Office Space

Sunday was my Thirty-tenth birthday, Monday & Tuesday I was out of the office (recovering from my son's Cub Scout Camp on Catalina Island combined with the Bunny's first day of Kindergarten) so my first day back at work was Wednesday. The gang were going to take me to lunch but M had an afternoon meeting, SG had an upset tummy, and A had to go to Personnel (not located in our building), so everyone decided to do breakfast the next day, instead.

"That's cool," I said, "let's go to The Pantry." (Because I looooove their huge slabs of sourdough toast dripping with butter (real butter) and slathered with orange marmalade.)

This morning B, F, L and SG head down to the ATM to get some cash, while M (my supervisor) comes by my cube to get me. "By the way," he says, "we're going to Denny's."

"Not The Pantry?" I ask.

ST chimes in that F (her cube-buddy who apparently started a diet this week) has already picked out her low-cal Denny's breakfast of choice.

M also cites economic reasons behind choosing Denny's over The Pantry. I'm not too sure about that, The Pantry has some low-priced breakfasts, but I decide to keep the peace and go along with them.

Heading downstairs we pass A coming back from Starbucks. Yesterday it was a visit to Personnel, this time he holds up the Starbucks cup and asks for a raincheck...which will never be called in.

We pick up the rest of the gang and head outside to wait for the Dash, which in typical un-Dashlike fashion takes forever (also typically, while waiting two Dashes going the other way pass by on the other side). We finally give up on the Dash and start walking to Denny's (yes, there are Angelenos who walk...sometimes ;) I've never been to this Denny's (they're not exactly one of my favorite places to eat) but apparently it's on Figueroa St. between 8th & 9th. If you're not an Angeleno, that's right across the road from The Pantry.

As we're walking I'm chatting with B, SG & L while the slower walking M, ST & F lag behind. It turns out B would also prefer The Pantry to Denny's because she likes their Portuguese sausage.

I mention how I was looking forward to The Pantry's slab-like slices of sourdough toast (which is nothing like Denny's little squares of sourdough toast).

L and S are both miffed to hear that we're going to Denny's even though I'd wanted to go to The Pantry. "That's not right," they say, "it's your birthday. Let them go to Denny's on their birthday."

I decide that if S and F want to go to Denny's they can, but I'm going to go to The Pantry like I originally wanted. I put this to S, L & B who laugh, but are not quite ready to split up the group.

We get to 9th & Fig. Denny's is halfway up the block on our right, The Pantry is across the street. I make a beeline for the corner while gesturing to M: "I'm going to The Pantry."

M points up the block to Denny's and I point back to The Pantry. The light changes to green and I begin crossing. S and L follow my lead, while B stays behind to talk to M; they miss the light and stay on the other side.

M makes eye contact with me and points up the road to Denny's. I point behind me to The Pantry. M beckons me over and makes a talking gesture. I point to the now red light, beckon him to The Pantry side and also make the talking gesture. M smiles and nods his head.

The light takes a while to change back to green and I can see them talking on the other side. I know B is probably going to bat for me because it's my birthday and I'd requested The Pantry, only to have the location changed on me at the last minute. F is probably being passive aggressive and even though Denny's was most likely her idea is adding little to the conversation. Without F's support ST is probably going to go with whoever is the more vocal. Likewise M will probably yield to B who, like me, wants to eat at The Pantry.

The light changes and they cross over to our side (where we have cookies).

"Here's the thing," says M, "because we thought we were going to Denny's, F & I don't have cash." (This despite F making the earlier trip down to the ATM.)

"That's okay," I say, "I've got $25." I'd checked before putting my plan into action. "That should be good for 2, maybe 3 of us."

M notes that as it's my birthday they're supposed to be paying for me. I agree and say they can pay me back when we get back to the office. I add that if they really want to do Denny's they're welcome to go there, but I was really looking forward to eating at The Pantry. M finally yields and into The Pantry we go.

M, who had breakfast already, orders a slice of apple pie, which looked and smelled delicious, while I gorge myself on 3 giant slabs of sourdough toast, butter & orange marmalade. Everyone seems to have a good time, even (eventually) F, who spends most of the breakfast playing with her Blackberry. (I figure if a Crackhead is addicted to crack then a Blackberry addict should be a Blackhead, but despite my best efforts the gang persist in calling her a Crackberry...I digress.) The bill arrives and breakfast for 7 people comes to $51+tip. Split 6 ways that's a shade under $10 each which, IMO, is more than reasonable when one person is eating for free. Especially considering if we'd gone to Denny's I was going to order their most expensive steak & eggs breakfast >:) so I think they got off lightly.

On the walk back we fall into the same groups as on the way over, and again B, SG, L & I leave M, ST & F in our dust. When we cross at a light which they miss they fall even further behind.

Now safely out of earshot B mentions that she'd talked earlier to ST & F, who chose Denny's because they were on a diet and it offers low-calorie meals. Knowing that they'd be taking me out to lunch (or breakfast) this week, B asked why they hadn't waited to start their diet. Apparently they're on one of those 4-week fad diets, the end of which coincides with F's birthday later this month. Go figure.

Sometimes I feel like Dilbert or Wally. This morning I felt like Office Space's Milton, right up until I pulled a Peter. Or perhaps I was still Milton, just after he was moved to the basement and had the lights turned off on him.

"And if...if they take my stapler...I will...I will set this building on fire..."

Home Improvements, this ain't

Several months ago I was using the downstairs bathroom when I noticed the fan's switch was on, but the fan...wasn't. I flicked the switch to off, then on again, and the fan stayed silent.

That's not good, I thought to myself.

I recalled hearing the fan running the night before because, well, it's a bathroom exhaust fan in a half-bathroom (i.e no bath or even shower) so let's just say the fan was on for a very good reason and leave it at that.

Apparently, as had happened in the past, the fan had been left on all night, only this time it didn't last through the night and the motor had burned out.

Last week while shopping at our local hardware store we picked up a new exhaust fan because in my typical over-confident manner, despite never having done this before, I assumed I could remove the burned out fan and replace it with a new one.

It's not an over-inflated sense of self. Before we moved in I tore up the downstairs carpet and laid down laminate flooring, despite never having done anything like that before either. I replaced both downstairs light fixtures, all three bathrooms light fixtures, and as soon as the wife finds a light she likes I'll be installing a new kitchen light. I also installed new faucets in all three bathrooms and installed a new under-the-sink water filtration system. I even took off the door to our master bathroom and rehung it so it opens into our bedroom rather than into the bathroom. I don't believe I can do stuff; I know I can :)

Having promised the wife that I'd install the new fan this weekend, and having no internet (at home. Long story short. Cable Modem died and ISP promised to send a new one at no charge (and we're not 'renting' one), so why buy one, right?) I had nothing better to do (I still don't have Overlord: Dark Legend, but then my birthday isn't for 2 more weeks. Hint, hint.) so Sunday after breakfast I figured, "Why not install the new fan?"

I took off the vent/cover and managed to unplug the fan itself, which prompted me to ask, rather colorfully and vocally, just why the hell would someone paint the plug of an exhaust fan when said fan and said plug are behind a plastic vent/cover? Other than "they're an idiot, they work for cheap, or are on a deadline...or all three" I have no clue. I try not to think too hard about the competency of the people who actually built our house. I mean really, it can't be too hard. I'm actually pretty sure I could build a house too, if I had the building materials and equipment.

Normally for a job like this, involving electrickery, I'd turn off the breaker outside. But with this job taking place in an interior, downstairs bathroom I needed light to work by, so the bathroom lights needed to be on, meaning the fan's wires would still be live except for one thing; the wall switch was in the 'off' position. I wasn't too concerned. This is the U.S. we're talking about, with it's laughably pathetic 120 volts. Nothing like the 240 we had back home. Why, when I was a kid...

Several months back I replaced a light switch in the garage, while the power was still on, and of course I managed to shock myself. At first the tingling sensation was so light that I thought I was imagining it, then it happened again :P So I wasn't overly concerned about working with semi-live wires this time around.

I got the fan out then disconnected the outlet and holding my breath (ok, so I was slightly concerned) I took the bare wires, resumed breathing, and shoved them up into the hole so I could begin removing the old fan's mounting bracket.

It didn't want to come out.

Shining a flash light up into the gap on the side of the bracket I discovered a couple of screws holding it in place. Holes in sides of the bracket itself showed that I should be able to lift it up off the screws and move it forward, and it should drop right out. It didn't. The screws were in too tight to allow the bracket to move upwards. I managed to get a screwdriver into the tiny space, without destroying too much of the drywall (is it still drywall when it's on the ceiling?) and got the screws out.

The bracket still didn't want to come out.

I shone the flashlight back in and noticed...a third screw. A third screw which (IMEO) really didn't need to be there, and which only served to make the extraction process in-f**king-sanely difficult. For some reason the first two screws I'd removed had been angled down, but this third screw was pointing up, as if the screwer had screwed it in from above, before the floor had been finished. I began to suspect that the fan had actually been installed from above, which was only logical because it would have been a damn sight easier than installing it from below like I would be doing with the new one...if...I...could only...GET THE OLD ONE OUT!!!

It was obvious what had to happen. The old bracket must die!

From the garage came my jemmy bar (they call it a jimmy bar or pry bar here in the U.S.) and after literally crushing the bracket the third screw's head popped off and the bracket hung free. Bob Villa I ain't. More like Craig or Paul Pumphrey ;)

After deft maneuvering I got the bracket out of its hole, cut free the duct tape around the vent and...was halfway done.

Wire up the electric socket on the new bracket. Tape up the vent. Plug in the fan and we have power! Yes. Remove the fan and sit it aside and now it's time to get the new bracket into the hole in the ceiling. The job actually went a lot smoother from here, although my duct tape came free and I had to apply a second piece after the bracket was up in the ceiling.

Finally I got the bracket mounted, the fan installed, plugged in, flicked the switch and...Wooooooooossshhh!!!! It worked.

I put the new vent/cover in (& those things are a freaking pain in the proverbial, too) only to discover it hung down about a quarter of an inch. Ahh, no worries. It's not too bad from this angle...but...sitting on the 'loo? Looking in the mirror? Uh uh. No. No that's not going to do. Not at all. The wife will not be happy with that one bit. So I needed to remove the vent cover, take out the new fan, and remount the bracket so the vent cover will fit more snugly and hug the ceiling so there's no unsightly 1/4" gap.

