Games » Lady Jess

Shove Your Hurry Up and Wait

Games, In The Army, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! 1 Response »

Jun 142011

So we’re supposed to be moving right? I have done almost everything I can do prior to movers taking my stuff out so I can clean the rest. I know what we are taking and the kids have their stuff figured out. But, we’re in a holding pattern at the moment. We can’t do anything until he has his “official” orders. He has general orders but those apparently are useless. I’m really hoping his report date on said useless orders is UNofficial too at this point, as it’s a month away, and we can’t schedule movers, clear housing, or put in for his travel pays and entitlements until we get the real deal.

On top of THAT stress, I have kids with cavities and dental expenses to shell out. The car needs fixed for the trip, and even though it’s under warranty, there’s a $200 deductible. Add to that we’ll need to have money ready for the drive cross country, and shipping our second vehicle, even knowing the army OWES us money and DOES pay travel pay we can’t count on THAT being available for the trip itself. No, they don’t pay for shipping a vehicle in the continental U.S. either. So on top of THAT stress I have guilt that I did NOT save any money for this moment. BUT I know in my head I couldn’t. There were bills to pay, food to buy, dental expenses ate up our tax refund, always something coming up. I tried, but life gets in the way. And what makes it harder is this trip, we still have a couple bills to pay out. Car, insurance, etc. Didn’t have that last time. I keep telling myself we’ll get through it, and praying that we have a safe and smooth experience. I just hate when everything piles on at once ya know? We’ve gotten through worse.

So, What HAVE I been doing?

Taking over the world…(Sid Meier’s Civilization IV)

Visiting exotic locations (Zuma’s Revenge by Pop~~cap~~crack Games)

AAlong with learning to knit, crochet, continuing to art journal and try drawing something daily. And my newest hobby, trying to not pull my hair out.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

PuGs 3 Responses »

May 242011

Forest Gump got that right! I have recently broken my “No Pugs EVER!” rule. If I have a guildie along, I’ll do it. Today for example. I log in, get my Revered status with my guild on my druid right? I go grab my Armadillo and Guild Page pets, because…priorities you know. While I was shopping I grabbed the heirloom helm and cloak for my long neglected Shaman, Brennah. I haven’t played her since winter sometime before school started. Guildmate Algie is on her dwarf warlock (when did THOSE become allowed??) and suggests I take her on a test run. So we queue up. Me as healer, her as DPS.

First run, Maraudin . No problem at all. Healing is easy, quest complete, let’s queue again. Dire Maul! Tank’s name is Blunderbeard. Dwarf warrior, quick little guy but I managed to keep up. Good tank too I must say. We trooped right through, noone died, and we queue again. Hey look! Blunderbeard is back woot! He was easy to heal the first time, and we’re in Dire Maul again. We get a druid…named Brodruid. Should have known right THEN. To understand how terrifically awful this druid was you need to check his armory. Now, I understand maybe he has just changed specs and is still wearing gear from feral. I just went through that on my druid when she went from Resto/Balance to Resto/Feral (cat). Yes, you read that correctly that’s another blog post ok?. But a GREY CLOAK??? Seriously? And this balance spec druid was dps’ing IN CAT FORM!! Even with that odd mix of gear, GET INTO boomkin form and CAST SPELLS! You’ll do more damage. And the random pulling of entire packs of mobs. Seriously, it killed him twice. I don’t heal stupid. I rezzed him only because even if he WOULD have run back, he’d have just brought MORE mobs with him.

Have I mentioned I have not played my Shaman in at least FIVE MONTHS?? And I was so worried I’d be the one that sucked and killed us all. But no, we never wiped. Not once. With Blunderbeard tanking and holding aggro like a pro, Etheltrude the Dwarflock bringin the pain and my healing we survived all the stupid. But the next time I see the name Brodruid…I’m doing this…..

His Hatred Burns

Cairessa, WoW 1 Response »

May 202011

I gave up trying to find Skoll last night on my hunter. He is the last spirit beast she has to tame. So I decided to go see if Terrorpene was hanging around out in Hyjal.

He was. And I’ll tell you right now if you’re going to tame him it is going to HURT. Cairessa has 98k health. Turtle’s burning hatred attack does 10k damage per tick and seems to tick every second. My tame time is 9.2 seconds. He doesn’t seem to actually come near you and physically attack., just channels Burning Hatred. But he is worth it. And, as far as I can tell he’s the only pet with a constant sound effect. He sizzles!

He also needs a name.

Video Games Are ‘THE EVIL!!’

Games No Responses »

May 092011

My friend Marc posted a story on Facebook today that shocked me, both as a Mom and as a gamer. I remember when I was in my early teens. There was a big hulabaloo about Dungeons & Dragons making kids worship satan and do all sorts of evil things. Back then it wasn’t a video game. Neverwinter Nights wasn’t around yet. It was a table top RPG played with multisided dice in bright colors and various numbers of sides. More recently there have been horrible stories about video games.

World of Warcraft is one of the top offenders when you hear about video game addiction, confusing fantasy with real life, child abuse or neglect, and the list goes on.

It’s reminiscent of other things deemed to make kids worship satan or attract businesses of ill repute. Rock N’ Roll had the same problem. In 1990 Judas Priest was taken to court and sued over two fans’ suicides. It’s always the same blame game. With the players not taking responsibility for their own decisions and actions.

There’s a town in Massachusetts that has outlawed coin operated video games since 1983. Much like the (awesome) movie Footloose, they believe coin operated video games would cause harm to children, cause them to squander their money, attract adult entertainment and prostitution.

Opponents warned the machines would attract undesirables and cause children to steal and squander their money. Selectmen chairwoman Faith Jean told residents allowing video games would bring other “smut” to town.

Seriously? And when a motion to repeal it recently came up? it didn’t pass. I can’t believe what I was reading. I really can’t. Children will always squander their money. Whether it’s on candy, comic books, toys, or video games. And one man’s Squander is another’s good investment. I also don’t happen to believe anything worse can be seen in video games than can be seen in TV shows or movies. Pac Man eats dots and Donkey Kong throws barrels at Mario. Sonic picks up rings and does acrobatic loop dee loos. This is worse than TV? This is worse than movies? THIS will bring unsavory things to the town? What’s next book bans? No Dancing?

Kids will squander money, yes. And it’s the parents jobs to teach them otherwise. It’s OUR duty to teach them right from wrong. It’s OUR responsibility to instill in them values that will get them through their lives. But they have free will. And they will push the boundaries and they will rebel. And they will ALWAYS find something to spend their money on. The fastest way to lead a child to temptation is to forbid the source.

I just wish people would see the GOOD in video games. All it takes is a look at the fans they create. The imaginations of the players is nothing short of amazing. I have read amazing works of fan fiction from Dragon Age fans. I have seen amazing drawings from a range of video game fans in general. Playing video games has given me a broader source of imagination, made me want to write, to learn to draw. And more than this, they inspire students to want to CREATE games. To work as a designer. Of course the games aren’t outlawed at home. Just coin operated games in public places. But it’s got to start somewhere right?

She’s Got The Look…

WoW 1 Response »

May 072011

It’s really hard going from the detailed character creation of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 back to WoW’s simpler interface. But I think this is my favorite character look so far.