grandmaster, although I have no idea if this would be worth my effort.

All this time in World of Warcraft, as well as spending too much time at work, has meant I have not been a space cadet in EVE Online for a while. I really must get back in to the pod and blow up some more rats that involve big explosions. Even though I haven't been a space cadet in person the skill training on Penny Ibramovic is continuing apace. With some long skills in training I have been safe leaving her hitting the books for days at a time. Although it is good to know that my character is progressing even if I am not playing it is important to note that the skills a character learns are meaningless if the player doesn't know how to use them. EVE Online may let your character learn whilst you are not logged in, but it is still vital to hone your skills personally.

And despite managing other household chores I still didn't get around to the vacuuming.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Weekend gaming
Tags: eve online, knifey, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, sapphire, world of warcraft

A new notebook

I've been thinking about buying a new notebook computer for a while, even toying with the idea of getting an Eee a few months back. The main impetus for getting a notebook is to let me write more comfortably by sitting on the sofa rather than at the computer desk. Whilst the computer desk is hardly uncomfortable, if I have been playing on the computer for a while, with World of Warcraft, EVE Online or City of Villains being current favourites, when I stop playing I want to get away from the desk if only to give myself the impression of progress with a change of scenery. A notebook computer would allow me to remove myself from the desk whilst still being able to write e-mails and journal or blog posts.

Even so, a notebook computer is something of a luxury, particularly as a glorified typewriter for the internet age. However, a notebook sitting alongside my desktop computer has other uses, which I remember from my previous and now-broken Powerbook. When playing games full-screen it is inconvenient to have to use cmd-tab to come out of the game to check e-mail or surf the web, and IM conversations are difficult to maintain. A notebook to one side removes the need to abandon the game for these purposes, and even encourages IM conversations and web surfing whilst performing the less-interesting aspects of MMORPGS, like travel, whether on gryphons or between stargates. I can also check the details of missions with the game screen visible and available for input.

I finally decided to buy myself a new notebook, sticking with Apple because the operating system fits me perfectly, even if it scuppers gaming considerably. I didn't buy from Apple directly, instead going to a John Lewis department store, mostly because I have one locally to me and Apple hardware is rarely discounted anywhere, so I get the same deal wherever I shop. A nice bonus was finding out that the generally good John Lewis guarantees extend to computers, and the store offer a second year guarantee on top of the standard one-year Apple guarantee, for no extra cost. I bought myself an Apple notebook and brought it home.

Once home, I got everything out of the box and got the power supply connected. I created my user account, and went through the preferences panel setting up the various options the way I like them. Then it was time for the software update, and I left the system downloading a few hundred megabytes of updates to install. After that, I copied various applications, utilities and data from my desktop computer. It had taken a while to get everything sorted, but my new computer was ready to be put to use! It was at this moment that the 'k' key on the keyboard came loose.

The key had not just shifted in transit and initial use, as I examined it and one of the two hooks underneath, which hold it on to the keyboard, had broken off. I had endured the chore of setting up the computer and didn't even get to use it. I took it back to the shop but they had no replacements, so I got a refund, not knowing when I would be able to pick one up when they were restocked. Of course, had I known I would have been commuting in the car a couple of days later, owing to a flat tyre on my motorbike, I could have stopped off on the way home from work.

Luckily I wasn't too discouraged by the experience and was still able to see the reasons why I wanted to buy a notebook, and managed to pop in to the shop again at the end of the week when new stock was available. I have been through the whole process of getting the computer set-up again, and this time it remains in one piece, which is nice. I am now able to write more comfortably whilst sitting on the sofa, which is where I am now, with a kitty on my lap as well. I think this has ended up working out quite well so far.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments »
Tags: apple, computers, john lewis

Kenickie eats again

When I got my new kitty, Kenickie, almost a year ago he took to the biscuits I fed him immediately, making satisfying 'nom nom nom' sounds whenever he got peckish and snacked from his dry food bowl. Finding some meat-based cat food that he liked was a bit more difficult. I soon found that he preferred chunks in jelly over chunks in gravy, much like my previous cat, but a particular brand or flavour that he would eat beyond licking off the jelly was not forthcoming.