So up we go again to take off the new vent cover...and...ugh! Damn! This 1/4" gap is...tight!

Snap.

Snap?

Uh oh.

Yup. 'Uh oh' is right. A restraining clip on the new vent cover has snapped off. Crap. The new vent cover is broken. Kaput.

Old vent cover to the rescue!

Hmmm. If I bend these wire clips on the old vent cover like so...it should pull the vent upwards more snugly, like...so. And...the old vent snaps up into place against the ceiling. Just like it should. Perfect. I'm happy, and Liz should be happy now, too. (And that's even more important than my happiness, because if Liz is not happy, I'm not happy. Funny about that.)

Take a seat, look in the mirror and...the view from the toilet looks pretty damn good, and that's not a phrase you'll hear from Bob Villa or the Pumphrey brothers ;)

A Raiding/Loot Grind alternative

It's already been partially implemented in the form of Badges & Reward gear, and this topic has sort of been done to death anyway, but could Loot distribution as described below work? Would it be feasible?

Forget backpacks to carry around gear. Give us a "wardrobe" with multiple outfit slots. Diablo II did this to a small degree in allowing you to "equip" two sets of weapons, i.e., two 1-handed weapons and one 2-handed weapon, that you could switch between with a single key press. Now change this up and allow a character to equip multiple sets of armor, i.e, a Healer could carry DPS gear AND Healing gear (although +Spell Power is negating this to some degree), a Warrior could carry Tank Gear and DPS gear, a Pally could carry Healing gear, Tank gear, AND DPS gear, etc. All kept in their multiple Wardrobe Tabs, all ready to be switched in & out at the press of a button. We can switch weapons mid-fight, so why not allow us to change armor as well?

Tank goes down, the DPS Pally switches gear and takes his place, while if the Healer gets taken out, the DPS Druid can switch gear and take over. If a fight requires both a Tank and an Off-Tank, when the Off-Tank's target goes down he can switch gear and help out with DPS, or vice versa.

"OMG!" You say. "Are you crazy? We spend enough time Raiding for our gear as it is, and sometimes we never get our full set before the Guild advances. And you're advocating something like this? Forget you!"

Hold on a second. Hear me out. That's where the change to Loot Distribution kicks in. If you've got a 20-man Raid then defeating a Raid Boss takes a coordinated effort by all 20 of you. Sure, maybe one or two of you are tapping 1-2-1-2-1-2 while watching NCIS or House or Simpsons' reruns, but in most cases you will not bring the Boss down unless everyone is pitching in and helping out. So, why not reward everyone who's there when the Boss goes down?

If you help defeat the Boss you get rewarded, it's that simple.

If you're part of a raid that defeats a Boss you get presented with your own personal Loot screen with a choice of 3-4 randomly chosen, class-specific items. They might be weapons or armor or accessories (rings, necklaces, etc) but they'll be specific to your class and you don't have to spend DKP for them, or /roll, or watch the Night Elf ninja your rifle because "Agi & AP? Rogue-weapon! LOL!"

Being random loot it's possible that if you run the Instance multiple times, or there's multiple Bosses, that you may be presented with items you already have, but that's just the luck of the roll (or the unluck as the case may be). But at least you wouldn't spend hours during the week preparing for the Raid, farming Mats, making Pots, etc, then spend a couple of hours on Raid night downing the Bosses only to see all the Loot go to everyone else. Of course you're happy for your Guildmates, but man it sucks to put in all that time during the week only to turn up on Raid night and not a single Drop goes your way. This would change that.

Welfare Epics? Hardly. You were there, you contributed, you get rewarded. How is that Welfare? Are they Welfare Epics when your new Guildmates run low level Raids on off-nights to gear you up? You may not be contributing as much DPS as everyone else, and just maybe they could do this without you, but you're still contributing, you're still present when the Boss goes down, so you still get rewarded.

Of course being Raids and to avoid the system being exploited Raid Lockouts would need to be implemented with the Instances being reset & unlocked every Sunday night/Monday morning (or following routine maintenance if it's a regular, weekly occurrence), so there would be no constant rerunning of an Instance to Gear everyone up. If your Guild beats the Instance and defeats all the Bosses then SOP means you wait a week before you can go back for more Gear. And if your Guild is still getting their act together and you spend 3 hours downing just one Boss? At least everyone will have something to show for it, so next time the run might go a little smoother because now everyone is a little more powerful, instead of just a couple of players getting upgrades.

Would this work? Would this make Raiding a little more enjoyable? Or would it still foster a forum war between the hardcore Raiders and the perceived Welfare-Epic recipients? Some people just need something to complain about or someone to pick on or they're not happy. There's no pleasing everyone, so why not try to please as many people as possible?

And so it comes to this...

What do you call a Boomerang that doesn't come back?



A stick!

I read someone's Blog a while ago postulating (another $5 word floating around my brain and which I wonder if I've used in the correct context) that Twitter & Facebook have killed Blogging. After all, it's so much easier to just type up a sentence or two or some random thought and hit Publish, than it is to sit down and put pen to paper (figuratively if not literally) and generate a Blog post. And while I have been known to post Youtube videos I'd rather not devolve into doing that and nothing more, so this post is more than just a funny cartoon and a joke :)

Our daughter has been taking swimming lessons at a local Rec Center adjacent to a park with a large expanse of reasonably open grassland. We also found the boomerang we bought for my son when we were last in Australia, a couple of years ago now, which we'd never actually thrown. Boomerangs require a lot of room to throw, more than you might think. Like a good-sized Baseball diamond area, and of course no trees. This park had trees but also had a large enough grassy area that I thought we could get away with throwing the boomerang, assuming there were no people around. The park does have swings and a jungle gym but they're both set off to one side so the large grassy area is usually fairly free of bodies. And with the park being on a slight hill it's not conducive to soccer or other ball games, so we had our open, body-free area.

The boy couldn't get the hang of flicking the boomerang as he threw it so instead of spinning through the air it fluttered around a bit then fell to the ground about 20-30 feet away. Meanwhile, I was trying not to throw the boomerang too high or too hard, because there were several large trees surrounding the grassland and I didn't want the boomerang to end up in one of them. So the boy's throws landed 20-30 feet in front of us, while my throws left the boomerang with insufficient altitude to complete its arc and make the return trip, requiring us to walk to the other side of the park to resume our throwing. There I'd let the boy make several fluttering throws, then I'd launch the boomerang only to see it fall to earth and back to the other side we'd go.

After several throws and near misses with trees the inevitable inevitably happened.

No. Nobody got clocked by the boomerang. After one of my slightly more exuberant throws the boomerang flew into a tree...and didn't come down.

Being on the other side of the park meant that while we knew which tree the boomerang had entered, we weren't sure which set of branches was holding it prisoner, and so the wife found us staring up into the tree, walking back and forth, trying to spot a brown boomerang among brown branches. We did eventually find it but that was only half the battle; We still had to get it back down.

Fortunately there was a large, softball-sized rock near the base of the tree (a very out-of-place rock. I'm not even sure why it was there, but it was, and it served our purpose well) and I began making underarm lobs which initially didn't go high enough (it was a heavy rock, okay?) then didn't strike the right branches, then hit the right ones but still failed to dislodge the boomerang. A couple of kids playing nearby were watching with feigned disinterest, possibly hoping we'd give up and leave so they could try their luck. Finders keepers, right?

Had I been in Australia where a replacement boomerang was readily available I may have just done that and endured the tearful ride to the closest souvenir or toy shop (you can get cheap, plastic boomerangs in Aussie toy shops which are almost better than the real thing. NERF™ boomerangs. I'm just saying.) But we were in suburban Los Angeles and boomerangs are hard to come by here so the rock went up and the rock came down and then it went back up again. Until finally it came back down and the boomerang came down with it, and Dad got to be the hero in his son's eyes for one more afternoon.

He's 9 years old and waking up to the way the world really is, the magic is fading and Santa's sleigh bell doesn't ring for him anymore. As the years pass by and my strength fades those heroic acts will become fewer and further between, but for now, a rock thrown into a tree still does the trick. For now.

Wisdom from a bear of little brain

"What's this you're writing?" asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.

"The Tao of Pooh," I replied.

"The how of Pooh?" asked Pooh, smudging one of the words I had just written.

"The Tao of Pooh," I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.

"It seems more like the ow! of Pooh," replied Pooh, rubbing his paw.

"Well, it's not," I replied huffily.

"What's it about?" asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.

"It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances!" I yelled.

"Have you read it?" asked Pooh.

From The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff.

Ahh, sweet Irony.

During a recent job action I signed up to receive informational emails to keep me abreast of what was going on. As is the way of these things a double-agent got hold of the list with the result that both parties were sending propaganda back & forth. Some folks got rather vocal, belligerent even, and the emails went from informative to vindictive...and everyone always hit Reply All.

After this morning's latest round of arguments and name calling I'd finally had enough. I sent out an email of my own saying I didn't think name calling was helping either side, and that as professionals we needed to follow email etiquette, think about what we were sending, and whether it was really necessary to Reply All.

Then I requested I be taken off the list. Yes, via Reply All, as there was no other way to ubsubscribe.

Shortly afterwards I got a reply, as did everyone else on the List, because true to form my respondent felt compelled to hit Reply All when she wrote: "There's always the Delete button and the Spam filter!"

Good advice, I thought, as I deleted her from my address book and marked her email as "Spam" :P

DDO - first impressions (count)

I downloaded the Trial and had a play with DDO this weekend.

*EDIT - I rolled another Ranger last night and played through the first couple of Instances again, so there will be a couple of Edits to this post*

The character creator was pretty good. I liked how the classes were broken up into Melee, Ranged, & Specialist first, then you chose your individual class, and each step showed you how well that class could be expected to perform on its own or whether it had more of a group role. Naturally I decided to go with a ranged class and decided upon the Ranger, a Human Ranger to be precise (no, not a Dwarf ;) because I felt it fit the lore of the Ranger better (and I didn't want to be an Elf). Interesting was that the Ranger class was available to every Race in DDO. Even Gnomes and an odd-looking Race of Ben Grimm-type creatures called the Warforged could be Rangers.

The Tutorial section is a single-player mini-dungeon that gets you used to controlling your character, opening doors, throwing switches, etc, including climbing ladders. I really liked that ladder graphics lined up with my climbing animation so my avatar actually appeared to grip and use the rungs, as opposed to just climbing a texture on a wall.

