I am soooo going to Hell

I've been in charge of the office coffee fund for a long time now, probably for 7 years or so. Lately (actually ever since our satellite office merged with the Main Office three years ago) I've felt we've been steadily losing money, and recently we've really been in dire straits. We've barely been able to pay our supplier (we have a Keurig machine and I buy K-Cups in bulk from a local supplier), let alone buy creamer, sugar, etc.

In conjunction with the Keurig machine we also have a drip filter pot, so every morning I'll brew a pot of coffee then some time during the morning I'll make a second pot. The profit margin on the pot should be quite high, and when combined with the 25¢ profit margin per cup from the Keurig machine we should be practically swimming in money, but lately, after paying our supplier, I've barely had enough money to buy supplies so I've been using the Just In Time inventory method.

Today I brewed a pot of coffee and I noticed the tub was getting very low. Once again we have just enough money to pay our supplier with just enough left over to buy a couple of tubs of creamer & sugar, but not enough to shell out $10 for a new tub of Folgers. In my 7 years managing the coffee fund this is practically unheard of.

When our two offices merged I inherited all of the Main Office's coffee supplies, and this included two tins of Folgers Decaf, one of which was still sealed and had remained so until this very day.

As I prepared this morning's pot and noticed the coffee was getting low my first thought was "if it runs out it runs out, and that's it." But then I looked up at this green tin of Folgers Decaf that had been sitting on the shelf for 3 years, and then I looked at the almost empty tub of Folgers in my hands. Then I looked at the label and I saw the tub held (when full) 48oz of coffee. I looked at the label on the yet-to-be opened tin of decaf; it allegedly held 39oz of coffee. I looked at the small amount of coffee still remaining in the tub. Was it 8oz of coffee? Was it more? Or less? There was really only one way to find out.

In one of the drawers I found a can opener (thank Orion for well stocked break rooms) and I proceeded to open the tin of Decaf. While it had been sitting there for 3 years (and Lord only knows how long before the merge), it was still sealed, and that's sealed in a tin, mind you, not one of those foil bags. So I'm pretty sure that even though it's 3+ years old, it's still fresh...sort of. Sort of fresh, that is, not sort of sure. I'm sure it's sort of fresh. Or is that still the same thing as 'sort of sure it's fresh'?

The can opener didn't work properly and it seemed to take forever to get the tin open. Fortunately I start work at 6am and I'd got in early this morning so my chances of being interrupted mid-mission were slim to none. But there were a couple of other people that get in this early, and I'd already seen them walking to their desks as I'd made my way to the break room, and one of them usually meets me in the break room around this time...so come on, can opener! I finally got the tin open and began pouring the decaf into the tub. It all fit, just, but a couple of taps on the counter packed the grounds together and settled them down to a less-than-suspicious level. Then I buried the green decaf tin in one of the recycling bins, way down deep, under all the other cans & bottles. Mission accomplished!

Yesterday we were down to our last carton of sugar, we were completely out of creamer, and we were almost out of coffee. Last night I bought some more creamer & sugar but couldn't afford coffee (not if I wanted to pay our supplier).

Today we have sugar, creamer, and most importantly, we have coffee. Decaf still has some caffeine so it still counts as coffee. It does, too!

I've "pulled a Carol" and switched the office coffee to decaf.

I am soooo going to Hell.

Police, small town vs big town

Oddly enough, despite what I was originally going to write, there's not a huge difference between the two. You get good cops in both bunches, you get bad apples in both bunches. I think there's a bigger difference in small town versus big city cops, but even then you still get the same make-up. You get power tripping cops in small towns just as you get nice cops willing to lend a hand in big towns.

Growing up in a small country town in Australia my experience with the police was probably different to that of my American "small town" counterpart, but probably also not dramatically different. I think the big difference between Australia and the U.S., at least small town different (and maybe it's changed from 20 years ago, too), was how you handled the cop pulling you over.

Here, you turn off the ignition, wind down the window (maybe just a little if you're overly cautious), place your hands on the steering wheel in plain view then wait for the cop to approach your car.

In Australia, my father taught me to leave the car and meet the cop halfway, between the cars, on neutral ground so to speak. I don't know if this was a country thing, or a family thing, but I had no problem doing that the one time a Cop actually pulled me over in Australia. Of course that same act also almost got my uncle shot when he did that here in the U.S. when he got pulled over for speeding. (Being an international businessman with a lead foot that was something that happened to him with some frequency.) With his hand ready to draw his pistol the cop apparently ordered my uncle to return to his car and put his hands on the steering wheel. My uncle wisely complied.

Before we were married my wife-to-be and I got lost visiting friends in Oakland. I convinced Liz to pull up on the Freeway behind a CHP Officer writing a ticket, and before she knew what I was about to do (she probably thought I'd wave the officer over to the car) I had the door open and was out of the car, strolling along the Freeway shoulder and up to the officer.

"Good afternoon, sir," I said, by way of greeting (or something similar, although I don't think I'd yet adopted the American practice of calling everyone 'sir'.) "Are you almost finished here? We're a little lost."

The Chippie was either brand new on the Force, or just stunned that someone would actually pull up behind him, get out of their car, and ask him for directions, because he made no attempt to shoot me. He replied that he was almost done and requested that I return to our car, which I did (and I suspect Liz probably chewed me out, I can't remember :D) and when he was finished writing his ticket he came over and helped us on our way.

A year or so later we were pulled over when the officer behind us noticed our vehicle's registration sticker was overdue. I knew I'd put the new sticker on because I'd already expressed my doubts to Liz about the safety of such a system. In Australia your rego sticker goes on the inside of your car's windshield, whereas here in the U.S. it just gets stuck on your rear license plate, exposed to the elements...and the first tea leaf to come along that wants a registration sticker, and that's what had happened to us. Some bastich had peeled the sticker off. (Or it blew off in the wind, but that's doubtful.) I forget exactly what I said but I attracted the officer's attention and he leaned over to peer in at me sitting in the passenger seat, so I told him that I'd just put the new sticker on last week. He not only didn't write a ticket for not displaying our registration sticker (although we did have the current papers in the glove box) he clued me in to taking my knife and making several slices across the sticker, jig-sawing it so no thief in their right mind would try to peel it off because all they'd get would be tiny triangular pieces.

Of course we've also been pulled over a couple of times and received tickets, which we've deserved for the most part. The one I feel we didn't deserve was what I'll call a "Tailgate Trap".

The bike cop was parked on the median strip on the far side of the traffic light-controlled intersection. The light would go green and everyone would accelerate through the intersection, which crossed a 4-lane (each way) Highway with two lanes in the middle for turning traffic, so we're talking a 10-lane wide highway. The first cars would get to the other side, see the bike cop, and do what practically everyone does when they see a cop; they'd hit their brakes and slow down so the cars behind them would bunch up for no reason other than there being a bike cop sitting in the middle of the road...a bike cop who promptly pulled the last vehicle over and ticketed them (us) for tail gating. After he wrote our ticket I watched as he rode back to the intersection and parked in exactly the same spot. If they have ticket quotas (and I'm not saying they do) I'm sure he wrote his entire month's quota of tickets that day.