His not eating most meaty foods was a concern but not a major one, as he was still chomping in to his biscuits and was full of life and action, seeming perfectly healthy. He even went out hunting at night, bringing back the occasional live moth to drop on to my bed when I was half-asleep, bless him. Even so, it was not something I was going to ignore and I strove to find some food that he would enjoy eating. Eventually, I managed this, and found a fishy-flavoured cat food that he ate, leaving a clean bowl that pleasantly surprised me. Kenickie was quite happy eating this food, and I was quite happy when I found it on offer at a local supermarket, snatching up several boxes at a good price.

My cat must have sensed that I had bought the food at less cost and turned his nose up at it, despite it remaining the same quality, and I was back at square one. I had a kitty who liked his biscuits but didn't want to eat meat. I kept trying the food he'd eaten before, telling him that it was his favourite, but either he didn't believe me or my status as a crazy cat person has been fulfilled and I am mistaken in thinking he can understand English fluently.

Again not wanting to give up, I bought yet another different brand and flavour this week, hoping that his delicate kitty palate simply desired a change from the all-fish dinners he had been having recently. To my delight he was interested in the new food and left a clean dish, which I happily filled again promptly because of the several days he had gone only eating biscuits. I think Kenickie likes a bit of variety in his dinner, which is just fine with me. I'll need to keep track of which foods he eats and try to cycle through them so that he can get a healthy diet.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments »
Tags: food, kenickie, kitty

It's a drone's life

'I don't like this, it's too quiet out there.'

'You never like missions, Drone2, always worried about something or other. It never feels good in this bay, the sole small window feeding claustrophobic fears. As soon as we're jettisoned in to space and hurtling around a frigate in a tight orbit, shooting with gay abandon, we have the time of our life. You know that.'

'But what are the odds we'll see some action this time? "Investigate the area and return, you don't need to engage any enemies", you read the same briefing as me. Drone2 is right, we're likely to be running in to an ambush. We'll have a few terrifying seconds of panic when the shields light up with missile and laser fire as the ship slowly aligns in order to activate the warp drive. If we're lucky, we won't see any sparks from the armour before that happens this time.'

'Meh, it will be a relaxing walk in the park, as always. I don't see what the fuss is about.'

'You wouldn't, Drone5. Our illustrious pilot hasn't bothered to learn how to control five of us at once, so you are always left behind, enjoying the space of the bay all to yourself.'

'He he, yeah. I have cake as well.'

'What?!'

'Quiet down, Drone1, Drone5 is pulling your thruster. One of these days you'll be out there with us, then what will you do?'

'I'll be past my warranty by then, safe in a laboratory testing prototype upgrades. Oh yeah.'

'Wait, what was that? I thought I heard...' The drones bang against each other in the bay as sounds of both heavy and light missiles thundering off the shields are intermixed with heavy cannon fire.

'Ambushed! I knew it! With gun platforms too, this isn't good.'

'Why aren't we orientating to the space station? Was that... was that one of our ship's launchers firing? Didn't she read—'

'Oh crap, not again. No, of course not. This is it, chaps. Game over, man. Game o—' The bay door jerks as quickly as a striking snake and the rail holding the drones in place jettisons the first four drones sequentially, thruster engines flaring and system lights blinking, in to the vacuum of space. The fifth drone is stopped by the bay door slamming shut, but its sensors remain active and busily scan the ship's surroundings.

'Oh man, she really did it, she sent them out in to an ambush. Ha ha, suckers! Yikes, Drone4 took a hit right out of the bay, that's going to sting a bit. I'm glad I'm not hey why is the drone bay opening aga—' A tiny, tinny scream is heard for the briefest of moments, before the lack of atmosphere leaves only a single red light silently staring back at the bay, glowing with a horrified intensity.

'Is that all the drones out, computer? I'm losing them left, right and centre.' I get a confirmation that the drone bay is empty and bang my fist on to the controls. Metaphorically, of course, as it's difficult to move in the green goo. At least that fifth drone will come in handy at last. It's irritating that I can only send four out at a time, but I'm glad that I kept the bay full just in case I lost any during a mission. I'm also glad I have some spare back at base, as I can't see a 'scoop base minerals of destroyed drones in to bay' option anywhere.