Combat can be initiated by enabling Auto-attack (via a Hotkey) then moving into range, or right-clicking the Mouse to manually swing/fire your weapon. But while my Ranger had a couple of different special attacks I found myself relying on Right-Clicking rather than using my Hotkeys and specials. As right-clicking actually initiated a swing (or fired an arrow) it just felt more like I was actually doing something than when you simply press buttons, and as most Mobs died after just one or two hits I didn't use or even miss my "Trip" and "Sunder" skills.
*EDIT - I tried using my Trip & Sunder skills and didn't notice any additional animation. Trip seemed to work occasionally when Mobs would fall flat on their back, but that was the only way I knew I'd actually performed the Trip attack *

I remember reading another review of DDO where the writer mentioned feeling like they were being "rushed" through the Instance, and I definitely got this feeling in the tutorial dungeon because I had the support of three NPCs who would frequently run ahead. Not because they were faster than my character, but because running just seemed faster than in WoW, so when they ran off down the corridor they quickly left me behind. Then again, it's likely that an inexperienced player in WoW would have a similar feeling being run through a low level Instance by an 80.

At the end of the tutorial dungeon I was offered a choice of various quest rewards, and it was nice to see a good variety of items from which to choose. I'm sure every class had something they could use. And instant "shiny" gratification was achieved when the Rapier I selected came with a Fiery enchant as did, I think, all of the weapons. This enchant didn't just make my blade glow red but actually wreathed the blade with flame. It was pretty cool, and a great way to give a new player an awesome looking weapon almost right from the start.

Somewhere along the way I'd also picked up a Bow, and being a Ranger I decided to put it to the test. In the tutorial dungeon I didn't have much chance to do that as my NPC party made short work of most of the Mobs. *EDIT - Actually it appears I got the Bow at the end of the Tutorial, along with my Fiery Rapier* It was when I entered the next instance that I got the opportunity to test fire my new Bow, and archery worked quite well. Like swinging a sword you can either Tab-target or left click to select a Mob, then Right-Click to fire your bow. Being in the depths of a Dungeon if there was a maximum range to my bow I wasn't aware of it. If I could see a Skeleton in the distance I could shoot it, and here Ranged Combat seemed a little overpowered. Almost all of these starting level Mobs went down after just one shot. Some needed two but most went down in one.

Entering this first Instance I'd been presented with a choice of Difficulty, from Solo, through Normal, Hard, etc. I did it on Solo and had no problem completing the Instance, especially once I worked out how to Hotkey my Rapier and Bow to allow for quick weapon changes - there's probably something allowing you to do this without hotkeying the individual weapons, but it wasn't immediately obvious to me. Even when I re-entered the Instance on Normal difficulty (which I assumed was meant for a group, as opposed to Solo) I still had no problems with any of the Mobs. If they didn't fall to my arrows it was a simple matter of switching to my Rapier to finish them off in melee.

I guess it comes down to which you prefer. Shooting a Mob 2 to 3 times as it closes to Melee, then taking 3 to 4 whacks with your axe to finish it off? Or shooting it once (or twice) then finishing it with a blow from your sword?

So combat was realistic and satisfying (if over a little too quickly), the game itself looked good, and the couple of times I took a dip my character swam "freestyle" in a very realistic fashion. *EDIT - I remember liking the way my Hobbit in LOTRO swam, also "freestyle" but his running animation was off. DDO's animations a lot better *

What was not so satisfying was leveling, or XP per se. In traditional D&D fashion you do NOT get XP from killing Mobs. There is no grinding here. Instead you get XP from completing Instances and the quests associated with them. After completing the first Instance (not the tutorial, but the first Solo-Instance) I noticed I was a couple hundred XP short of level 2. Completing this Instance directed me (in true MMO fashion) to another NPC who directed me to talk to yet one more NPC, who had a quest for me, which sent me into someone's cellar (another Mini-Instance). Completing this second Instance and quest gave me the XP I needed to level, but I didn't level right away (or didn't appear to), which again is true to D&D leveling. You don't level in the dungeon, you only level when you return to town to "train".

Back in town I found my Ranger Trainer but when I spoke to her about leveling I got the equivalent of assigning two Talent Points to level two Skills (ok, so maybe by the time I found her I'd "leveled" twice ;), and that was it. No flash of light. No "Ding!" Nothing. Just "click to assign a Skill Point". Ok, cool. Thanks for coming. See you next time.

That was it? I just leveled...didn't I?

So yes, I had a Flaming Rapier and a nice leather vest (among other pieces of armor), but there was no real sense of accomplishment with leveling, in fact it was almost rather anti-climactic. Perhaps having access to the manual may have explained the leveling process a little more. Yes, I do RTFM, TYVM, but as the client was 100% downloadable I would expect the manual not be required reading for something as basic as leveling.
*EDIT - You can download the Manual here. In PDF format, it's just 50 pages long. Not as bad as I thought. And...I just discovered I did not Level, per se. From page 49 of the Manual comes this: "Each Level has 5 Ranks, from 0 through 4." So I gained enough XP to go up a couple of Ranks, but I was still Level 1. *

I still have 5 days left in my 10-day trial, and there's a good chance that when it expires, I'll probably create another trial to check the game out further. And maybe if I can find a copy of DDO in Walmart or Target somewhere for cheap, just maybe, I might buy it. Especially if it's going F2P in August.

DDO: Eberron Unlimited to go F2P

Press Release (July 8, 2009): Turbine, Inc. announced today Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™, a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™, will launch on August 4, 2009 in North America. DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap, introduce a new player class and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone.

Considering you can download the DDO: Stormreach™ client for free (with a 10-day Trial), would this imply that you could upgrade your Trial account to an Eberron™ account, for free? Or is it more likely that you'll still need to purchase a retail copy of Stormreach™ to get the free upgrade?

Enquiring minds want to know (although I know which is most likely).

Nightmares

It's funny how as an adult & a parent your nightmares can differ greatly from that of a young child.

I had two bad dreams last night, neither of which should have been particularly scary but for me, they were.

In the first "nightmare" my wife and I were at a party. I was sitting on one side of the room while my wife was sitting on the other next to one of my coworkers, when my wife approached me and told me she was leaving.

"Okay," I replied, "I'll come home as well."

"Oh, I'm not going home," my wife told me, "I'm just not staying here." And she left the party with my coworker.

In the second "nightmare" my family had fallen on hard times and we'd had to move, which meant pulling my son out of his current school and enrolling him in a new school in our new neighborhood. My son's current RL school is a very good school; his new school in my dream was not, and could best be described as (I think) a stereotypical "inner-city school". We walked my son to his new school and classroom where we watched his teacher introduce him to the class, then, as he took his seat, the door on the other side of the classroom opened and four students walked in. All were dressed in identical clothes and exhibited an attitude that screamed "street gang". I walked away, fearful for both my son and his education.

More PC problems

This week my computer has really been pissing me off with its failure to wake up from Power Save mode. Actually it wakes up, I know it does, because I can shut it down using the Keyboard (in XP, it's Window key - Up - Enter - Right - Enter) and it shuts down, so it must have been awake to Shut Down, right? The problem is nothing appears on my Monitor when it's awake. In fact what is odd is that while in Power Save mode the LCD's power light will be orange, but as soon as I jiggle my mouse to wake the computer up the LCD's power light either flashes green, or turns off completely, and the screen goes black as if the PC is off, when it's not.

At first I thought it was the LCD dying on me but now I'm not so sure. Now I think it's one of two things. Either my Power Supply is failing and not providing my 8800GT with enough juice, or the 8800GT itself is dying.

Now I could buy a new video card, but if my power supply is dying that's obviously not going to fix my problem. And if I did buy a new video card it would probably need more juice than what my current PSU can deliver anyway, so either way, I think my first step should be to replace the PSU. As PSU's are cheaper than decent video cards (like a 9800GT), if it is the problem, that's the more cost effective solution. And if it's not the PSU, well, I probably need a heftier one anyway.

So why don't I think my 19" LCD is the problem any more?

Because my 8800GT has dual video-out and this week I hooked up my daughter's CRT to my PC, while keeping the LCD hooked up as well. And the same problem I was having with the LCD was reflected on the CRT. Of course when I finally got my computer up & running there was nothing on the CRT, until I enabled dual output mode on my video card, and a blank desktop with nothing but my wallpaper appeared on the CRT.

Is that how dual screens are supposed to work? I thought to myself. How is that useful. Where are my icons? Where's my Start Bar? Why doesn't that second screen have a duplicate Mouse Cursor?

And then I had an epiphany.

What if...I move the mouse cursor...to the edge of the LCD...and keep moving the mouse.

And the cursor disappeared from my LCD and appeared on the CRT.

I stared in wonder for several seconds while moving the mouse cursor around on the second screen, then back & forth between the two.

Ok, that's neat, but still not useful...unless.

I right-click/dragged my Firefox icon to the edge of the LCD and...on to the CRT's scren! And created a Shortcut there! Ok, now this is more useful. Until I double-clicked the new shortcut and a Firefox window opened...on my LCD's screen o_O

What's the point of that? Why would it open on my primary screen?

A second epiphany (or maybe it was my third? Or fourth? I've lost count by now).

I clicked the Title bar of the Firefox window and dragged it to the right and...ONTO THE CRT's SCREEN!!!

Now I had two Firefox windows open on two separate screens!

Forget Tabbing between them. It's just a jump to the left. And now a step to the ri-ii-ii-iight.

Yes, sometimes it's the simplest things that amuse us the most.

I left my computer with its dual screens running for a while until it entered Power Save on its own, and when I returned & jiggled the mouse I had nothing. Neither screen came up. Which was good.

That meant it's the Video Card or the Power Supply, but not the monitor. That's good because a PSU is cheaper than a Video Card, and a Video Card is cheaper than a new Monitor.

I know the latest, super-duper video cards run for $300-$500, but I could also buy that curved screen from Alienware for $10,000 if I really wanted to. Moot point. I don't like paying much more than $100 for a video card, so I'm usually a generation or two behind cutting edge but a decent monitor will set me back around $150. Of course if I end up buying both a new PSU & a video card I'll spend about that (or more), but at least then my problem should (hopefully) have been resolved.

Happy Father's Day

I know, I know, it's not Father's (or should that be Fathers'?) Day yet, but I just got this in my email and thought I'd share.