Many years ago, a friend and I used to ride into town on a Sunday afternoon, ride down the alley, and climb the fence into the back of the Newsagency (the very one where I'd later find myself employed) where we'd go through their dumpster looking for magazines with no covers. (I would later learn that while some magazines went back to the publisher in their entirety, other publishers required nothing more than the cover to issue credit.) Playboy and Penthouse were always top on the list but we also kept an eye out for computer magazines. On this occasion we were preparing to climb over the fence when a voice asked us what we were doing. How a V8 can creep up on you without you hearing it I have no idea. We turned around and it's a cop car. My friend quickly tells the driver we were there because he needed to take a piss. Like a cop, who is trained to be suspicious about anyone not in uniform, was going to buy that.

Now me? I was brought up that when you get busted you're better off telling the truth or you'll only make it worse for yourself, so I told my friend not to lie then turned to the cop and told him we were planning to climb over the fence to look for Playboy magazines.

My friend chimed in again. He just couldn't shut up. "He wanted to look for pornos," he says, "I'm just after computer magazines." There's petty theft and robbery, and there's grand theft auto and grand larceny (& others). But when you're stealing magazines it doesn't matter whether it's Playboy, Penthouse, or PC Gamer, it's still stealing. Despite his protests I was sure my friend was not getting on the cop's good side.

I don't know if there are similar programs here in the U.S. but back home you could take your bike into a Police Station and they'd take out their little tools, look up the latest number in their little book, then stamp the appropriate number into the bottom of the frame of your bike & record your particulars in their little book. Then if your bike ever got stolen or turned up at the Cop Shop, they could see if it had one of these numbers stamped in the frame and identify the owner. My friend and I had both just got new bikes a few weeks before and we'd had them "registered" at the Cop Shop, so when the Cop asked if they were our bikes (if we were prepared to steal magazines we'd probably steal bikes, it's a logical assumption...and true, sort of ;) so it was a simple matter to show the Cop the numbers on our bikes and for him to ID us. After receiving a stern warning we were sent on our way, and off we rode, arguing over the semantics of lying and the difference between stealing PC Gamer and Playboy.

A few years later while at the local video arcade my neighbour rode up on what I knew was a stolen bicycle. I was in the office when he came inside so I had my friend, who also worked there, keep an eye on him while I slipped outside, jumped on the stolen bike and promptly rode it around to the police station. Unlike my previous encounter with the police, this time I was not averse to lying to the Cops, and I told them I'd "found" the bike down by the river. I gave them my name & number in the event that nobody claimed it, but they never called me back so I knew it must have found its way back to its rightful owner. I did tell my parents what I'd done and they thought it was hilarious. My Mum even got to play dumb when my neighbour's Mum told her about his bike being "stolen". Mum asked if he'd gone to the police, and she said my neighbour's Mum Um'd and Ah'd before saying he couldn't do that as it wasn't actually his bike. Mum said she found it very hard to keep a straight face for the rest of their conversation.

Dad used to love to drink so Mum, who was not a big drinker, was often the designated driver while Dad got plastered. Driving home from one family gathering we got pulled over at a Random Breath Testing station. The cop asked Mum if she'd been drinking and Mum said No. Dad leaned over and practically giggled as he said, "But I have!" He was in great humor and the Cop smiled, too. He was probably very happy to see the drunk guy in the passenger seat and not behind the wheel. Mum had to blow into the bag anyway but she got the all clear then we were sent on our way, but Mum was not happy with Dad. Years later Liz would be pulled over and breathalyzed while I got to recreate yesteryear's scene from the passenger seat. Like Mum, Liz was not too happy with me, either. What can I say? Like father, like son.

When I worked for the Newsagency, the same one my friend and I used to raid for coverless magazine, my alarm was set for 3am, I'd be at the shop by 4, and when 9 o'clock rolled around it was quitting time and the rest of the day was my own. Customers just starting their day were baffled that I could greet them so cheerfully at 8:30 in the morning. When I'd explain that I'd already been up for 5 hours they'd ask how on earth I could get up that early. I'd point out what a glorious day it was outside and how in half an hour I'd be heading out to enjoy it, maybe play a round of golf, or even hit the beach. For some reason they weren't happy with this explanation, and they'd leave the shop even grumpier than when they came in. I guess some people just aren't 'morning people'.

My first duty at the shop was not to open up, but to receive and count the fresh-off-the-truck bundles of newspapers, then make up & deliver the order for the local power station. Because the newspapers were always dropped off at the front of the store I'd always pull up at the front to make it easier to load the papers into my car, and I'd parallel park to facilitate loading, even though the space were marked for angle parking.

One morning I was inside when I noticed a light outside, and no, it wasn't a UFO; it was a Police car, pulled up behind my parallel-parked car.

Thinking the cops may have thought the car was stolen and abandoned I ran outside to let them know the car was mine, and found myself arguing with the cop over parallel parking in angle parking spots at 4 o'clock in the morning. As far as the cop was concerned it didn't matter what time of the day (or night) it was; the spots were clearly marked for angle parking and I was parallel parked.

"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I told him. "There's no other cars around."

"But it's angle parking."

"I'm only parking for a few minute and it's easier to load the papers this way."

"But it's angle parking."

I recalled a friend getting busted for Public Indecency (& whatever the formal charge is that equates to "Pissing off a Cop by being a smart arse and talking back to him") when he'd taken a leak on someone's lawn while staggering home at 4 o'clock in the morning. When the cop had asked the almost obligatory "What do you think would happen if everyone did this?" my friend, a professional Gardener & Groundskeeper, had replied, "Well, speaking from a professional point of view, the excessive amounts of nitrates would kill the lawn." For answering the Cop's question he got to spend the rest of his night in jail.

"So what if everyone parked like this?" the Cop asked me.

"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I argued with him, "there IS nobody else. If there were, I'd have angle parked."

I don't know how many times we went back & forth but we wasted far more time than if he had just said, "Don't do it again," and let me go on my way (which he eventually did anyway after ordering me to re-park correctly). Or yes, I'll admit, if I'd just said, "You're right. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

But it was 4 o'clock in the morning! I was the only car there!

But it's angle parking.

My final encounter with the police was when I was house sitting for a friend who lived in one of the better parts of town. Driving to work from his house I would drive down a very long straight road, and most mornings you would find me doing a little more than the posted 60kph (35mph) speed limit.

On this particular morning a car followed me out of my friend's neighbourhood. When I turned onto this long road he followed me and that was when a little voice inside me said "That's a cop."

I accelerated to just shy of 60kph and the car stayed right behind me but I wasn't going to go over the speed limit. I got to the end of the road, signaled correctly, and made the turn...and the car stayed with me. I was about two blocks from the Newsagency when flashing blue lights lit up my car from behind and finally confirmed my suspicions.

I pulled over and the cop pulled up behind me, and I did what you do NOT do here in the States.

I opened my door, hopped out, and walked back towards the cop car.

The passenger door opened and a cop got out and met me in the space between our cars.

"I'm on my way to work," I said to him, pointing down the road, "I just had two blocks to go!"

"And you almost made it," the cop said with good humor.

There was no ordering me at gun point to get back into my car. No hostilities. Just a cop and a citizen having a chat at 4 o'clock in the morning on the side of the road.

While following me down that long straight road they'd run my plates and learned that I did not live in that neighbourhood, nor did I appear to be going home, so they'd pulled me over to check me out. The cop ran my driver's license, everything checked out, and with no further reason to stick around we wished each other a good day and went our separate ways.

But that was 20 years ago, in a small country town. I suspect thing are a lot different now.

