Captain Lou died Wednesday? Aw, man... D:

Kubuntu + Virtualbox + Windows XP = Win

(Now to wait on OpenSuSE 11.2 and a Linux kernel that doesn't barf at Intel wireless...)

On Monday night, as some of you found out first-hand, the Windows install on the Toshiba laptop either got hit with another stealth virus or gave up the ghost after two and a half years of beatings and went straight into perpetual reboot mode. Thanks to some discussions at the office and my ability with Linux being a nice little asset, I've bit the bullet. Envy is getting Ubuntu with Virtual Box to run XP, Greed will get OpenSuSE also with Virtual Box for the same. Lust will remain a Windows 7 box until I figure out how I'm going to organize a physical to virtual migration. Odds are I'll just keep her that way until neccessary to avoid headaches.

Now... does anyone know a good Linux MUSH client?

Came down with something intestinal last night, so I took the day off to sleep in and try to rest it off. Since I have a nice afternoon to rest up, I might as well share my thoughts on the newest cash shop on the block.

Basically, its exactly what it says on the tin: D&D 3.5 in MMO form. Everything works mostly like it would as if you were sitting around a table with a bag of dice and a character sheet. Indeed, you click to swing and a D20 pops up in the corner showing your roll and if you hit or missed. There's an ethereal GM describing the vital encounters of your dungeon raids. Skills, saving throws, feats... its all there. There's even quite a bit of character sheet customization available, granted that you're familiar with the 3.5 system. Want to make a sneaky paladin? It's possible! I give Turbine a lot of credit, they really put in a lot of effort to make it 'Dungeons & Dragons'.

(Now if only they had set it in, say, Krynn or the Forgotten Realms instead of this Eberron place I'm utterly unfamiliar with...)

The heart of the game lies in instances. In fact, everything outside of the towns is instanced. Getting to a dungeon instance outside of town requires venturing through an insance itself! Dead mobs can't be rogued nor do they give a set amount of XP on death. Loot is only available through treasure chests and quest rewards, and while you can get XP for mass slaughter its only if you clear the dungeon or reach certain levels of killing in outside areas. Turbine didn't make it easy on gold farmers, griefers, and grinders.

Another neat part is that you can set the difficulty level of a dungeon at the start, from Solo to Elite. The higher difficulties net you more favor and XP, of course, but for those you'll definitely want to put together a party. On the other hand, if its just you, you can solo your way through and still have a fun time too.

Turbine also advertised the Best Combat In Any MMO(tm). I wouldn't say its the best but it is fun and different. You click to swing/shoot, press shift to defend, and have a button bar to set your different skills, spells, and feats. There's no auto-swings or auto-shoot and while there's no friendly fire you also can't shoot or stab your way through your friends either. Not that you would want to, for hitting enemies on the flank or rear brings about bonuses to hit and perhaps even damage if you're thiefy enough.

On the other hand, you don't actually have to massacre your way through a dungeon: With sneaking and interaction skills, its possible for a party to skulk or mez its way past mobs if you wish. Rogues are also a vital part of any party for there are traps and locked doors that will require a certain amount of precision should you wish to pass them. It really is Dungeon & Dragons.

Of course, nothing is entirely candy and nuts. Combat is fast-paced, there are no auto-attacks, and your button bar is stuck at 1-10, so it'll take some fumbling about before you get the hang of swinging away wildly. Character customization is limited to which manner of grim and determined fantasy novel face you wish to create that nobody will ever see once you don your all-encompassing helm. There are a few things I missed out on while blazing through the newbie zone like how to defend and just what those eye markers represent while I'm sneaking, but that could just be me completely forgetting to hit the '!' symbol when it pops up. Its a nominally free game, so expect the public areas to be chock full of the sort of chat that would make Barrens chat seem like the McLaughlin Group. And Favor is vital if you want to roll a drow, a monk, make it past level four, and/or access certain dungeons. You can earn favor by completing quests on higher difficulties. Or you can make a donation to Turbine and earn points that way as well.

Still, the one-time $19 donation I made to Turbine was well worth the chance to roll a delfadin. Sweet sweet holy smite and CHR bonuses...

Where was I? Oh, right. My final impression, granted that I only have a collection of lvl 2 toons and have yet to hit the endgame, is that while its not a Warcraft-killer its definitely something different and just as fun. Going cash shop may have been the best decision Turbine made, as it opened up the game to a lot of us who would pass up on a $50 DVD and $15/month subscription fee right off the bat. That leads me to wonder if perhaps cash shopping is the MMO wave of the future for anyone who isn't Blizzard or CCP.

Cinema at the Square

Movie classics in a restored 1920s era playhouse. And its within walking/transit of the Rock Hall and Science Center. Admittedly, we'll be missing out on Young Frankenstein, Ghostbusters, and the Muppets, but still... singalong West Side Story? :D

Let's see: More MUSH drama that I mainly started, my desktop at work crashed and neccessitated a full rebuild of two years worth of applications, one of our primary credit networks imploded and sent a good two third of our sites into a panic, and I think I'm starting to sport both carpal tunnel and a migraine.

Man, this is turning into the best week ever. How many more days until Triplemeet?

Note to the national media: This is how you know you're doing it wrong.

From sirusavi:


MC Hammer Vader Busts a Move - Watch more Funny Videos

Break it down, Luke.

mormon jesus

Now why DC never did a Batman cartoon like this remains a mystery...

New default icon, new look, new moodtheme courtesy of faeriesfolly, and one of these days I'll tack on a few ZP icons too. Now if I can get out of a few slumps I've been stuck in recently...

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