Beretta's products are a little on the pricey side (for me, or maybe I just don't buy outdoors gear at full price) so any chance to save a few dollars is always appreciated. I'm also very happy with my Beretta products, and they're a name I've come to associate with quality. You don't have to support Beretta if you don't want, this is just one choice of many available to you to help make this Father's Day a little more special, while also saving you money.

One last word of advice from the Cap'n. Treat every day you spend with your parents as if it's the last, because one day...it will be.

Not a bad PC

Dual Pentium 2.0GHz CPU
288GB HDD
4GB of RAM
GeForce 9600GT w/ 512MB GDDR3

Not too shabby. It's a pity that's my 8 (going on 9) year old son's PC, and with tonight's addition of the 9600GT (poor kid had been using the onboard GPU) his PC now kicks my PC's arse up the block and back.

I've got a dual-core Athlon 4200+ which clocks in at 2.2GHz. Yeah, 10% faster than my son's; huge difference there. But I've only got a 160GB HDD and half that RAM, and I suspect his RAM smokes mine for breakfast. I'm also scared to benchmark his PC in case my 8800GT dies of embarrassment...then again, that would give me an excuse to get a 9800GT ;)

Except my monitor is dying by degrees so my upgrade fund will have to go towards a new monitor rather than hardware. Speaking of monitors, my son has a 19" Widescreen LCD. I have a 19", too, but it's standard, not Widescreen. Yep, chalk up another victory to the (almost) 9-year old with the kick-arse PC :(

At least Bloodbowl and Diablo 3 are coming out later this year, so it's a good thing the boy has a beast of a PC to play them on. Maybe by then I'll have a 22" LCD TV instead of my 3/4 dead 19" monitor. My 40th birthday isn't too far away ;)

Update on the War on Starbucks

It's (almost) a month down the road and I've heard nothing back from Starbucks. Zip. Nada. Absolute Zero (which is technically less than nothing).

I had a couple of $2 gift cards for Subway I got in the mail (as a result of a Class Action Lawsuit) so I thought I'd eat there today. I couldn't pass up a (as it turned out) $1.46 Footlong Sub. It was funny walking over there because they're right next to the Starbucks...which I almost walked into. By sheer force of habit I started to walk into the Starbucks store and had to stop myself and continue on into the Subway.

Where I ran into one of the Starbucks' girls getting her lunch.

I told her I hadn't heard anything back from Starbucks and she said, "You won't, they don't care" and she's probably right.

At the very least I expected something along the lines of:

"We're sorry you feel this way, but this is a long standing policy of Starbucks. Please note that we only request our staff cover any tattoos, we do not discriminate against our customers."

I've been steadfast in my resolve, and while I've only been to Coffee Bean a couple of times during the last month, I've also not given in and gone to the much closer Starbucks.

The natural result of this is I've also greatly cut down on my coffee consumption, both at work and at home, with the result that when we went out for breakfast last weekend and I drank my typical 4 (or 5) cups of coffee I could feel it kicking in. It wasn't pleasant, and actually left me feeling nauseous, or maybe it was just that breakfast was at IHOP :P So now I have one or two cups of coffee from our machine here in the office, and a couple of cups during the weekend, and that's it.

To Anon (who disagreed with me in the comments of the last post, but was so polite about it) - I really hope you weren't serious and you didn't ramp up your coffee purchase (& consumption) on my behalf. While that was a noble gesture, it would seem Starbucks don't care about me not going there any more, and they probably don't care that you're going more often, either. We're just a drop in the ocean to them.

That said, I'm going to send them one last letter, explaining what I've done so far, and how I'm disappointed that I haven't received any response from them at all, so clearly they don't care about losing me as a customer. I don't really expect to receive a reply to that second letter, and yet I've done things like this before with different companies and have received responses, so if other giant corporations can take the time to respond to concerned customers, why can't Starbucks? Perhaps they've been losing so much money that they've laid off their Customer Service staff...

The Cap'n goes to war

Not literally. I'm not being shipped off to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or anywhere like that.

Can I eradicate World Hunger? Cure Cancer? Solve the Global Warming problem? No, I can't (although I can do my small part). What I can do is pick my battles, which is why I've declared war on Starbucks. Now in case you were not aware of it Starbucks has a policy which discriminates against a select group of their employees, and by having this policy they inadvertently discriminate against me. Maybe I'll make a difference, maybe not, but if nobody ever tried nothing would ever get done around here, so the Cap'n is declaring war on Starbucks.

Because Starbucks forces their employees to cover up their tattoos with clothing, bandages, or even stickers, I feel it would be hypocritical of me to continue giving them my business. So today, instead of going to the Starbucks across the road from my office, I walked a couple of blocks to the closest Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Then back at my office I stapled the Coffee Bean receipt to my protest letter (for extra weight), and with Coffee Bean drink in hand I delivered my letter to the Starbucks across the road. I apologized to the girls there, told them they were fantastic, that I even said so in the letter, and explained that I was doing this for them as much as for myself.

Starbucks bends over backwards to cater to the individual, and the staff there will make your drink exactly how you like it, regardless of how you like it. But for a company which respects the individuality of the customer, they do not respect the individuality of their employees.

Anatomically correct balloon characters

Saturday was a hectic day, starting off with a pancake breakfast hosted by one of the local Fire Departments. As the Boy Scouts were assisting at the breakfast by bussing the tables we turned up as early as we could (about 8:30am), enjoyed our breakfast, then sent JE off to bus tables with a couple of his friends. The Bunny and I then lined up so she could don a Fire Fighter's (plastic) Helmet & (a kid-sized) Fire Fighter's jacket, then run through a smaller version of a Fire Fighter's Obstacle course. Everything from running out the hose to stacking coiled hoses, and even a turn with the Fire Hose (aided by a volunteer) to put out a burning building (a wooden cutout with three knockdown "flames" in the windows).

After breakfast we left Liz at the nearby Mall to return some things she bought last time (& buy some more things so she'll have something to return next time) then JE & I took the Bunny to her Ballet Class. After Ballet we called Liz to let her know we were done, then we picked her up and headed off to JE's golf lesson at the Brookside Country Club, located next to Pasadena's Rose Bowl. The Soccer Fields next to the Rose Bowl were packed with families like they always are, and having arrived almost half an hour early we decided to take a short walk partway around the Rose Bowl.

At our turn around point we came across an R/C club, where one talented chap was making his R/C Helicopter dance around the parking lot. Upside-down, sideways, loop the loop, this guy made his R/C Helicopter do things no real helicopter can do (except maybe one ;)

After Golf Lessons were over we decided to stop at Pasadena's 2-story Target where I kept the Bunny occupied with a Jack in the Box toy that she popped out of its box time & time again. By the time we finally made it home later that afternoon we were all ready for naps.

Sunday I was up bright & early when the dog decided she wanted out of her cage, so I fed her, put her outside, had a shower, then with the Bunny still asleep the boy and I headed off to Church, where he patiently sat through the extra long Communion Service. Being the earlier (8am) service there was no Sunday School so the boy did pretty good to sit through the whole service (although he did have a little help ;)

Back home we barely had a chance to sit down when we were off again to Taps Fishhouse & Brewery in Brea to partake of their Sunday Brunch. For $25 a head you get a brunch that not only compares favorably to others of which I've partaken (proper English sentence structure FTW!) but is cheaper, to boot! That $25 also includes all the champagne/mimosa you wish to imbibe, or two real pints (not those bloody metric things) of any of their house beers. I started with their Cream Ale which went quite well with not only the Brie, Blue, and Camembert cheese platter I made for myself, but the "Carnivore" Omelet I ordered (no prizes for guessing the ingredients in an Omelet with that name). By the time I'd washed all that down I was ready for my second beer and desert, but what beer goes well with sweet deserts? Oddly enough, an Irish Red complimented the Banana Cheese Blintz perfectly, so I had two. Blintz that is, not beers. Actually I had a Blueberry Cheese Blintz as well, so, counting the Cream Ale that makes 3 Blintz and 2 Beers :P

The trip home took us past Ikea, so we stopped there to walk off some of our brunch. We also got some ideas for re-organizing the kids' rooms. Someone is going to be busy on his next RDO. Finally we made it home and another weekend slowly wound down.

Whoops. Forgot the very reason for the title of this entry. At Taps was a young lady making Balloon Critters, so the kids stopped by and got a balloon critter each. The Bunny went with Sleeping Beauty, while the boy got a dog. Check out the attention to detail in putting these things together. (Click for bigger view).

Becoming the Hunter, part IV

Do I really need to link parts I, II, & III?

* * * * *

The hot, dusty air of the Barrens burned Kwazimoto's lungs as he drew each laboring breath, but his legs? His legs ached and his calf muscles screamed at him to stop running, but his ankle? His ankle throbbed from when it had rolled under him as stepped into the Prairie Rat hole, but his heart? His heart beat like it was fit to burst, and the pounding in his ears sounded like the war drums of the Horde.

The Horde: the very reason why he couldn't stop running.

"Stop!" yelled a guttural voice from behind him. "We'll make it quick!"

Kwazi kept running, east, towards Ratchet. He hoped towards Ratchet. It had to be this way. This was the way the signs had pointed. If it wasn't this way, well, Kwazi didn't want to think about that, so he did the only thing he could do; run.

When he'd seen the sign posts earlier, pointing south towards Crossroads and the Goblin village of Ratchet, Kwazimoto hadn't realized he'd actually pass so close to the Horde town. In retrospect, it made perfect sense, given the town's name. It was called Crossroads, so logically it should be at a crossroad. And it was. On the crossroad leading to Ratchet!

Fortunately for Kwazi, despite the entire town seeing him pass by, they'd chosen to do nothing but point and laugh at the young Dwarf. But the hunting party was another story. Made up of a few young Orc Hunters all eager to earn their first coup, they had given chase. More fortunate was that being so young, none of the Hunters had achieved riding status in the tribe so they were all on foot, just like Kwazi. And being young, none of them were armed with anything more than training bows, strung loose to force young Hunters to learn to get close to their prey to make their shot count. And yet some of the arrows fired from those bows had still come dangerously close to Kwazi. Simple bows they may be, but these young Hunters knew how to use them.

"Come on! Faster!" he heard one of the Orcs behind him say. "He's gonna get...to Ratchet...if we don't...catch him! Faster!"

So it was this way. That little bit of knowledge buoyed him up, and Kwazi felt his second wind, or was it his third? Who cares! Run!

Don't...Stop!

Don't...Stop!

Don't...Stop!