Allodds online

Yes, it looks a lot like WoW, but I'm not complaining about that. This video was taken from Massively's website/review.

Is it just me?

Am I just out of touch? I don't watch the news much because it's mostly doom & gloom and I really don't need to see an hour of bad news right before going to bed. Instead I rely on the TV in the bus, a discarded newspaper, my coworkers, or my mate who has his finger on the political pulse of the country (because that's his job).

But it seems to me that the current regime is a lot more of a one-man show than the last gig. Of course maybe that's because the last front man was a bit of a cowboy. He made for great TV, especially Late Night whose writers really loved him, but you also got to see and hear a lot about Cheney, Condy, and the rest of the team.

With the current group I'm seeing a lot of their front man but I hardly ever see anything from Biden or Hillary. I do see Hillary occasionally, but man! What has Biden been doing? Is he back packing through Pakistan trying to find Osama? Where is he? And who else is there? It's almost as if there's nobody on the team but the Big O.

But maybe the ubiquitous "they" like it that way. Maybe Obama is being set up to succeed, or fail, all on his own, which is smart politics if you ask me (and even if you don't).

If it turns out Obama is a success, his team will come out of the wood work and say, "That's our boy!" (Is it racist to use the term "That's our boy!" to refer to our black President, even when "That's my/our boy!" is a well known term of endearment with no racial connotations?)

And if he fails they'll still rear their heads - this time in mock horror - as they exclaim, "You did what?"

They'll either ride his coat tails to victory, or wash their hands of him, and if you've taken the fast track to the top, you really shouldn't be surprised when the ride down the other side is even faster still.

Randomness from the Cap'n

Saturday morning the boy and I got in some more DDO then went and watched Astroboy, which was very enjoyable even if I did get a speck of dust in my eye a couple of times.

After dropping the kids with the in-laws, Liz and I headed into San Gabriel for some Korean BBQ. We got to the restaurant at 2:30pm for their All-You-Eat lunch, only to be told the lunch special closes at 3pm. That's fine, we can eat fast. We didn't eat that fast but by 3pm we had ordered and received our third plate of meat and a second helping of fixings and by the time we were done we were stuffed!

After lunch we went into Pasadena, did a spot of shopping, and picked out some Halloween costumes. The boy's Tae Kwon Do school is having a Halloween party next Saturday and our Church is having its annual Trunk-or-Treat that evening. Liz tried on a Racecar-Pitgirl outfit and she looked good in it, but she didn't like how I looked in my complimentary Speed Racer outfit, so she chose an Indian girl costume while I picked up a Cowboy vest. The picture on the front showed a big mustached fellow with a hat, The Vest, a white shirt, jeans, and belt with huge buckle. I pretty much have all that so The Vest completed my ensemble. Liz's Indian girl outfit came with a headband and feather, so she'll need to provide the Ugg Boots or moccasins to round it out.

Back home I unwound with some more DDO, finally took the plunge, and joined a PUG that was LFMing for the Collaborator on Elite. My Cleric joined a Rogue, a Mage, and a Ranger and we decided that was good enough and started the encounter. I remembered to Heal when I saw Health bars getting low and we drove back the rush of Mobs that makes up the first part of the encounter, then hit the Dungeon itself, which also went without a hitch.

Before the group could think about breaking up I asked about doing Cannith Crystal on Elite so we knocked that one out, too. Then we hit the island where we did the Underground Complex (again on Hard) as well as two other Dungeons, which got me the quest to enter Misery's Peak. So I'm now one Dungeon away from finishing Korthos Island.

Sunday we woke up around 8am thinking we had 2 hours before our Dim Sum brunch with friends, then realized our alarm clock, which automatically adjusts for Daylight Saving Time, had set itself back an hour. It was really 9 o'clock. We were a few minutes late and the last to arrive but not by much. Lots of yummy food was eaten, I even sampled the chicken's feet. They were more palatable this time around than 11 years ago, but are still not something I'd choose to eat at Dim Sum, if given the choice. There's far too much delicious food to fill my tummy with something I'd rather not eat.

With the meal over Xinh suggested we go bowling & everyone thought that was a great idea. As we discussed where the closest bowling alley was, Xinh said she'd meant Wii Sports bowling at our house. That was a good idea, too, so we all made our way back to our house where we first played Bowling, then several of the other games on Wii Sports Resort, all of which proved as fun to play as they were hilarious to watch. The Sword Fighting was probably the funniest, watching everyone flail the Wiimote around in a manner more akin to fighting with rolled up newspaper than actual sword fighting.

Finally, with everyone having errands to run, we called it an afternoon and bid our guests adieu.

And that just about wraps up the weekend.

MOAR! on DDO

Ever done a quest in WoW then been stuck on completion because you'd like both rewards? Maybe you're a Warrior or a Pally and while you would love that awesome 2H Sword, the 1H sword would be equally delicious for Tanking. Decisions, decisions. You just can't have your cake and eat it, too. At least not in WoW.

DDO is very much an Instance-based game. After leaving Korthos Village you enter the Isle of Korthos proper, and while there are Mobs to kill and quests to complete the meat of the game is in the Instances, but in order to enter an Instance you need to talk to the quest giver and get the quest. Yes, DDO lets you repeat quests which is how you can obtain both the 2H sword and the 1H sword, or in my Cleric's case a thumping great 2H Axe (What? I'm a Dwarf Cleric. We love Axes :D) and the 1H Mace which goes very well with the Shield I picked up...somewhere.

The Quest reward items are not overly powerful but they're certainly worth getting, and as you're probably going to be running each Instance multiple times you're not forced to choose between two equally appealing items; you can have them both. And whether or not you complete the Instance on Solo-difficulty, or Elite, is irrelevant. If you complete the quest you get the reward.

The difference in doing an Instance/Dungeon (I guess it should be a Dungeon. After all, the game is called Dungeons & Dragons) on Solo, Normal, Hard, or Elite, is reflected in the Chest items, with higher difficulty level Chests producing better than average gear, thus while you can solo every Instance on Solo or Normal difficulty, if you want decent quality gear you'll need to run a Dungeon on Hard and/or Elite.

At level 1 my Cleric was soloing Heyton's Rest on Hard, but now he's level 2 with better gear, and so I took the plunge, entered Heyton's Rest on Elite, and completed it! I'd also been doing The Storeroom on Hard so after my success with Elite Heyton's Rest I decided to attempt The Storeroom on Elite as well.

The Storeroom is a very short Dungeon. You enter the first room, kill a couple of spiders and a rat or two, enter a short passage (kill more Rats, or Spiders, or both) then hit a second room and demolish all the boxes & barrels until you find a Silver Key, at which point you get ambushed by a Sahuagin who was also looking for the same key. On Hard, I could take this guy (he's a named Mob which I think makes him the equivalent of a WoW Elite), but on the Elite level this guy packed a punch and then some. I'd been giving as good as I got and we were both at about half health but I'd also been sucking down my Starter Health Pots and getting off a Cure Light Wounds spell every now and then, so I was really getting the short end of the stick. It didn't help that with one hit he was negating my attempts to heal myself. +10 Health. Whack! -10 Health. Crap!

I realized death was inevitable and accepted my fate. I didn't stop fighting but I did stop Healing. My Health dropped to 0, I dropped to the floor, the Release button appeared (or the DDO equivalent) and the Sahuagin trotted off back down the corridor. Mousing over him I was surprised to see he wasn't resetting like Mobs do in WoW. I'd got him down to half his original HP and that's where his health stayed, even though I was dead...or was I?