This engagement seems awfully tricky for a simple reconnaissance mission, particularly when my computer twice warns me that 'Minmatar ships have show up ready to defend their Gallente allies'. I would have thought my agent would have mentioned heavy resistance somewhere, like maybe in the briefing. Um, like this briefing, 'you don't need to engage the enemy'. Ah. I really ought to read these more often, as I have a niggling memory of losing ships to missions where I'm told to warp out directly. It's too late now, I've committed myself, and half the sentry guns are destroyed anyway. I'll probably be okay.

If only my dumb drones had put up more of a fight with all those frigates.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Back on two wheels

After finding my bike had a puncture yesterday, I arranged its recovery today. The bike was picked up from the company car park in the middle of the afternoon, and I got a call a little over an hour later informing me that the tyre had been repaired and the bike was ready to be picked up. Yay! I now have my bike back.

The puncture was clean and the tyre in good condition, which meant that I wouldn't need a new one as it could be plugged. It is an unexpected cost, but nothing outrageous and certainly cheaper than needing a new tyre so soon after replacing an old one.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Back on two wheels
Tags: motorbike

Missed another gig

I missed a gig recently, and fortunately worked out why I had missed it and had another opportunity to see the same band soon afterwards. Unfortunately, events conspired against me. For a start, tickets were not available to buy for the gig, but I kept myself feeling positive about getting to the venue in good time to be able to get in.

The day of the gig coincided with having external customers visit at work for some testing, which is a rare occasion, and, being their host, my sense of responsibility kicked in. I know that they are away from their site and so each day spent here is important, and whilst the time worked per day is flexible the number of days worked is best kept to a minimum. Trying to fit as much in as possible in the first day, in an effort to keep to the two-day schedule, coupled with a few problems encountered with the testing, meant that I ended up working almost twelve hours.

Nevertheless, I was still feeding myself positive thoughts. I was considering how long it would take me to get home, at which point I could feed the cat, feed myself, and still get to the station to catch an early-enough train. Yes, it could be done, even though work had run on much later than normal. The day was finally over, ironically enough with a test failure that more than likely will end up pushing the schedule over to a third day, and I got changed in to my leathers for the ride home.

I was a little deflated to walk across the car park to see, from a distance, my rear tyre also deflated. It wasn't a little compressed under the weight of the bike, merely jonesing for a fix of compressed air, but as good as flat. A closer inspection revealed a screw, or similar, imbedded neatly just off the tyre's centre. I would be pushing my luck to limp the bike to a garage in the hopes the puncture was slow and pumping it up would be enough to get me home, so I resign myself to finding an alternative passage home.

My brother was kind enough to come and pick me up, and I was able to get home safely. By now, I am tired from the long day of minor dramas and just about too late to get to the gig on time, even without trying to grab a bite to eat for my grumbling tummy. Instead, I treat myself to a takeaway pizza and cuddle up with my kitty. Tomorrow is another day, and I need to get my bike repaired. Besides, I have a gig or two lined up for some great artists where I have already bought tickets. Everything is okay.

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Tags: gig, motorbike

Imagine a fight with cannons

There are quite a few places in Azeroth, the world of World of Warcraft, that look similar, which shouldn't be surprising as many of the towns and cities were probably designed by the same architects. Within the occasionally familiar-looking walls there are usually many discriminating and often unique features that stimulate the mind in to forming distinct memories of each place. Whether it is the docked ship of the Deadmines, leper gnomes now inhabiting Gnomeregan, or the humid labyrinthine corridors of the Temple of Atal'Hakkar the sights are either suitably vivid or I have experienced or got lost in them enough times for me to have complied internally an extensive knowledge of sites of interests and accompanying hazards of Azeroth.

It is with a queer sensation that I have been occasionally reminded of a certain fight, either through idle thoughts or specific words conjuring up hazy-yet-remembered images, in which characters man cannons and shoot waves of pirates whilst battling their commander. Queer, because I have not been able to remember where the fight is staged. I know it is indoors, despite the presence of cannons, as I can picture the brickwork, and I am fairly sure you need to go downstairs to find the cannon master. The fight involves humans and is of sufficient difficulty as to require a handful of skilled participants in order to succeed, or even to get there. Yet I cannot place it.