He ignored the pain in his body, the pain of his body. It hurt! His whole body hurt!

No! Stop that. It doesn't hurt. Keep running. He heard Raene's voice, urging him on, and so on he ran.

The ground gradually sloped down, and he could smell salt on the air. Ahead, far ahead, so close, but still so far away, the white capped waves of the ocean beckoned him. Ratchet. He could see Ratchet. So close.

Keep running. Keep running. Keep running!

Shhhhooonk!

An arrow struck the road just ahead of him and Kwazi stumbled and almost fell. He managed to catch himself before he plowed face first into the road, and being bent over at the waist, with arms and legs churning as he fought to keep his balance, actually saved him.

Shhhhooonk!

He felt the wind of the second arrow as it passed above his bowed head.

"That one would have hit me square in the back," Kwazi thought to himself, perhaps a little too calmly given the situation. The Dwarf managed to straighten up without slowing down or losing his balance, and with arms and legs pumping he flew down the road with the hunting party still giving chase.

"Sttoooopppp!!!" came a yell from behind him.

"Pigs!" thought Kwazi to himself, as he ran into Ratchet and finally collapsed next to a Goblin Bruiser standing watch at the Pier. But the yell wasn't meant for Kwazi. As he rolled over and looked back he saw one Orc had followed him into Ratchet. The young Hunter stood barely a few ten-feet away. His bow was drawn, and a wickedly barbed hunting arrow was nocked and at the ready. The Orc's chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath, but Kwazi noted the arrow's point barely wavered. The young Orc was obviously winded from the chase, yet he was also clearly capable of still making an accurate shot. Kwazi was impressed.

"Thrag! No! Don't!" yelled one of the other Hunters. Unlike Thrag, the rest of the hunting party had all stopped short of what had to be Ratchet's border. "Neutral ground, Thrag! Neutral ground! Don't!"

Thrag's eyes narrowed and his breathing slowed. "Bastard dwarf," he snarled at Kwazi, and released the arrow, which struck the shield the Goblin Bruiser had lowered in front of him. There was a muffled thump, and when the Bruiser lifted his shield Kwazi saw Thrag's unconscious body was now entwined in a net and being carried off to Ratchet's makeshift prison.

"Damn it, Thrag," said the earlier speaker, "told you to stop. Never bloody listen. Pop is gonna love this one. Well, Dwarf," he said - Kwazi raised his head - "You can run. Yeah, you sure can run, but you can't hide!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised," replied Kwazimoto, "I can hide pretty well when I need to."

The Orc laughed. "Good hunting to you, Dwarf!" he said, thumping his fist against his chest.

"Good hunting to you, Orc," Kwazi replied, returning the salute. "May Orion guide your arrows to their target."

The Orc stared at Kwazi for several long seconds, before smiling - It was probably meant to be a friendly smile, but tusks and a mouthful of fangs don't make for very friendly smiles - then he nodded his head, turned, and as one the Orcs began running back towards the Crossroads. Not walking, not jogging, but running. Kwazi smiled and shook his head in wonder. They breed them tough out here in the Barrens, he thought. Now, where's that Inn? I need a drink.

* * *

Kwazi had to admit, fishing off Ratchet's pier was extremely relaxing. Each day two ships sailed from Ratchet to Booty Bay, one in the morning, and one in the early evening. Most folks chose to ride the one in the evening because it allowed them to sleep during the trip and wake at Booty Bay in the morning, but there were still a few folks that sailed out on the morning ship.

For almost a ten-day Kwazi had done nothing but fish off the pier. Fish, and wait for the right ship, although it would be more accurate to say he was waiting for the right passengers. Kwazi needed a morning ship to set sail with absolutely no Horde on board. Alliance would be fine, but not Horde, not for what he had in mind. Chatting with the Goblin sailors Kwazi had established that as they sailed out of Ratchet, their ship passed fairly close to the Echo Isles. Rather than approach the Isles by land, via Durotar, and pass dangerously close to Orgrimmar, Kwazi was choosing to go by sea. Dwarves can swim, they just prefer not to, not if they can avoid it. But when the need arises or their life depends on it Dwarves have been known to swim short distances very, very quickly.

Kwazi needed a morning ship with no Horde passengers, because any Horde warrior worth their salt would pursue a member of the Alliance jumping ship so close to Orgrimmar. And so Kwazi sat on the pier, and fished, and waited. Hunters are very, very good at waiting. If they weren't, they wouldn't be Hunters, and Kwazi was a very good Hunter, which is how he could sit on the pier for half a ten-day and do nothing but fish. Of those he caught a few small ones were tossed back, a basketful went to the Innkeeper to pay for his lodging, and a handful were smoked as provisions for the future. Kwazi had a special pouch, with heavily greased water-resistant leather, that kept things like tinder, gunpowder, and dried provisions as dry as possible, and he had this pouch stuffed full of smoked fish and some Kodo Jerky the Innkeeper had made, which was actually quite tasty.

Finally the day arrived when the only travelers waiting for the morning ship were a couple of Alliance soldiers, and when the ship set sail it did so with just three passengers. While the two soldiers headed below deck, Kwazi stood on the portside of the ship, and waited. As the wind filled its sails the ship pulled away from Ratchet and Kwazi watched the mountains slide by. It was when the ship started turning more and more to the south, away from the mountains, that Kwazi made his move and jumped.

It was not a graceful entry and it was not a masterful stroke that propelled Kwazi through the water, but it was effective, and after several long minutes he was able to stand up in chest high water. With the hills rising almost straight up out of the water, Kwazi had no choice but to begin slowly wading east, towards the Echo Isles, but when they finally came into view, so, too, did a Troll fishing village.

Fortunately for Kwazi most of the Trolls of Sen'jin Village had long since headed north to Orgrimmar, to serve Thrall, so on this morning only a couple of Trolls were about, and none were looking towards the ocean. They certainly weren't expecting a Dwarf to be wading up the coast from Ratchet, so Kwazi was able to start swimming across to the largest of the Isles without being seen.

When he finally made shore he unwrapped his water-resistant pack and took out several pieces of fish. The grease had done its job, and unlike Kwazi, the fish had not been affected by their prolonged exposure to the water. As Kwazi slowly chewed one piece he felt his strength return, but it was the Innkeeper's Kodo Jerky that sealed the deal and Kwazi felt ready to take on the world. Although for now, an Echo Isles' Tiger would have to do.

As Kwazi stood up to go searching for his Tiger he realized one had already found him. Maybe it was the aroma of smoked fish, perhaps the Kodo Jerkey, or possibly just the strange scent of wet Dwarf that drew it out of the cover of the jungle. Whatever it was the Tiger only had eyes for Kwazimoto, and Hunter and Beast stopped and stared each other down.

It was the Tiger that made the first move, as it had to, for Kwazimoto's role in this play was simple; stand firm against the Tiger, and make it see that its attacks were futile. Kwazimoto had to be the dominant one, the stronger of the two. He had to be Alpha, and the Tiger had to be made to realize that.

As the Tiger charged in Kwazi did nothing but stand his ground, meet its gaze, and stare it down. The Tiger crossed the distance between them in a heart beat, but under Kwazi's unwavering gaze it balked, and swerved away. The Tiger made a huge circle back to its starting point where it stopped and looked at the Dwarf, clearly confused.

Wasn't this prey? It smelled like prey. Then why didn't it act like prey? Why didn't it turn and run? With a snarl it leaped at the Dwarf a second time, and again Kwazi stood his ground, and once more the Tiger checked its attack and turned away. Again it made another large circle and finished up back where it had started.

Kwazi glared at the Tiger which now really wasn't sure what was going on. This creature clearly smelled like fish, and something else delicious, but it didn't act like prey. So if it wasn't prey, it was competition for prey. It was competition! The Tiger turned and made one last charge, coming right up to the Dwarf where it drew back a huge paw with wicked claws extended and...it made its last mistake; it looked up into the Dwarf's face.

Kwazimoto stared back into the Tiger's amber eyes, barely a couple of feet from his own. He could see every whisker on its face, and smell the last meal on its breath. He stared into the Tiger's eyes and the Tiger finally realized this was not prey, and it wasn't competition; this was Alpha, its Alpha. The Tiger lowered its paw, rolled over, and offered its belly to its Alpha.

Kwazimoto let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and took out a second piece of smoked fish, but instead of offering it to the Tiger he took a huge bite and chewed with gusto. The Tiger whined and looked longingly at the fish, until it caught Kwazi's stern stare. The whining stopped and it lowered its gaze.

Kwazi took out the third piece of fish and took another huge bite, and only then did he offer the remainder of this piece to the Tiger. Slowly, carefully, it took the offered fish from his hand, then swallowed it whole and looked up expectantly.

More?

"No."

While it may not have known the word, the tone was quite clear, and the Tiger immediately understood that it only got food from its new Alpha when it was offered, and not before. Still, no harm in asking, right?

"No!

Ok, fine. No more food just yet. So, what do we do now? Where are we going?

"Well, Tiger," said Kwazi, "I probably should have thought this crazy idea of mine through a little better, because I have no clue how we're getting back to Dun Murogh."

The Tiger looked up at him, and like Tigers sometimes do, gave an amused woof.

Kwazi gave its head a rough pat. "You're a fat lot of good, aren't you? Then again, I guess I'm not much better. You know what, Tiger? I didn't see Durotar on the way over. I guess we could go back that way, through the Barrens, and head back up to Ashenvale. I know a pretty Elf there who'd like to meet you. What do you say, Tiger?"

The Tiger had no clue what its Alpha had just said, but it knew it was being asked a question and it gave another woof.

"Good answer, Tiger," said Kwazimoto. "Let's go."

* * * * *

To be continued? I don't know. Maybe. If you never read it, there is one more Kwazimoto story, where he faces down Klinfran the Crazed, the Burning Steppes demon who's part of the old level 60 Epic Hunter quest. You can find it here.

Becoming the Hunter, part III

In case you missed them, click here for Part I, and here for Part II

* * * * *

With resounding roars from rider and mount alike the Horde raiders swept into Astranaar. A huge Tauren warrior riding a giant Kodo had point, and his massive beast crashed into the two Night Elf Sentinels stationed at the eastern bridge, sending them flying into the air. In a clear display of the Elves' legendary dexterity one of the Sentinels drew her bow and loosed an arrow while still in midair. It was an impressive shot, considering the Sentinel was upside down at the time, even if the arrow did nothing more than glance off the Tauren's plated helm.