I lay there, not clicking Release, as my own HP ticked down to -1, then -2, then -3.

Why? Because I'd been doing my homework.

When a character goes down in DDO he's not dead, not straight away. Oh sure, the Release button pops up, but you're not dead, not yet. You're mortally wounding and bleeding out, but you're not dead yet. If you're HP hits -10 then yeah, you're dead, but -3? Not dead yet.

Now the bottom right corner of your screen is where all the important stuff happens. That's where the dice rolls appear. I watched as a d100 result popped up. It was high. Really high. Like 99 or 100. But under the number appeared the word Failed! and my HP ticked down to -4. More high numbers, more Failed!, and my HP ticked down to -5 and then...Success! I rolled low. Low? Low. Apparently lower is better. Like doing the limbo.

I'd been mortally wounded and bleeding to death but my Dwarven stubbornness (& high constitution) had prevailed, I'd made the Saving Throw, and the bleeding had stopped. The words "Unconscious Regeneration" appeared, and my HP went from -5 to -4, then -3, then -2, -1, 0, and when it ticked back up to +1 my avatar leaped to his feet, accompanied (in my mind) by Peter Cushing announcing, "It's alive!"

Fortunately the Sahuagin was halfway down the corridor and facing the other way, because while he may have been at half health I was literally at death's door.

I bravely and valiantly ran from the room, put as much distance between us as I could, then Healed myself back up to full health. Then I bravely unlocked the door to the final room, completed the puzzle, looted the scroll that I'd come here to get, and valiantly completed the Quest and The Storeroom on Elite level.

The reason for doing these Dungeons on Elite level is to earn Favor (i.e. Reputation points) with the locals. You can get Favor from doing the Dungeons on Normal, but you get more from doing them on Hard, and the maximum amount of Favor from doing them on Elite. When you've accrued a certain amount of Favor you also get Turbine Points to spend in the on-line Store, so it's not quite common to see people LFGing for Elite Dungeon Runs. Unfortunately you cannot just go straight to Elite, you've got to do the Dungeon on Hard first, and you can't attempt it on Hard until you've completed it on Normal. In WoW I rarely ran Instances except with Guildies because I didn't like PUGs, so in most cases I'd solo-quest/grind my way to Cap. But in DDO Instances or Dungeons are the game, so that soloist mentality won't fly if I want to maximize my Favor, which I do. As much as the Achiver in me is enjoying Soloing the Dungeons on Hard and Elite, I'll be breaking out of my Soloist shell and actively seeking PUGs.

This is truly an interesting game.

Taking the plunge

Those in the know will naturally know what they're looking at. For everyone else, the above graphic is taken from the character selection screen of DDO and shows that I've upgraded from a F2P Account to a Premium Account.

It didn't take much to do although initially it was a little tricky to work out how to do it. (Damn it,Turbine! Do you want my money or not?!) I wanted to buy some Turbine Points because I'd heard that was all you needed to buy to 'unlock' 2 extra character slots, giving you 4 slots. For an Altaholic like me the 2 slots you get with a F2P Account are nowhere near enough. Even for someone wanting to test drive a couple of Classes before settling on a Main two slots aren't much, especially if you like one class but want to keep trying others; you're now limited to rolling, deleting, and rerolling a new character because you only have one spare slot.

So I went to the official DDO site but when I clicked their Store button it appeared to take me to a Wiki page for their store, not their actual online store. It wasn't until I came across Stabs account of buying Turbine points that I realized I needed to register a Credit Card by logging into my Account, then log into the game itself, and buy my points there, in the game. Alternatively (as I discovered) you can also enter their Online Store (in-game of course), make your RMT selections then register a credit card. Silly me, I foolishly thought I could conduct all my RMT transactions outside the game :D

So I looked at the costs of each package and ended up buying 900 points for $11.99. I could have been thrifty and got 400 points for $6.25, but the analyst in me evaluated the packages and decided 900 was a slightly better value, enough to make me upgrade (plus you can't get much for 400, and I believe I need to 'buy' higher-level areas/modules). The next package was 1500 points for $18.99 and when I did the calculations it seemed that the added value from 400 to 900 points was better than the added value from 900 to 1500, plus $18.99 is really $19.00 (or close enough to) and that's almost $20, whereas $11.99 is just $12, and that was a considerably more palatable purchase.

So why did I buy points?
1 - because I wanted those 2 extra character slots. As I've said, 2 slots is not enough (not for me), nor is 4 but I can live with that :)
2 - I've played the game enough, and enjoyed it, that I felt compelled to reward/compensate the people who made it. Just a small token to say, "Thanks for the great game. Here's some money."


When I first began playing I brought my preconceived-in-WOW ideas with me so it took a while to get used to how to play DDO. Strangely, the tutorial told me the wrong thing, and while it says Left Click to attack it's actually Right Click (for me) which in WoW moves the camera. Apparently that's a way the DDO veterans pick out the newly arrived WoW immigrants, because they'll randomly swing their weapon while in town as they get used to the controls, despite having already run through the tutorial.

I amused myself when I put in several hours of DDO, popped back into WoW for a change of pace, and found myself attempting to use the DDO control scheme. Then, despite running around in WoW for several hours, as soon as I jumped back into DDO I instantly reverted to its control scheme. No problem.

I am liking this game a lot, and while mbp is lamenting the frailty of his Wizard I'm loving my Battle Cleric, who isn't quite Sololing Heyton's Rest (the first Instance) on Elite...just on Hard, which is netting me some nice upgrades. I've already upgraded my armor from the Chain you get for completing the Tutorial to Splint Mail that dropped on Normal level, to Half-Plate out of a chest on Hard. I can currently rip through Heyton's Rest on Hard inside 10 minutes, which nets me two Chests and thus two shots at some good gear. I'm also picking up some items that my Bard could probably use, especially as he's run out of Arrows. I just need to find a Mailbox and work out how to mail said items to him. I'm also a little miffed because I'm a Noob, apparently there's an Auction House, and I've been vendoring scrolls, potions & other misc. stuff that I probably could have sold on the AH for considerably more profit.

I'm liking the fact that I can circle around Mobs and they don't spin like a dervish to automatically face me (as WoW's Mobs do). But there's also a To-Hit penalty for constantly Circle Strafing (or just trying to Attack while on the move) which will adversely affect the twitch-gamers. Still, it's the combat strategy I'm using to good effect, at least on Hard, although it may have caused my downfall when I tried to Solo Heyton's Rest on Elite and died to the first Sahuagin. Back to Hard I went, lesson learned and less over half my Starter Heal Pots.

I'm also really liking the physicality (for want of a better word) of your avatar. Not wanting to spoil Heyton's Rest I will anyway. The final room contains a Sahuagin Adept and three undead (usually two Skeletons and a Zombie) who rush you when you unlock their door. Fortunately you can stand in the doorway and if you position yourself just right, only 2 of the Mobs can get to you at any one time. Unfortunately the Sahuagin is a Caster so when he's not trying to smack you with his Staff he's firing off Magic Missiles, at least I think they're Magic Missile. But the physical presence of your avatars does add a little bit more strategy to battles than you're inclined to find in WoW. Now a Tank can block a doorway, deny the Mobs access to the rest of the Party, and really be a Tank as the Mobs all take out their frustration on him, and I really like that.