Despite the presence of pirates it clearly isn't in the Deadmines, as that challenge is undertaken far too early on in an adventurer's career, and I have been through that recently enough to remember it. Images of the battle recall the architecture of the Scarlet Monastery, and even though it was a long time before I even knew where the Monastery was I have now been through each wing enough times to know it certainly isn't in there, or at least it is well-hidden. The fight couldn't be in Blackrock Spire, because of the lack of humans in the spire, and although Blackrock Depths has stonework and it doesn't seem the kind of place to hide a cannoneer, not that I have the time nor inclination to explore that place fully any more.

Having recently had the same memory of a cannon fight pop in to my head I decided to confirm either the memory or my lack of sanity by asking Google about cannon fights in World of Warcraft. Lo, I have not been dreaming up bizarre boss fights in games I've played too much, as I find Cannon Master Willey being located within the walls of Stratholme. I can now understand my confusion. First, it has been years since I have entered Stratholme, so my memory is bound to be a little hazy in places, even if my many visits have etched their mark on my mind. Second, Stratholme has two paths to follow, one being populated fully by undead, and the other leading to a human stronghold only after you pass some undead, with the concentration of abominations leading me to associate the city only with undead. And as the human population of Stratholme consists of members of the Scarlet Crusade, who also inhabit the Scarlet Monastery, it is not surprising that I made the connection between the remembered fight and the monastery as well as then dismissing the fight as fiction when I could never locate the cannons in the armoury.

All this reminiscing and research has made me nostalgic for the old, neglected dungeons whose denizens gather dust hoping for adventurers to get lost on the way to the Dark Portal and stumble instead in to a forgotten realm. Of course, there's not much to gain from entering old instances apart from the experience itself, but that is not a problem when all you are after is simply the experience. Hopefully one day I will be able to relive all the sights and battles of my old hunting grounds, and even man a cannon in Stratholme.

Posted in Gaming | 1 Comment »
Tags: azeroth, mmorpg, stratholme, world of warcraft

Prison break

'It's good to see you again, Penny Ibramovic.' My agent is always happy to see me, I'd better not tell him about the radioactive waste I just dumped in the station. For some reason there were no buyers on the market, so I had to ditch it somewhere and I made sure I flushed a few extra times, just to be sure. 'Can you head out and pick up some prisoners? I'll brief you with the deadspace coordinates if you take on the mission, and of course there will be the usual negotiable fee.' Being a helpful kind of person, who coincidentally is saving up to by a Raven battleship one day, I agree to the mission.

It's not long before I'm in the deadspace pocket with a dozen or so hostile ships between me and the slave pens in the distance, the thunder of missiles and cannon rounds on my shields reverberating in to the comfort of my pod. I may have glossed over some of the fine details of the briefing, unusually for me, as I was expecting I would simply be picking up the prisoners to transport them, not actually performing a rescue operation. Who would have thought a prison would be so well-guarded? Rescue missions are rather more fun, though, and my drones agree as they shoot out of the bay and start riddling the enemy full of holes. The fireworks of a missile fight flare and fade as ferocious flames consume the fallen foes. All that's left is to get the prisoners out of the slave pens.

A reasonable person would probably dock with the now-defenseless pens, free the prisoners and fly off to safety. However, reasonable people generally don't pilot a heavily armed Drake battlecruiser. Besides, I don't have the key and am not about to waste time searching through all the wreckage looking for one, that's the Marquis of Granby's job. I have to get the prisoners out of their gaol, and when your only tool is a heavy missile every problem looks like a giant set of crosshairs.

The simplest solution is clear. As my Drake slowly approaches the pens in the wake of the recent dogfight, I add to the smoke cloud around me and loose several volleys of missiles at the pens from my launchers. My timing is impeccable, as not less than a minute before I am in transport range of the pens, the structure disintegrates spectacularly in what must be the second-biggest explosion I've ever seen.

Most of the prisoners are easily plucked out of the smouldering remains of the slave pens with little more than superficial burns, the others I scoop in to the drone bay before they die from exposure in the vacuum of space, and I soon find myself heading back to the station, warp drive active.