The Tauren's two companions rode in behind him, and as one all three wheeled their mounts around then leaped off and prepared for battle. A few arcane words from the Orc Shaman saw lightning spark and flash from the head of his mace, while small balls of lightning appeared from thin air and began to swirl and dance around him.

The dark robed figure behind the Orc hissed, then muttered something Kwazimoto didn't catch, but the hair on his neck stood up as an unholy stench swept his way. A shimmer appeared in the air beside the Warlock, not unlike a heat wave, then a giant, armored figure slowly appeared in what was obviously a rift to another dimension. As the demon materialized it bellowed, "Who dares summon me?!"

"A Felguard!" gasped Raene Wolfrunner, who stood watching with Kwazimoto. "These are strong opponents indeed, young Dwarf. Best you stay back and leave this fight to us. Come, Dagri! To battle!"

As Night Elves rushed from the buildings to defend their tiny home in the middle of the Ashenvale forest, Dagri, Raene's wolf, darted in and started harassing the Warlock. Raene herself fired several arrows in quick succession, and although all found their mark they seemed to do little more than attract the attention of the Felguard, which turned and charged her position.

Raene pulled another arrow from her quiver and said something in Elvish that Kwazi didn't catch, but he was duly impressed when a spiderweb pattern of light began flickering up and down the arrow's shaft. The Hunter fired the arrow at the fast approaching Felguard, and Kwazi gasped as the shaft buried itself in the ground between the demon's feet. She missed? How? And then the arrow exploded into thin filaments of light that wrapped around the Felguard's legs and brought it crashing to the ground, immobile.

Raene drew another arrow, muttered some more words in Elvish, then launched this arrow towards the Horde raiders. Almost as soon as it left her bow the shaft split into three separate arrows, with each seeking one of the three raiders.

The Felguard climbed back to its feet, shook itself free of the last of the magical net, then resumed its lumbering run towards Raene. The Hunter fired her next arrow straight into the Felguard's face while shouting yet another Elvish word, but this was a word Kwazi did know, because Raene had taught it to him that very morning.

Scattershot!

The arrow exploded in the Felguard's face, stunning it, and for several seconds it wandered aimlessly on wobbly, unsteady legs. That was all the time Dagri needed to return to Raene's side and begin worrying at the Felguard, which forgot the Warlock's earlier orders and focused all its attention on the wolf. Kwazimoto heard the Warlock curse but the distance between the Warlock and its minion was too great. The Felguard ignored its master's orders and concentrated on trying to strike the elusive wolf that kept snapping at its legs.

While Dagri kept the Felguard occupied, Raene launched arrow after arrow at the raiders, which is when Kwazi noticed something not quite right. His keen eyes had caught movement where none should have been. What was that? Tusks? And was that...a dagger? As if a spell had been broken a young Troll appeared in front of him, creeping towards Raene. Clearly it was unaware it had been spotted, for it continued its deliberately slow movements towards the Elven Hunter. In fact Kwazi found his attention start to wander and it took all of his willpower to focus on where he knew the Troll was, and not "Look away! You don't see me!"

Kwazi shook his head. Was this how they did it? He'd heard of the Rogues' uncanny ability to disappear in broad daylight; how they could apparently stand out in the open and not be seen. Was it some kind of learned magic by which they forced any observers to look away, to literally not see the Rogue standing right in front of them?

"I see you," Kwazi told himself. "I SEE YOU!!!"

There! Creeping around to get behind Raene! There it was! Kwazi shouldered his rifle, took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger.

Ka-Boom!

Raene spun at the sound to see the young Troll collapse in a heap beside her, still holding a wicked dagger tightly in each hand. She looked over at Kwazi to thank him, then her eyes widened and her focus switched from his face to over his shoulder.

"Bastard!" hissed a voice in Kwazi's ear as something slammed into his lower back. Then came a second searing pain higher up. And then he felt nothing at all.

The last thing Kwazi saw was Raene launching another arrow straight at him. No, not at him. Over his head. He heard her yell something in Elvish. He knew that word. What was it again? Oh yeah. Scattershot. Then his world went black.

* * *

Kwazi's head hadn't felt like this for a long time. Not since the morning after he and Jarven tried to drink every last keg of Thunder Ale in the Kharanos Inn. Actually, now that he thought about it, that still hadn't been as bad as he felt now. Just how much had he had to drink this time? He hoped Jarven felt even worse, because he just knew his old friend was behind this horrific hangover.

Slowly and carefully he cracked open one eye lid, expecting to be blinded by the fire in his room at the Kharanos Inn, but there was no fire. And this wasn't Kharanos. So where was he? And why was everything so green? Kwazi opened both eyes, and one of the most musical voices he'd ever heard cautioned him to take it easy.

An elf? Oh yeah. It all came flooding back to him.

The Druid who kept yawning and muttering something about the Emerald Dream, who had asked Kwazi to escort him from Auberdine to a giant tree-like demi-god in some outdoor temple.

Another Hunter - this one an Elf - and his bear companion. Kwazi got the feeling traveling with them that while two was company, three was definitely a crowd. He remembered parting ways, with the Elf saying he was going to investigate a Furbolg camp.

Then there was Astranaar, and Raene Wolfrunner, and...the Horde! And the young Troll Rogue that he'd shot, only to be ambushed by...another Rogue?

Kwazi tried to sit up and pain shot through his body, from two points in his back, to be precise. Again the musical voice cautioned him to take it easy before calling out, "Raene! He's awake!"

A tall, lithe body blocked the light of the doorway for a second as Raene stepped inside the hut. "Don't try to get up just yet, Kwazi," she told him. "You got that first Troll, but his brother got you."

"I thought I was a goner" said the Dwarf.

"You were," said the owner of the musical voice, "but you seem to have made some interesting friends in your short life, Hunter. Although Dwarves were never meant to walk the Emerald Dream, it sounds like you are one who has. When Raene brought you to me you were so pale that I thought you were already lost to us. But as we lay you down you gasped, then uttered the name of a powerful Druid. 'Kerlonian Evershade! What are you doing here?' you said, and that was when I knew you still had a chance. Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? I am Tra'onna Evershade, daughter of Kerlonian. It is a pleasure to meet you, Kwazimoto."

Kwazi finally managed to sit up but decided against trying to stand just yet. Instead he bowed his head and said, "Well met, Tra'onna Evershade, daughter of Kerlonian Evershade. I am Kwazi'Moto, son of Kozi'Moto, son of Quasi'Moto, and I am honored to meet you."

Tra'onna laughed. "And I am glad we were able to meet, Kwazi'moto, son of Kozi'moto. I've heard the Dwarves are legendary for two things in particular. Their sturdy constitution and," she smiled to show she meant no malice, "their stubbornness, and it appears both traits have served you well these past few days. Yes," she said, noting the shock on Kwazi's face, "it's been half a ten-day since we were last attacked, but given the severity of the wounds you suffered, I'm amazed to see you awake so soon. Still, I don't think you're ready to resume your hunt just yet, Kwazi'moto."

Kwazi would have liked to have argued otherwise but he was forced to admit Tra'onna was right, especially as the room had been slowly spinning ever since he sat up. "I think...I'd like something to eat," he said, "then...maybe I'll take another nap, if you don't mind."

"How could I object to such a polite request, Kwazi'moto, son of Kozi'moto," laughed Tra'onna, as she prepared a bowl of broth for him. "Here. I think you will find this surprisingly satisfying, for a simple bowl of broth."

Kwazi took the offered bowl of what appeared to be little more than hot water, but Tra'onna was right. A delicious aroma filled his nostrils, the broth filled his stomach, and within seconds of draining the bowl Kwazi felt his mind grow heavy and he carefully lay back down on the woven grass mat.

"Sleep, Kwazi'moto, son of Kozi'moto," sang Tra'onna. "Sleep. Your body needs to rest to heal. Sleep."

* * *

Kwazi spent many more ten-days in Astranaar before Tra'onna felt he was strong enough to continue his journey. During that time he studied under Raene, and the Dwarf learned what being a Hunter means to the Night Elves. Although both the Dwarves and the Night Elves produced Hunters, there were distinct differences between the two races, and Kwazi realized they each could learn a lot from the other.

He also learned a lot more about the Horde, as it seemed not a single ten-day could go by without raiders attacking Astranaar at least once. Kwazi learned that in the center of the Barrens was a Horde town known simply as the Crossroads. Raene told the Dwarf that just as the Horde frequently attacked Astranaar, so, too, did soldiers of the Alliance almost constantly raid the Crossroads.

"If one was in retaliation for the other," she said, "then it was so long ago that nobody remembers who was the initial aggressor. Now they attack us, we attack them, and the circle continues. Aren't you familiar with a similar situation in your own Eastern Kingdoms?"

Kwazi was forced to admit that his knowledge of almost anywhere outside Dun Murogh was severely lacking.

"In the land known as Hillsbrad," Raene continued, "to the north of Ironforge, there are two towns, one Alliance, one Horde. Located so closely together they are almost constantly at war." The Night Elf shook her head sadly. "Many battles have been fought there, many heroes slain, and much blood soaks the fields between these two towns. We attack them, they attack us, and the circle continues."

They were definitely words to ponder, Kwazi thought to himself, and something to keep in mind if he was to return from this journey. Clearly not all lands were as safe as Dun Murogh, while some appeared to never know peace at all. He would need to be especially careful when he ventured south into the Barrens. If the Alliance harassed the Crossroads as often as Astranaar had been raided these past few ten-days, Kwazi knew the Horde of the Barrens would not hesitate to attack a solitary Dwarf trespassing on their land.

But it was not just the Barrens that Kwazi must pass through, but Durotar itself. Named after Thrall's father and home to the Orc capital of Orgrimmar, Kwazi knew that the greatest test of his abilities was still yet to come.

But somewhere south of here a Tiger called his name, and Kwazi'moto, son of Kozi'moto, had no choice but to find it.

(Continued in part IV)

* * * * *

I've added something a little personal to this story, that being Kwazimoto's lineage.

When my father retired in the early '90s, one of the things that occupied his free time was playing the Forgotten Realms computer games on my old Commodore 64. Differing from WoW and other MMOs of today, these single-player games required the player to create and manage a full party of adventurers. My father could play through them again and again, creating new parties each time, but there was always one constant to each party; they would all include a Dwarf named after Victor Hugo's famous hunchback, Quasimodo, and the spelling of Kwazi's father's name was one of my father's favorite choices.