Finally, two of the Instances I've run have culminated in tile-shifting puzzles that are a definite change from the Tank & Spank Boss fights I'm very used to. After roping my son in and creating an account for him we Duo'd both Heyton's Rest and The Storeroom, the first Instance with a Puzzle-for-a-boss and while I could have completed it on my own (and already had on a previous attempt), I explained to the boy what he needed to do, then sat back and let him solve it on his own. The puzzle at the end of The Underground Complex (which I Solo'd on Normal, not Hard ;) had a slight twist to it that had me going for a while before I finally figured it out.

I'm still not sure where I'm going with DDO. I do like my Battle Cleric, but the more I read up on them, as viable as they are for Soloing, they're apparently not loved as much as Healbot Clerics (even though DDO Clerics were never meant to be Healbots) and they're apparently not as viable at End Game. But being an Explorer and not an Achiever I think you all know how I feel about End Game content, so the Battle Cleric could very well be my first DDO Character to hit Cap, and I suspect I'll enjoy every step of the journey.

Wanted: One artist

Specifically the name of the artist who drew this...
I cut it from the LA Times about 8 years ago and stupidly didn't clip the article itself. But someone knows the artist who drew this, maybe even one of my readers. So, let's see if one of you can come through :)

As always, you can click the picture to view a much larger copy, like Wallpaper size :)

What Blizzard did wrong

Hunters. Poor bloody Hunters.

Look at Warlocks. SOBs get their Pet as early as level 2 or 3 (depending on how keen you are and if you start as the Forsaken) so they learn how to play their Pet class, properly, almost right from the start.

Hunters. Poor bastiches start with Raptor Strike. A freaking MELEE special! Hunters! A ranged class, start the game with a freaking Melee-enhancing attack. Nice one, Blizzard. And when do they get their Pet? Not until level 10! What's one of the first Specials Hunters can train? Aspect of the Monkey, trainable at level 4! Aspect of the freaking Monkey! A buff that helps them Dodge! So they start with a Melee-enhancing special attack and get a Dodge Buff at Level 4, but don't get the quest to obtain their Pet until level 10! Their other Level 4 special is Serpent Sting, a DOT. So they have a DOT, a Dodge-enhancing Buff, and a Melee-enhancing Special. What does that imply about their combat style? Apply your DOT at Range, get off an Autoshot or two, then finish off the Mob in Melee.

Hunters can't even keep shooting when in Melee range. But why not? Why...the fuck...not?! Warlocks can cast Shadow Bolt even with a Mob smacking them in the face. Mages can get off their Frost Bolt, Druids can still cast Wrath, Priests can still cast Smite. Why can't Hunters Autoshot a Mob that's all up in their face? No reason, other than Blizzard hate the Hunter class.

So Hunters, right from the first level, are practically pigeon-holed into fighting Melee. And we wonder why Huntards have the reputation they do. Wonder no longer, dear readers, the truth is right in front of you. It's Blizzard's fault! Nice one, Blizzard. You bloody idiots!

See this? This is what a Hunter is supposed to do.My Gun Skill is maxed out for my level (20@4) while my Axe & Unarmed Skills (at 1/20) suck. Why? Because I haven't engaged a single Mob in Melee! My Defense skill would have been 1 as well, except I got hit in Melee ONCE as I delivered the fatal shot. That's it. I've been Strafe-kiting Mobs as I shoot them to death AT RANGED because that's what a Hunter does. I haven't used Raptor Strike at all because I haven't needed to. I didn't bother learning Aspect of the Monkey because I'm not going to need it because I'm a Ranged DPS Class. The only time I plan to get hit is when I do my Tame Beast Quest, and later when I tame my Pet, and even then Monkey won't help me because you can't Dodge while channeling Tame Beast.

Blizzard, you fucked Hunters over, just as you're planning to fuck over all of your loyal customers when you force everyone to switch to BNet later this year if they want to keep playing WoW, and as you'll do next year if they want to multiplay SC2 (No LAN for you!), and with D3 as well. Whoops. You haven't announced that yet, have you? Sorry to pre-empt you there, and Lord, I hope I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong. Because if Blizzard release D3 without LAN support they can put me down for two lost sales, and make one of those a Collector's Edition. I know, I know, I'm just a drop in the bucket. But I bet I won't be the only drop. In fact I bet there will be a lot of drops, many who will wait to see if the crackers can come through, like they did with Spore's DRM, and release LAN-enabled copies of SC2.

But even if cracked copies of SC2 and D3 are released, and prove hugely popular, Blizzard still won't listen. They want their legitimate players on BNet and they'll go that route, even if it turns some of their customers away, because just as many of us will refuse to buy a BNet-only copy of SC2 or D3, there will be a lot of sheep who'll flock to the stores on opening days to secure their copy. That's fine, that's their choice. Blizzard's game, Blizzard's rules. Pity their rules only apply if I choose to play.

Rant over.

Following on...

comes the news that as of November 12th, 2009, WoW subscribers will need to merge their account with a Battlenet account if they want to keep playing. Users who fail to merge their account by that date will be unable to access (& play) WoW until they do.

Currently registration and use of BNet is free, but when one looks at BNet it invokes images of Sony's Station and Microsoft's XBox Live (I think that's it), neither of which are free.

Coming next year, some time, (when they're done, says Blizzard, so maybe 2011), are Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

Maybe I'm being a paranoid fatalist, but I'm thinking that following on the heels of this forced WoW/BNet merge will be a switch to a paid service, that is, BNet will no longer be free like it is today.

All those people still using it to multiplay Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, and Starcraf can still use it, they'll just need to fork over $15/month. But the good news is Blizzard will throw in a subscription to Vanilla WoW for free...as long as you pay the $15/month BNet fee :P

When Blizzard release Diablo 3 and/or Starcraft 2 I would not be surprised to see them introduce tiered pricing for BNet, i.e., $15 lets you play WoW over BNet, $25 lets you add D3 to the mix, while $32 (maybe $30, if you're lucky) gets you SC2 on top of that.

Don't want to pay for a BNet account? Dare I say it, would Blizzard be complete bastards, but would they not include any form of multiplayer support for D3 and SC2 other than over BNet? Currently you can multiplay D2 and Starcraft over a LAN or via a Direct2IP connection. Will this feature still be in D3 and SC2?

So Diablo 3 comes out and I drop $100 on two copies so my son and I can play together...but then I need to shell out another $30/month so we can actually play together over BNet because D3 won't multiplay over a LAN. That would suck more than Meter Maid switching from suck to blow (which blows more than it sucks, but that's getting away from the point) so I really hope I'm just being my typical paranoid, pessimistic self here. Of course an upside to making BNet a P2Play service (with a built-in subscription to WoW) is Blizzard would be able to report back to their shareholders that subscriptions to WoW are at an all-time high. Well, that's an upside for Blizzard, or it that just more pessism? :)

To resubscribe?

Or not to resubscribe?

I set up a Trial account for the boy so he could play WoW, and as he's a little Hunter (Orion bless his heart) I created a Priest to run around with him. Unfortunately both of us being on Trial accounts meant that neither of us could invite the other to group, even after I tracked him down in the Troll cave in Coldridge Valley. Fortunately a passing duo invited me to Group up with them, but I had to ask before my son was sent an invite. Their hesitation may have been because he'd named his Hunter 'Infernape', I don't know.