Reporting back to my agent, he looks a bit concerned. 'Penny Ibramovic, you did a good job bringing back the prisoners, the navy thanks you.' I'm the darling of the navy, it's true. 'I've been informed that the prisoners are uncommunicative, as if they have been subjected to some kind of serious trauma.' Uh-oh. 'Did you witness any evidence of torture devices or other such cruelties that they might have been exposed to whilst in captivity?'

'Nothing that was obviously intact and in working order once I got close, sir, no.'

'Okay, thank you, cadet. It seems the enemy initiated a self-destruct of the station once it was clear we had discovered it, as a recent scan shows no solid structures left in that region of space, perhaps in an effort to avoid sanctions for using such deplorable activities banned by galactic treaties.

'I'll be in touch when I have more work suitable for a capsuleer with your excellent reputation.'

Another successful mission!

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Prison break
Tags: agents, deadspace, drake, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, raven

Connecting the dots

What's the connection between being refused petrol unless I take my helmet off and not buying the computer game Spore? In both cases I am inconvenienced, the former because of the insignificant threat of robbery or theft and the latter because of a perceived threat of piracy affecting sales. But that isn't the connection I am seeing. The connection is that I am treated as being guilty until I prove my innocence.

I have to prove that I am not about to rob the petrol station by being willing to take off my helmet so that I can be recognised should I cause trouble. The DRM on the computer game is in place to 'keep me honest' so that I don't make and distribute illegal copies, regardless of my intentions. Note that neither restriction is in place because I've shown myself to be untrustworthy or have engaged in illegal activities in the past but only on the suspicion that it is possible for me to do so.

It is no wonder this treatment gets me angry. I am being punished unfairly, entirely at odds with the basis of the legal system of the land. I can see why it is being done: it is much easier to apply a blanket restriction that affects everyone in an effort to prevent wrongdoings than it is to assume innocence and pursue the individual transgressions when they occur. That it is easier doesn't make it right.

I'm not sure what can be done about these abusive practices apart from remaining aware of when they occur and highlighting when it does. I refuse to be treated as a criminal.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Connecting the dots
Tags: rights

Proposition bets

I have a keen interest in confidence tricks, with the social engineering and clever scams required to make them work. This interest led me to the book The Big Con, which is an enlightening read about the long cons of the early twentieth century, documented by a professor who managed to gain the trust of the con artists. The book forms the basis of the plot of the film The Sting and was required reading for writers of the Mission: Impossible TV programme, both of which I also enjoy. It is this interest that draws me to the current TV programme The Real Hustle on the BBC.

The Real Hustle follows some modern-day con artists who pull real scams on the public to show how the cons are performed, before those who are conned get their money or items back. One of the features in the programme is that of the 'proposition bet', where the scammers make bets with people in pubs to get free drinks. The bets they make are generally 'trick' bets, like in trick questions. For example, the one I watched recently had the scammer bet that he could drink champagne out of a new bottle without breaking the seal, uncorking the bottle, or tampering with it in any way. When taken up on the bet he turned the bottle upside down and poured a little of the champagne left in his current glass in to the depression in the bottom of the bottle and drank that, claiming that he drank champagne from the bottle and thus won the bet. It was clever, in a trick question way, and most of the proposition bets are similarly based on lateral thinking.

But it got me thinking. People don't ask trick questions if they don't know the answers; that's what makes them trick questions. In the same way, a person won't make a bet on being able to, for example, drink from a shot glass without touching it or dropping coins balanced on its rim without being sure he could do it. So when a stranger approaches a group of friends in a pub and confidently states that if he achieves something apparently impossible they will pay for the privilege why is it that they agree to the bet? However unlikely it looks that this challenge will be successfully met there must surely be a reason that the stranger made the bet in the first place, and it's not likely to be because he likes giving away money.

My reluctance to gamble money probably colours my impression of events and I imagine that simple human curiosity plays a large part in the process. Even though there is perhaps a good chance that we are setting ourselves up to be tricked we have this desire to see just how we are going to be tricked. It is still remarkable to me how likely we are to agree to being scammed, as long as we can trust it is an 'honest' scam!

Posted in Personal, Video | Comments Off on Proposition bets
Tags: confidence tricks, mission: impossible, the big con, the real hustle, the sting, tv