Later when my father played AD&D the character he naturally chose was a Dwarf, which he named Kozimoto, of course. One of the goals he had for Kozimoto was to have a wolf as a Pet, and he was delighted the day I DM'd a small adventure where I allowed his Dwarf to buy a baby wolf from a traveling vendor.

When I began playing WoW in April 2005, neither Kwazimoto nor the Hunter were my first characters. I actually rolled a human Paladin, but after playing for the evening I wasn't too enamored with the experience. I brought the manual to work with me the next day to read on the bus (yes, I actually RTFM ;) and something about the Hunter, particularly the Dwarf Hunter, appealed to me. When I got home I rolled my new character and while debating a name decided that like my father, I'd go with a play on Quasimodo. As Dad would frequently go with Kozimoto, I chose Kwazimoto, being not just a play on Quasimodo, but also Quasi as in similar to my father.

My Dad would have loved WoW and without a doubt he would have played a Hunter. And with me living in the U.S it would have been a great way for us to stay in touch, except for one small problem. Dad died in March 2005, just one month before I started playing.

I actually rolled a Kozimoto, for Dad, but there was something about doing that which felt wrong and I deleted that character. But Kwazi'moto, son of Kozi'moto, son of Quasi'moto, lives on (even if I don't play any more ;)

Becoming the Hunter, part II

Continuing Kwazimoto's story. Part I can be found here.

* * * * *

A trip through the Wetlands would normally have been far more hazardous for a young Dwarf with so few seasons under his belt, except for one thing. As Kwazimoto entered the tunnels of Dun Algaz, he noticed the guards who were charged with holding back any Horde ambitious enough to come down from the north, guards who usually took their jobs very seriously, had huge grins on their faces and in some cases were doubled up with laughter.

"Quick now," one of the guards chuckled to Kwazi as he waved him on through the tunnels. "You'll be fine, if you...you catch up to...them! Ah hah hah hah ha!" The guard couldn't contain his laughter any longer and he held his stomach as tears rolled down his face.

"Hurry now, lad," said another guard with more self control. "If you're quick, you can catch them before you pass through the lower tunnels. Run like the Snow Leopard, son. Go!"

Confused but obedient Kwazi raced through the first tunnel and met more guards, who, like the first, were a lot more jovial than expected. As he emerged from the tunnel they turned with expectant looks on their faces. "Another one? No, it's a young dwarf. Quick, me lad. Run! Catch up to...them! HA ha ha!" And like the earlier guards they also burst out laughing.

Kwazi entered the second tunnel and his speed picked up as he raced down the slope. Ahead of him he could hear a strange sound. High pitched yelps. A lot of them. Like a thousand children crying out with sheer abandonment and exultation.

"Hup! Hup Hup! Hup hup hup! Hup hup! Hup hup hup!"

Kwazi burst out into the second clearing and the sight that met his eyes was one he'd never forget. Were they crazy? Suicidal? Was it a cult of some kind? What in Orion's name was going on?

Why would so many Gnomes strip down to their underwear, then run through the Wetlands? Because clearly Dun Algaz was not their final destination although sadly, for some, it was.

But even as the arrows of the Dragonmaw Orcs brought down their companions the rest of the Gnomes kept running, and now Kwazi realized what the guards had meant. If he stuck with these suicidal gnomes (or whatever they were), as much as the thought churned his belly, their deaths would provide him with safe passage through the Wetlands. Although Kwazi stood a good head and shoulders above his companions, the fact that they were naked, or perhaps just that they were gnomes, drew the ire of the Dragonmaw, and the dwarf passed through the clearing and entered the third tunnel unscathed.

The high pitched yelping of the gnomes echoed unpleasantly off the stone walls and Kwazi tried to pass through the confined space as quickly as he could. But although he shoved and jostled many a gnome as he pushed his way through, not one of them protested at the rough treatment.

"Hup! Hup! Hup hup hup!" was the only sound they made.

Kwazi emerged from the tunnel into the third clearing where the path ahead looped back on itself to enter the final tunnel below. He had no idea how many gnomes were behind him, but clearly there were still a lot more in front. As they ran ahead of him down the slope they jumped and leaped and spun in the air, not unlike sheep in the spring when they're relieved of their wool, which, Kwazi thought to himself, was an all too accurate analogy.

Using his greater size and strength, Kwazi shoved gnomes out of the way as he raced down the path and entered the fourth tunnel, and there ahead of him he thought he finally heard something other than the gnomes' inane, high pitched yelping.

Was that the clip-clopping trot of a Dwarven Battle-Ram?

As he emerged from the final tunnel and entered the damp, fetid heat of the Wetlands, Kwazi saw the front runners of the pack were being led by a Dwarf astride a Ram. The Dwarf was obviously a fellow Hunter, because at his side ran a big cat, a magnificent, heavily muscled beast. White with a slight violet hue to its stripes, it was clearly from Winterspring.

Although surrounded by yelping gnomes the big cat seemed to sense his presence, and it turned and looked straight into Kwazi's eyes. A cold, calculated look that turned Kwazi's blood to ice. Then, just like the tiger of his dreams from the night before, the big cat dismissed him and continued loping along, clearly not bothered by his presence. As if they shared a non-physical connection and an unspoken message had passed between them the Hunter turned and looked back inquisitively, and his face lit up when he saw Kwazimoto.

"Come on up!" he yelled, beckoning to the young Hunter. "It's a little clearer at the front. Less gnomes...for obvious reasons." He grinned, and Kwazi resumed pushing his way through the throng. The gnomes let him pass without saying a word, except for "Hup! Hup! Hup hup hup!" of course.

As Kwazi got closer to the front of the pack he saw what the Dwarf had meant by "obvious reasons". The Wetlands were home to Giant Spiders, Crocalisks, and Raptors, all dangerous beasts to a Dwarf as inexperienced as Kwazi, and equally as dangerous to young gnomes like those around him. Here, a Croc rushed from the water. There, a Raptor emerged from the mist. And with a snap of jaws and a Yelp! they disappeared just as quickly, but not empty handed, or empty-mouthed as it were.

Seeing the shock on Kwazi's face the Dwarf spoke up. "It's just the circle of life, son. I'd expect a fellow Hunter to understand, be a little more in tune with nature. All things must eat, and we're not always at the top of the food chain, you know. Now, don't get too close to the front. See?"

Another Snap! and Yelp! caught his attention and a horrified Kwazi realized it was only the gnomes at the very front who were getting picked off. Now he knew why all those other gnomes had let him through so easily. As long as he or someone else was ahead of them, the Crocs and Raptors would take that person first.

The old Hunter laughed as the young Dwarf, noticing the ranks around him had become dangerously thin, tried to slow down and let a few more Gnomes back in front. But the Gnomes behind Kwazi were a lot less enthusiastic about him falling back than they had been about letting him passed, and Kwazi felt tiny hands shove him forward, keeping him out in front.

Kwazi looked around in panic then realized that while the Raptors and Crocs were taking the young gnomes, they were giving the old Hunter a wide berth. Being animals didn't mean they weren't smart. The Crocs and Raptors knew it was easier, and a lot less riskier, to take the younger, softer, less armored gnomes, than to try for a well armed, clearly dangerous Hunter...or his big cat.

Quickly Kwazi moved over and began running alongside the old Hunter's feline companion, who uttered a single, low, cough of a grunt, but otherwise made no sign he even knew Kwazi was there.

"Smart thinking, young dwarf. We might make a Hunter out of you yet!" the old Hunter said with a laugh, as a snap and a Yelp! saw yet another gnome carried off into the mist.

Kwazi ignored him. He was too busy trying to keep up with the big cat and, more importantly, stay as close to it as possible without making it angry or giving it an excuse to eat him.

Finally, after running for what seemed like hours, the ground underfoot changed from the dirt path of the Wetlands to the wooden planks of a bridge, and ahead of him, somewhere in the mist, Kwazi heard the sounds of civilization.

Horses neighed, hammers rang on metal, ropes creaked and...sailors were singing and gulls were crying. Menethil Harbor! With the end in sight, figuratively more than literally, the Gnomes stepped up the pace and began pushing and shoving each other as they jostled and fought for first place.

A shout came from somewhere ahead of them. "Here they come!"

Cheers went up, the yelps of the gnomes got louder and even more higher pitched, which Kwazimoto hadn't thought possible, and it dawned on him that the countless, senseless deaths he'd witnessed this day, had all been for nothing more than a race.

The gnomes poured across a wide stone bridge and the two Dwarves were literally carried along with them into Menethil Harbor, which quickly became the biggest party town this side of Goldshire.

Later, Kwazimoto joined the old Hunter in the Deepwater Tavern for a drink and a bite to eat.

"You weren't here for the race," the old Hunter said to Kwazimoto. "So, what brings you to Menethil Harbor?"

"I'm just passing through," Kwazi replied. "I...had a dream last night," he said, deciding to confide in the old Dwarf. Surely a fellow Hunter should understand. "I had my final lessons yesterday, and I tamed a Leopard, and a Bear, and a Wolf, then I sent them all away. None of them felt right. Then in my dream last night I fought beside a Tiger...and...I knew it was the one."

"Aye, that's how some of us know," the old Hunter nodded, then took a long pull from his mug that left his mustache covered in white foam. "Some Hunters are happy to grab the first Beast they come across. But others...others like you, they want the right companion. And they're never happy until they find it...or it finds them." He winked at Kwazi, "Like yer Tiger found you. Aye. You'll make a good Hunter, I can see that. Now if you'll excuse me," the old Hunter drained his Mug then slammed it down onto the table, "It's been a long day, herding gnomes from Coldridge Valley all the way out here. I'm going to get some shut-eye. But I think that bell means your ride to Auberdine is getting ready to set sail. Better hurry, young Hunter. Be seeing ya!"

And with that the old Dwarf turned and headed upstairs, accompanied by his big cat that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. And if anyone had any objections to the animal being in the Inn, nobody was prepared to voice them.

Kwazi smiled to himself, tossed a few coins down on the table, then shouldered his pack and slipped outside. As he made his way out onto the pier he saw the old Hunter had been correct. The ship to Auberdine was already loaded and the crew were making their last preparations as Kwazi trotted on board and was directed to his cabin. The ship would sail through the night and in the morning, when he woke, Kwazi would find himself in Auberdine, on the north-west coast of Kalimdor. But even there, as far as Auberdine was from Ironforge and the hills of Dun Murogh, Kwazi's journey to find his tiger companion would still be far from over.