With us in the same group it made questing together a hell of a lot easier, and talking to the boy over Skype (I'm in the family room, he's in his bedroom) meant I could give him battle orders without needing to type or yell. This wasn't that necessary with four of us in the party, but when the other two dropped out to go their separate ways and we moved on from Coldridge Valley and started killing Wendigos, rapid communication became essential.

The Wendigo cave can be a hairy place to enter, and not just because you're after Wendigo Manes. Rapid respawns, a seemingly larger than usual aggro radius, and a willingness to help out their buddies means adventurers questing around and inside the Wendigo need to stay on their toes, lest they be trodden on by a pack of Wendigos. The boy and I went all the way inside the cave while acquiring our quota of manes and on the way out we ran into respawns and trouble when we picked up 4 Wendigos in rapid succession.

To his credit the boy listened when I told him to stop attacking the Wendigo that was hitting him and shoot the Wendigo on me. Self-preservation on my part? Of course not; the boy's Hunter just did better Ranged DPS than Melee. I don't know how but we survived the onslaught and made it out of the cave where we picked up three more Wendigos. Again I reminded the boy to ignore the Wendigo beating on him and shoot the ones on me and again he rose to the occasion, followed orders, and once more we survived.

By this time the real world was exerting its influence and we were drawing wife/mom aggro. We high tailed it back to Kharanos, hit the Inn and logged for the night.

It was great fun grouping with the boy, but if we want to do that again we need to find a friendly player willing to invite us both to a group then leave us to our own devices. And I'm reminded of the problem I had doing just that a month or two back. I was on a Horde character and two other players had wanted to group up to do quests but incredibly we were all on Trial accounts. I know, what are the odds, right? We hit Brill and tried to muster a group but nobody wanted in. For some reason an 80 Orc Hunter was messing around in Brill, and we sought his help. He was more than willing to duel us which I thought would get us a group invite afterward, but no such luck. After crushing us in duels he laughed, danced, spammed various emotes, but steadfastly refused to invite us into a group. In the end I ran off and quested on my own.

So I'm contemplating re-subscribing if for no reason other than it would make grouping with the boy a darn sight easier than constantly having to rely on good Samaritans. Also with Daylight Saving drawing to a close here (& conversely starting up in Australia) the time difference between here and Down Under will decrease to 5 hours (& 1 day), so I'd be more likely to see my sister and her husband online than I would with the current 7-hour difference.

To resubscribe, or not to resubscribe: that is the question.

McPwning McDonalds

(With thanks to an old friend for the title ;)

With the kids spending Saturday night with us (instead of at the in-laws like they normally do) I woke up around 7:30 or so, thought about getting up and dragging the kids off to the 8am service, then thought twice about it (or not at all), rolled over and went back to sleep. The kids woke me up about an hour later climbing all over our bed and when breakfast demands for Chinese Pancakes were made, the King of Pancakes (yours truly) was kicked out of bed in order that he may satisfy the masses. Three pancakes later (I had cereal) everyone was sitting down to breakfast together, which is not a common occurrence in our house.

After breakfast I noted that we still had time to get ready for the 10am service so teeth were brushed and kids were dressed and off we went to church for the 1st Sunday of the month's Communion service. I briefed the kids that part-way into the service they would be called up the front for the children's ministry (Why does my spell checker not like the possessive form of children? In fact it doesn't like the S on the end, either with or without the apostrophe. Odd.) and communion after which they'd go out to Sunday School with the other children. The service went exactly as I'd said and I watched as my kids left for Sunday School with the other children. When I picked them up after the service they mentioned that they want to go to our church next Sunday, rather than go with their grandparents (who go to a different church). The Bunny because her old pre-school was at our Church and she got to see some of her old classmates who also attend there, and the boy because they have snacks & drinks at his Sunday School and after their lesson they got to play.

Back at home Liz presented me with a 2-for-1 coupon for two 10-piece McNuggets and asked me to get lunch. She pondered whether that would be enough food for everyone but as we had a couple of other 2-for-1 coupons and I planned to make myself a sandwich later, and knowing the kids had just had breakfast a few hours before I figured 20 McNuggets would be sufficient, especially as one of the coupons I took with me were for 2 McFlurries. I also took the McCafe McCoffee coupon in anticipation of getting a McMocha and a McLatte.

And yes, I know the fine print on coupons like this said, "Not to be combined with any other offer," "One coupon per person per visit", etc. I had a plan.

At the McDonalds I put all three coupons on the counter and made it known that I wished to use all three of them.

You can only use one, the cashier told me.

I told her I understood that if she had to ring them up as separate purchases that was perfectly acceptable.

It's one coupon per person, she told me.

One per person per visit, I countered. If you insist, I'll walk out the door and come back in and you can ring me up again.

You can't do that, she protested.

Sure I can, I told her. If I leave the store, I walk out the door then come back in, that's a second visit.

She gave up and went and got someone higher up the food chain, who asked me which coupon I wanted to use.

I repeated that I intended to use all three.

The second lady stood at the checkout for a long time, ignoring me while looking at the young lady next to her who was ringing up another customer. Unlike everyone else who was wearing the McDonalds' uniform, this third young lady was in civvies. Her choice of dress and the way my second cashier was trying to get her input said this young lady was the one running the show. She ignored my cashier but being just a couple of feet away there was no way she didn't know what I was trying to do.

She was both a good manager and a bad manager. Bad, because her staff were turning to her for help and she was leaving them hanging, but also good because she was letting her staff learn how to resolve problems and difficult customers on their own.

Finally my cashier made a decision herself and began ringing up my purchase. She rang up all six items, two 10-piece McNuggets, two McFlurries, a McMocha and a McLatte, then she comped half of them so I paid just $10. And she did all of this on one transaction.

Yeah, I was being a bit of a bastard by trying to use three coupons which clearly (if you could read the fine print) said not to be combined, one coupon per person per vist, but had the first cashier stuck to her guns I was fully prepared to walk out then walk back in and stand in line all over again to use my second coupon, then repeat for the third. One coupon per person per day? Now you've got me. But one coupon per person per visit? Do not try to tell me that leaving the store and coming back in does not constitute a second visit. Hell, I'll get in my car and drive out of the parking lot then come back in if that's what it takes. But it didn't come to that, and in the end the cashier bent the rules a little and her job was made easier (by not having to ring up three separate transactions) and another customer left satisfied with the service he'd received.

Back home I ended up making two sandwiches, one for myself and one for Liz. Apparently 20 McNuggets weren't enough. Maybe I should have taken a 4th coupon and got 2 Big McMacs ;)

Ask, and it shall be given unto you - Luke 11:9

R.I.P. Kev

This episode of Kev & Alice brought back some painful memories, although 4 1/2 years later they don't hurt quite so much. Life goes on.

Trade Chat..

Trade Chat is usually not much better than the infamous Barrens Chat, but sometimes there's a diamond in the rough, like this:

"A young woman sits down beside you and places her hand gently on your thigh. She's not beautiful, but you find her oddly attractive. Slowly she leans in toward you and whispers seductively in your ear, "You know, I can enchant that for you, if you'd like..."

As I and many others were cracking up, someone with a fast wit and faster fingers responded, "Honey, sorry, but you just aren't enchanting enough for me."

