Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Random Shots: My Lonely Blog Weeps

  • Far too long since my last post. Bad, blogger. Bad! Anyway, my writing has has kept me busy. And since I'm such a ponderously slow writer, focusing on my fiction pretty much slams the brakes on my blogging. But no more. Blogs for everyone today!

  • My spam folder caught hold of a Starcraft II beta key a couple days ago. I almost threw it out because the subject line was not quite right. (There was a missing open parenthesis on the trademark.) But it had actually key that, when plugged into my Battle.net account, really unlocked the SC2 beta. I was so stunned that I had to tell my wife. Getting a key was the highlight of my beta experience. Everything after that (including playing the game) is a decided "Meh." I started a practice game, recruited several SCVs, built some buildings, then resigned the match. I know that I don't like traditional RTS games, and SC2 is very much that. Only having multiplayer options didn't help the experience. There was a small part of me that considered trying the game for the single player aspect, but I doubt that will happen now. I'll stick with Dawn of War II for my real time needs, thank you very much.

  • Does anyone else read the webcomic Ménage à 3? I think it's hilarious, but it's also NSFW in every sense of that N. I ordered the second compilation volume and it just arrived today. I'm so excited. I know it seems weird, but I love buying print copies of my favorite online comics. It's just about the only way for me to support them and I don't need a bunch of t-shirts and coffee mugs.

  • Finished season three of Mad Men in my favorite way: cuddling on the couch with my wife. And just in time for season four to kick off on AMC. Or maybe we'll wait till the DVD comes out. Decisions, decisions.

  • I'm still working my way through Puzzle Quest 2 on my DS, although I also have Dragon Quest IX waiting in the wings. I want to play both, but I'd hate to get lost due to constant switching. Not that PQ2 won't hold. It took three years to beat Puzzle Quest and I didn't have any trouble coming back after months away.

  • Also on the gaming front, I picked up DeathSpank on Xbox Live Arcade. It is a fun little hack-and-slasher that reminds me of older games like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath. I appreciate that content is soft-gated so you can attempt challenges that are higher than your level. At the same time, it's easy to get frustrated trying that content if you missed lower level quests. I wasn't immediately taken by the dialogue and voice acting, but it's growing on me. I doubt that DeathSpank will be a long game, but I don't want it to go on forever. And at fifteen dollars, the price is just right.

  • That's enough for today. Get off my lawn or I'll turn on the sprinklers.


© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

6 comments:

  1. That webcomic wasn't on my radar at all. Funny read. NSFW indeed . . .

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  2. I also got a SC2 beta key, but never activated it. I figure with just a couple more weeks until release, if I really wanted to get in on that I'll just wait for the retail version.

    The way it looks now though, I won't get even that. I was originally on the fence about it, but in the end Blizzard's handling of the Real ID fiasco and the fact SC2 will come with "facebook integration" has really soured me on that product. Anyway, I like RTS games okay, but they're not my favorite. I'm not too crazy about the multiplayer either, so in the end it's really no big loss to me.

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  3. I'm a regular reader for M3 as well, oddly I recently ordered both volumes and got them in the mail just a few days ago. If NSFW doesn't bother you, I also get a guilty pleasure chuckle out of http://www.oglaf.com. Warning though it is a bit more graphic than M3 even.

    Try not to feel to guilty about writing instead of blogging, especially since I want to read the gamebook. :)

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  4. Never feel guilty for ignoring the blog some. Only feel guilty for not playing Dawn of War 2 or Borderlands with Jayedub!

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  5. Sweet, other people read MA3, too! And Oglaf is perhaps funnier, if you're willing to risk more NSFWness.

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  6. @ Yeebo - Glad I can spread the word. :)

    @ MMOGamerChick - Same here. I don't think I'll be missing anything by not picking up the game.

    @ Blue Kae - Excellent find. Another comic for the reader!

    @ Jayedub - Worst!

    @ AH - One thing I love about the blogging community is sharing links like this. Since we have similar tastes, I can usually trust that if a blogger likes something in particular, I will too.

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