(Click here for part III)

Runes of Magic

So long without a post, and I notice I'm not the only one. So what have I been up to?

Aside from life in general, Tae Kwon Do and Golf lessons for my son, Cub Scouts, and other family activities, not much has been happening.

I did let Saylah convince me, through her Blog, to give Runes of Magic a try, and it's been a fun game so far. Almost all of the folks I've encountered have been friendly, and it's not uncommon for high level players to offer their help in general chat, "Anyone need help with anything?", there's a distinct lack of Orcs, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, etc, and the Murloc movie title references and Chuck Norris jokes are conspicuously absent from general chat, but aside from all that it's remarkably similar to WoW ;)

I rolled a Rogue at first and having heard the problem with Talent Point respecs I leveled up to 5 or 6 before I assigned any Talent Points to any of my skills, with the subsequent result that it was like playing my Hunter in WoW for the first time, where I forgot about my Talent Points, and never trained my Pet in anything, and wondered why the more I leveled the harder the game got.

So at level 6 I decided to level up a couple of skills and looking at my Talent Points it was a classic No Brainer where I should invest first. I maxed out the standard Rogue attack Shadowstab (being the RoM equivalent of Sinister Strike), and because wielding a Dagger while casting/spamming Shadowstab puts a 6-second Bleeding Wound debuff on my opponent, and the Rogue skill Low Blow inflicts extra damage on targets with a Bleeding Wound, I subsequently dumped Talent Points into Low Blow as well.

Just as an aside, unlike WoW, you don't get Talent Points each time you level, you actually get them from every Mob you kill. And Leveling up a Skill doesn't require just 1 TP as in WoW, but multiple TPs, but unless you try to max out every single Skill your class has access to you shouldn't have a problem with the amount of Talent Points you have available. RoM also follows a Talent Tree structure that more closely resembles Diablo II than WoW, by which I mean a Level 6 Rogue can increase Shadowstab, Low Blow, and the Level 6 Skill Wound Attack to level 6, then when your character reaches level 7 you can dump more TPs into those Skills to level them up to 7 as well.

I just mentioned the Level 6 Rogue Skill Wound Attack, and this was the 3rd Skill that was a No Brainer recipient of my valuable Talent Points. If your target is inflicted with a Bleeding Wound debuff and you hit them with Low Blow, they suffer a 10-second Grievous Wound debuff. And if you hit them with Wound Attack while they're under the effects of both a Bleeding Wound and a Grievous Wound then that's just about all she wrote.

Up until I dinged level 6 combat had been little more than me spamming my level 1 Shadowstab, which was fine against level 1 & 2 Mobs, but against the level 3 & 4 Mobs I faced at levels 3, 4, & 5, level 1 SS wasn't cutting the mustard, combat was a real drag. Then I dinged 6, spent my Talent Points as I just described, and now I had a 1-2-3 combo, with 1 being Shadowstab, 2 being Low Blow, & 3 naturally being Wound Attack. Now combat was not only over in seconds, but culminated in an explosion of red pixels. Awesome! RoM Rogue with properly spent Talent Points = FUN!

I quickly leveled to 10 then faced a major decision all RoM players face at that point. What to make my secondary class? Imagine a Rogue with access to Hunter skills, or Priest Skills, or Warrior or Mage skills. Yep, RoM is kind of like that. At level 10 you approach the Class Trainer of your choice and commit to a second class, and here I made a mistake. I chose Knight (the RoM equivalent of a Paladin), and it's not bad, but it detracted from the fun of my Rogue. What I should have done was rolled a brand new character, i.e., a Knight, and seen if I liked playing that class first, but I didn't. Later I rolled a Warrior and a Scout (Hunter) and decided I really like the way the Scout played. There is no Deadzone with a Scout. You get up in a Scout's face, and he can still shoot you, while simultaneously attacking with his Melee weapon. I played the Scout up to level 10 and said, I want this guy (actually a female character ;) to be a Scout/Rogue.

As a Scout/Rogue I do not have access to the Rogue's Low Blow and Wound Attack, unless I switch my Classes (which you can do) so Rogue is my primary and Scout is my secondary class, but then I lose access to some of the Scout-specific skills/shots. I found that the Rogue & Scout classes compliment each other, utilizing similar weapons and armor, but like any combination of pure DPS classes they naturally create the ultimate Glass Cannon. Wicked DPS with low Armor means you need to kill your opponent fast or you're going down. Now in PvE you do kill fast so it's not a big deal, although apparently at higher levels you need a Healer to keep you alive, but I'm not there yet so that's not a huge concern. Apparently Rogue/Scout classes also suffer in PvP, for the same Glass Cannon reasons. But I haven't done PvP in RoM yet, either :P

Questing is where RoM again compares to WoW, but it likewise could be compared to almost every other MMO out there as well. You have the regular quests you do for various townsfolk in your current Quest Hub, but you also have Daily Quests you can do that reward you with Tokens you can apparently later spend on cool stuff, like Permanent Mounts, because most Mounts in RoM are temporary-hire objects, that disappear from your backpack after a certain period of time. You get to keep them for longer periods if you pay more up-front, but unless you shell out real cash for Diamonds (the RMT Currency), or sell "stuff" on the Auction House for Diamonds, you're going to find yourself running around on foot or renting your Mount. If you play RoM and like it, and think you'll keep playing it for a while, a Mount costs about the same as a single month of WoW. Considering you don't have to buy a copy of the game but can just download it for free, and that you don't have to pay a monthly sub, I don't think it's unreasonable of Frogster to tell folks, "You want a Mount? Then pony up!"

I'll probably keep playing Runes of Magic for a while. It's a fun game, and it's well put together. Yes, there's a couple of quests that are broken, and have been since the game went Live! but those broken quests are in themselves not game breaking (even if one of them is a limited-time "seasonal" quest). And while the variety of classes is nothing new the ability to combine two classes does make things a lot more interesting. But the best thing of all is it's free. Considering the quality of the product you're getting, that's a price you just cannot beat.

LG Vu

Liz and I picked up new phones on the weekend after a run-in with a cup of coffee took her Razr out of commission. Initially she was just going to get herself a new phone but we noticed AT&T had cunningly decided to have a 2-for-1 sale on their LG Vu and as that was the phone Liz had her eyes on, I ended up getting one too.

It's a pretty good phone, reception is quite clear and calls are very audible, although when using Speaker-phone, if a caller raises their voice too much it becomes distorted.

Like the iPhone it's a predominantly touch screen phone (with 3 regular buttons, and a couple of side buttons) and it works very well, although the on-screen slider is sometimes a little dodgy, but maybe that's me and my big thumbs.

What I'm not too pleased with is the flimsy plastic cover over the combined headset/power socket, which has to be pried open every time you need to charge your phone. I had a similar power socket cover on my Razr, which snapped off shortly after I got it, and I can see this happening with the Vu as well. Especially given the goodies that come with it can make charging the Vu an almost nightly affair if you want to be able to use your phone when you need to.

Our upgraded contact came with AT&T Mobile TV and watching TV on your phone is surprisingly easy, especially on the Vu's 3" screen (that's just 1/2" smaller than the iPhone). After eating at Souplantation last night I took the kids home while the wife went on to run some errands, and the bunny's tears at not going with Mommy quickly dried up when Spongebob Squarepants appeared on my phone. Listening in as we drove home, even though I took the Freeway, not once did I hear the skip or stutter I occasionally get while watching on my bus ride into work (I blame the bus's suspension). Incredibly, around 5th & Grand in downtown L.A., as in right in the heart of the CBD, my phone loses the Mobile TV signal. It can make and receive calls just fine, and even surf the 'net, but it will not do Mobile TV past that point. I'm sure somewhere south of my office the signal picks back up again (probably closer to the residential area or around USC), but right now I'm unable to get a signal, even though I'm right across the road from AT&T's HQ!!!

Okay, back. Sorry about that. Just conducted a little experiment. I walked across the road to the AT&T building, and I can't get Mobile TV there, either. The Vu did start to acquire the signal but couldn't establish a connection and was forced to admit defeat. Sad. Not a fault with the Vu though, more with AT&T's Mobile TV.

The games that come preloaded with the Vu are a sad bunch, and although the Vu is a touch screen-capable phone most games throw up a virtual keypad, so instead of playing the game by touching the playing field and giving your avatar directions, selecting puzzle pieces, etc, the Vu asks you to press virtual arrow keys at the bottom of the screen. The arrows are not even in an intuitive + or T formation, but are in a straight line across the bottom of the screen so you have to look away from the action to make sure you're pressing the correct button.

At least Bejeweled asks you to touch the Jewels in the gameboard, and considering how small each jewel is I rarely selected the wrong one, but it's a Timed Demo/Trial that lasted barely a minute before telling me I needed to buy the game to keep playing. I checked out the other Demos and they were all the same. Very sad was the Timed Trial/Demo of Midnight Pool, for which I made one shot (the Break) then sat back and watched my computer(phone?)-controlled opponent make several shots in a row and that was it. Trial/Demo over. Do you want to buy the full game? I had Midnight Pool on my Razr but I think I'll pass this time around.

Then there's the cool Internet feature. Moving into the 21st Century I can check my Yahoo! email and even log into Facebook via my phone, which to those who've had it for a while is probably no big deal, but I think it's pretty cool.

The Vu also comes with a 2.0-Megapixel camera, which is pretty impressive for a phone, and it can (apparently) take photos up to 1600x1200 resolution. The video camera is not so hot, and can only manage 320x240, which is more than enough to watch short, home movies on your cellphone, but not really "burn a DVD to send home for Christmas" quality. It comes with a 2x zoom, but as it's purely digital zoom, not true optical, you really don't want to be zooming in with it. Besides, there's really something wrong if you're using your phone to capture those happy family moments. That's what cameras are for :P

When all is said and done the Vu is not an iPhone (but is that really a Con?), but it's still an excellent touch-screen phone in its own right, and is (currently) capable of doing things the iPhone cannot...such as sending photographs via Txt (aka MMS). Remember the ad where the young couple is in some Asian country? One of them is out seeing the City when the urge to use the restroom struck. The language barrier escalated the situation but their phone came to the rescue when the person in their hotel room sent a photograph of their toilet to the stricken one's phone and saved the day. Yeah. For everything it can do, the iPhone (currently) cannot do that.