DDO's bard, and WoW's Paladin - the early years

I ended up rolling my Bard and I might even consider dropping some cash in the store, if only because rumor has it that it unlocks a few more character slots, and being restricted to two characters is rather...restricting, especially for an Altaholic like me. But I'm intelligent enough to realize that it saves server/hard drive space by not allowing free-loaders (like me, so I can call us that) to create countless characters...then again, that's what multiple accounts are for ;) I was going to add that it's sort of like WoW's 10-day Trial, except that's a 10-day Trial after which you pony up the cash for a sub, or you create a new 10-day Trial. I wonder about all those Trials and characters I created. I don't delete them before the Trial expires, so, does that mean they're all sitting on a server somewhere, waiting for me to subscribe and bring them back to life? Are Blizzard really not deleting them, at all? That's the big reason why the free version of DDO limits you to 2 characters. That, and they know people who like the game will pay to unlock more slots. It's a smart move because there's a very good chance that strategy will work on me ;)

My Bard plays not unlike my Ranger (or at least that's how I'm playing him), as in I plink away at Mobs from a distance with my Bow, then slice them up with my Fiery Rapier when they get in close. But where my Ranger had a couple of special Melee attacks my Bard has a 4-minute Buff that...does something. I think it helps me make Saving Throws or something. I tend to forget it's there though so last night when I did the very first soloable Instance (the Crypt) it wasn't until right before the Boss's room that I remembered to buff myself.

I also took a look at the FAQ while trying to work out how to sheath my sword because as much as I love hitting Z & taking out my weapons in WoW, it looked odd (I thought) to be running around town with a flame-engulfed rapier in my hand. It's not that everyone (literally) has a Fiery weapon (and they practically all do)...or maybe it was. Isn't that a quote from The Incredibles? If everyone was a Super, nobody would be super? So having a Fiery weapon is a cool trinket to have almost right from the start (after completing the Tutorial), but when you see every single person in town has a fiery weapon...not such a big deal.

I read the FAQ and didn't find any Hotkey to let me sheath my rapier, instead I discovered how to unlock/separate the Hotkey bars so I can have more than just one visible and not have to scroll up through them. Now I have two Hotkey bars in my UI, one above the other. My Bow & Rapier are Hotkeyed on the bottom bar so I can switch between them with a key press, as are my Buff spell and Cure Light Wounds spell. My non-essential abilities went on the other bar, which includes the special weaponless weapon-set ability I made. So I cannot actually sheath my melee weapon, but I can take out a non-existent weapon which replaces my physical weapon. I'm choosing to fight unarmed is what I'm really doing, but it has the effect I wanted such that I'm no longer walking around with 3-feet of flaming steel in front of me. On a side note, I'm sure these two guys would like to know how to magically enhance steel weapons with fire ;)

On the WoW Trial front, after Tobold rolled a Paladin and briefly discussed his initial experiences with the class, I finally decided to give them another try. The Paladin never particularly grabbed me when I first got WoW, probably because I was a Noob! but over the years I'd roll one every now and then, only to delete it to make room for something else. And...it's still not my cup of tea. Zubon (of Kill Ten Rats) describes the early Paladin levels quite eloquently, and very accurately, as the Zero-Button Phase.

A level 1 Rogue starts with Sinister Strike, a Mage with Frostbolt, a Shaman with Lightning Bolt, a Druid with Wrath. Even the Hunter (IMO erroneously) gets Raptor Strike, so every Class gets an attack that they can spam (to some degree) during combat...except the Paladin, who gets Seal of Righteousness (a 30-min Buff) and Holy Light (a Heal). As a former Hunter/Rogue/Mage, combat as a Paladin is almost as interesting as watching paint dry.

Health okay? Check. Buff okay? Only 27 minutes left, better refresh it. Ok, now we're ready to go. Run into position, right-click Mob to enable auto-attack, or press 1 if you didn't remap it to something more exciting (like Holy Light), then...sit there and watch as your avatar and the mob exchange blows until one of them is dead. Which will always be the Mob (unless you get severely out-numbered) because you have a Heal spell.

If you can sit through the boredom until level 4 (trust me, it doesn't take too long) then you'll get your first really offensive Spell, Judgment of Light, a 10-yard ranged attack spell that puts a debuff on your target which gives any attackers a chance of being Healed (it's a small Heal, but any Heal is better than none, just ask your friendly, neighborhood BM Hunter). Finally, something to do other than rebuff yourself because your Seal of Righteousness has just 27 minutes left. Unfortunately, without spending Talent Points, Judgement spells come with a 10-second Cooldown, so it's still not a Spammable attack spell, but at least it lets you feel like you're doing something other than sitting there on your arse watching a cartoon. Not a lot more, but a little bit.

That said, I did put the time in to get my Paladin to 20, at which point I discovered something interesting. When you complete quests while level 20, the Trial acts much like when you complete quests at Cap in full game, that is you get rewarded with moula in place of XP. This was good because never having played a Pally before, I didn't realize that Pally Mounts are like Warlock Mounts and trainable for a mere pittance. So I ran around completing several quests to raise funds then dropped 3g50s on Riding-75 and 90s on a Mount when I only needed to fork over (IIRC) 20s to learn Summon Warhorse. But I'm glad I got my Pinto because I think it's a more fitting horse for my female Human Paladin than the Pally's Warhorse.

I ran into a 23 Spacegoat Hunter in Deadmines and we grouped up to complete the Oh Brother! quest (and the other one the same Dwarf in SW hands out) but when he wanted to head on into the Instance itself I had to beg off. To his credit (or doom) he still went in. I don't know how his Ravager pet handled the Mobs but I never heard from him again. While he would definitely have fared better with my Paladin along, I'm still not sure we could have successfully Duo'd Deadmines the Instance, but the kid and I had a movie to go see so I wished him Good Luck and with Quests done Hearthed out of there.

So once I got my first Judgement spell the Pally got a little more interesting, but it was still not as complex of a character to play as some others. What did make it fun was testing the Paladin class on Hogger, which wasn't much of a test because I ended up smashing his face in at level 14. Bellygrub, however, at 4 levels above my capped 20, was extremely interesting. I tried it at 19 and got crushed, then dinged 20, got my new spells, and back I went for more. I pulled out all stops, even switching from 2H Hammer to Sword & Board while I regained Mana for a Heal, then switched back to 2H for the final few blows. In retrospect, I should have used Blessing of Wisdom for Mana Regen instead of Might, as this really was a battle of attrition, and if I'd had the Mana for a couple more Heals or another Judgement, I might have had more than just 9 Health when I delivered the fatal blow. Yep, just 9 Health. Now that's what I call Living!!!

When I was still a subscriber I soloed the RFK Quests on my level 30 Druid, including solo-killing the Crone. That was a fun fight which, like Bellygrub, also came down to a Sudden Death situation that I won by the skin of my teeth. IIRC I had less than 100 health when the Crone and I got off our final attacks; her attack missed, mine didn't. Nothing like an OMG! That was close! moment to get the blood pumping.

I actually wrote the first part of this entry a week or so back, then finished it now, tonight, and since then the boy and I have duo'd the first DDO dungeon on Normal, which wasn't that tough as I've solo'd it on Normal myself. As he said he'd probably play on his own sometimes, too, we rolled a Paladin for him instead of a Rogue. As I have the Bard who can learn some Rogue skills, including (I hope) Pick Locks and Disarm Traps, we should be fine. DDO is still a fun game, but it doesn't yet have the polish of WoW. Then again, when Blizzard have had years to polish WoW, why would it? I did notice a few things in WoW that I'm wondering if they're new, or if they've been there all along and I just haven't been paying attention. Small things of little consequence, like the way my Paladin's torso actually moved as she breathed. And when she exhaled (and only exhaled, mind you) her breath condensed into vapor in the chill air of Dun Murogh. That was pretty cool to see, and shows just how much work Blizzard have really put into this game. They've set the bar extremely high, not just for their competitors, but for themselves. They've done so much since launch that I'm not even sure Blizzard can create a WoW-killer. I think they've created a monster that they can only kill in one of two ways: by completing ballsing up an expansion, or just calling it quits and pulling the plug. It makes one wonder.

When courtesy causes accidents

Drive long enough and you'll run into them, hopefully not literally.

They're the drivers who are so over-cautious in trying to avoid accidents that they drive 10mph below the speed limit (or even slower) and piss off everyone else on the road who wants to drive at (or above) the legal limit.

They're the drivers who pull up to 4-Way Stop Signs or Roundabouts and refuse to take their turn. Instead they wave everyone else through the intersection ahead of them until not a single other car is waiting...except of course for the furious drivers behind them.

Today I came across a car waiting to pull out of the Gas Station, which is not an unusual sight. In this situation someone will inevitably leave a spot for the driver to pull out, usually when the light turns red, and that's what happened in this case when an Overly Cautious Driver left a space for Gas Station Man. But just as GSM was about to pull out a pedestrian walked up so, with GSM's car blocking the sidewalk, he considerately backed his car up and allowed the pedestrian to pass in front of him. Now that is an unusual sight. Most drivers aren't that respectful of pedestrians.

The light ahead of us went green and the first couple of cars drove through but not OCD (that's how I know he was an OCD and not just a Good Samaritan); OCD had offered to let GSM out ahead of him and Green Light and Pedestrian be damned! OCD was staying put until GSM pulled out so he could receive his karmic brownie points.

The pedestrian finally crossed in front of the car and I could see OCD still waving to GSM. "Come on! I'm letting you out! Come on!"

GSM & OCD maintained eye contact and exchanged Thank You! waves and You're welcome! waves and because GSM was doing this and looking at OCD instead of being cognizant of his surroundings...he completely failed to see the two kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk.

The front kid began to ride in front of GSM's car, just as the pedestrian had done just seconds before, except GSM was no longer looking out for peds and he gunned his engine and his car leaped forward. The kid was quick and he jerked his front wheel to the right but GSM was halfway into the road before he realized he had a new hood ornament. Luckily the kid managed to keep his bike upright and stay on it or he would have gone underneath GSM's car.

Once again GSM reversed his car back into the gas station while the kid wheeled his bike around and rejoined his friend on the sidewalk where they began exchanging angry words with GSM.

Seeing GSM was going to be occupied for a while OCD finally gave up on letting GSM out in front of him and, in the way of OCDs the world over who help to cause accidents but are never actually involved in them, finally drove through the intersection like he should have done in the first place.

Playing the WoW Trial

Pros - It's WoW, and it's free :)

Cons - Level Cap is 20, at which point you stop earning XP. But you can get your first Mount at 20 and they're cheaper than ever (yes, that's a Pro...I think. WoW; now EZier than ever before.)
It's only a 10-day Trial so you need to hit Cap within 10 days or start over. Actually you're starting over either way :P
You cannot use the Auction House, neither to buy nor sell items, so if you want coin you need to grind it (i.e., don't take two Crafting Skills. In fact I'm not sure why I sometimes take even one Crafting Skill, because they cannot be leveled higher than 100.)
Crafting & Gathering Skills can not be leveled higher than 100. (Didn't I just say that?)
You can't Trade with other players, that includes Enchants, Glyphs, etc.
You cannot Join a Guild or sign a Guild Charter.
You cannot talk in any of the Chat Channels, but you can use /S to talk to folks standing next to you.
You cannot Whisper other players unless they Whisper you first.
You cannot Invite other players to Join a Group, but you can accept Group Invitations.
In other words, if a group is forming for an Instance and they announce in General Chat that they have one spot left, you're screwed unless you're standing on top of the Group Leader.

Things I've enjoyed about playing the Trial (other than it being Free ;)

Leveling is reasonably quick and I can ding 20 inside 20 hours if I don't waste time being an Explorer. Much of what you're denied in the Trial prevents you from playing WoW as an MMO anyway, unless you're really determined to do so, but as I'm mostly a solo-player that's fine with me.

But I've also run into a few people and we've helped each other quest, and I've always been up-front and told them I'm on a Trial. Some people don't bat an eye lid while others are shocked that a Trial can play so well, until I reveal that I played for 3 1/2 years. "I knew you weren't retarded," was one comment, which I found flattering rather than insulting.

Sometimes it's fun playing on my own because I can challenge myself by attempting quests as soon as I get them. Hogger is a lot of fun and I've found some Classes struggle with him while others can Solo him with ease. Okay, maybe not with ease, but he is going down. Hunters are good at Soloing him, as are Mages, Warlocks, and a Priest with a Wand. Unfortunately Wands are hard to get at low levels w/o access to the Auction House, so if you want a Wand as a Trial I recommend you take up Enchanting and make one. But leveling Enchanting w/o access to the AH is a problem so you may want to level another Crafting Skill first to give you the Green items to DE for the Mats to level Enchanting, but by the time you've gathered sufficient Mats to do that you'll probably be at a level when you can just buy a Wand from a Wand Vendor. I don't think that's quite a Catch-22.

What I'm saying is that playing WoW as a Trial and Single Player game can take a lot of planning ahead. Want to take up Engineering for the Flying Tiger Goggles? You'll need two Tigerseye gems. How do you get them without access to the AH? Luck. Sheer luck. And Mining. Luck when opening Chests, and luck while Mining. Mining and Engineering compliment each other anyway, but without those Tigerseye gems you're not getting your Goggles so there's almost no point taking up Engineering until you have them.

Am I getting bored, replaying the same content over & over again? Does it look like I'm getting bored constantly rerolling Alts every 2 weeks or so?

Not really, not yet. Although I don't have access to the Dranei or BElf starting areas, that still leaves me with 6 starting areas between the two factions, with a combination of 8 Races and 8 Classes to choose from (not to mention Crafting Skills to level to 100 if I want to go that route). That's a lot of variety even if level 10-20 often takes me to the same areas (Barrens for Horde, Westfall for Alliance). Actually the Alliance have three teen-level areas to choose from (Westfall, Loch Modan, and Darkshore), while the Horde only have two, being The Barrens and Silverpine Forest/Tarren Mill. I'm combining SF & TM because you can't go straight to TM w/o doing some of the SF quests (or leveling up in the Barrens).

So no, I'm not bored. Also, even if I am (and I'm not saying I am ;) a couple of the Blogs on my Roll reminded me that today is the day DDO:Unlimited goes F2P.

So what I might do is set up two Free DDO accounts, one each for my son and I, and then we can play DDO together, for free. He's getting pretty good with his computer games and I think he'll enjoy Dungeons & Dragons:Online. So, does anyone with prior DDO experience have any suggestions for what two classes we should roll? I'm thinking a pure DPS class for the boy (perhaps a Ranger), with a DPS/Healer-hybrid for me, such as a Bard, which I'd probably enjoy playing anyway. Any other suggestions?

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?