Facebook Is My Gaming Platform

Okay, so it really isn’t a gaming platform.  But, what Facebook, as well as other venues such as Myspace and even the iTunes App Store, offers is quick, easy gaming.  These social games are easy to jump in to, play and get back out of, as long as you don’t go overboard with the number you become involved with.  With huge fan numbers, these games must be doing something right, and doing it hand over fist. 

Zynga, Playfish, SuperPoke!, these are just a couple of the publishers you can find applications listed under.  The games range from restaurant management, fish care, farm sims, mafia control, word and puzzle games … the list of genres is endless.  But what is it that makes them so popular?  The fact that they are free?  They can be played with friends and strangers alike without need for a pricey membership?  They’re simple and easy to step away from without missing something?  I’d say all of the above and more!

These games do not come without the established community, either.  There are fan pages where players can get together and join each other (friend or stranger) as neighbors, crime family members, servants, etc, to help build your status, wealth and power.  The games aren’t all shallow and simple, either.  There can be complex, multi-level games with “add-ons” that expand your regular game play to new areas with matching abilities and items to find, win or purchase. 

Allow me to take one example that happens to be my favorite.  Mafia Wars, by Zynga.  In Mafia Wars, you are basically playing something along the lines of an rpg.  You do quests, known here as “jobs,” to gain experience, money, sometimes loot and eventually level up so you can do more complex jobs for bigger rewards.  Add to your party, or “mob” and you can take on even bigger jobs and puchase more powerful items.  It all sounds very complex and involved, but in reality, you have a set number of moves you can do per visit. 

You are limited to your actions based on your Energy, one of the three main components your actions are based upon.  The other two are Health (hit points) and Stamina (how many times you can fight).  Each time you gain a level of experience, you are awarded 5 points to distribute among these areas as well as two others, Attack and Defense.  But, back to Energy.  You may log in to play Mafia Wars, but how long you play in any particular session will usually depend on how much experience you have and what jobs you are doing to consume that energy.  If you have 100 Energy, and each job costs 25 energy to perform, then you are only going to play for 4 turns.  A turn, mind you, consists of simply clicking a single button.  There is no action to this particular game.  It’s text-based.  You read it, click a button and it displays the results of your actions. 

Maybe I’m not doing this game justice, but it really can become addicting.  The Mafia Wars game itself has seen two expansions.  One taking you to Cuba and the latest to Moscow, Russia.  Each has its own currency and jobs you must perform to expand your influence and outfit.  But this isn’t the only type of game.  If you aren’t into mobsters, you can be a hero, a dragon slayer, a race car driver, a band member looking for the perfect gig … the imagination is endless in these games!  You have to try it for yourself to really “get” it.  But you should at least try it once. 

This may not be the next generation of gaming, but it does give the casual player a bit more of a feeling of being a “gamer” and gets them involved in a large community of players that more hardcore people are already experiencing.  And, it also lets hardcore gamers step away from their shooters, action rpgs and hack n’ slash adventures to relax in a simpler world that doesn’t require as much button pushing and foul language.

It’s just fun.  And, really, isn’t that what gaming is all about?

No Updates

First, it was my wife. Then, my son. Now, I have the H1N1 flu … Amazingly, I don’t feel that bad, just an annoying cough and an up and down fever.

 

* Edit*

Maybe, as a "swine flu” survivor, I should relate a tad bit of information.  You see, my wife, and son have been to the doctor at different times.  And they have both had tests performed (a swab of your nostril with a big friggin’ Q-tip.)  The results come back as flu-like symptoms.  The actual H1N1 test can not be performed at our doctors offices (and we’ve seen two different doctors, a pediatrician and our family doctor.)  It seems all they can do is diagnose your symptoms as “flu-like,” and since it isn’t technically flu season, yet, they say, “Okay, you’ve tested positive for the H1N1 strain.”  The actual test requires them to send the swab off to another lab and have it tested, which takes up to 2 weeks, in which time you’d be over your case of … whatever … by then, so it would be kind of pointless.

The perscription for their ills?  My wife was given a perscription for Tamiflu and told to go home and sweat it out, which can take up to 2-4 days, then remain at rest until the fever has been gone for 24 hours.  Our son received nothing.  His pediatrician said he was perfectly healthy and could fight it off on his own.  We asked about the Tamiflu for him, to which his doctor informed us that it could have some harmful side effects  on young children, especially if they were already healthy.  So, Noah is on Day 3 of his bout with the … whatever … and his fever still comes and goes and he has a bad cough.  In fact, it is only 7:42 PM as I write this and he has been conked out on his bed for the past hour asleep.  Very rare, indeed!

Me?  I figured out by now that it was pointless for me to even take a trip to the doctor.  I’ve had a cough for about a day or so after my wife became sick, but no fever.  Friday night when I got home around 3:00 AM, I had a fever of 102.7.  I went to Wal-Mart and picked up some TheraFlu.  I’ve been taking that and 2 Motrin every 6 hours for the past 2 days.  I’ve felt fine the past few days, just an annoying cough and stuffy nose, almost like a regular cold, except for the fever.  And I’ve had the regular flu before, that was no walk in the park!  Anyways, This is Sunday night, I haven’t had a fever all day but still the cough remains. 

So … if you are between the ages of 5 and 65, and in good health, I’ve been told that you are gonna be sent home and just have to wait it out.  The younger and older and in poor health folks are the ones that receive medical attention I suppose.  There are several good sites for information out there on the web if you want to know what the experts say (and most of the sites don’t even have all that fear-mongering that the broadcast media announces about outbreaks.

Center For Disease Control Website

Brewfest ‘09!

I’m only 4 days late, but in case you haven’t logged in or heard, by now, it’s Brewfest time in Azeroth!  That’s right, every alcoholic’s favorite holiday has come ‘round once again to the World of Warcraft.

Brewfest is based loosely on the Bavarian Oktoberfest.  It is celebrated between September 20th and October 4th of every year in Azeroth, outside the major cities of both factions.  The main event, including the various quests and games, are held outside Ironforge and Orgrimmar.  The official description for the event reads:

Celebrated by both the Horde and the Alliance, the Brewfest is a time to enjoy the fruits of the harvest: pretzels, cheese, and brew! The competing breweries Thunderbrew, Barleybrew, and the Ogres, all come together outside of all the major cities in a bid to outdo each other with their special ales, meads, and beers. Brave adventurers are invited to sit back, take a pull, and sample the finest wares these brewers have to offer!

Aside from free beers and ales, players can also compete in various quests to receive rewards (mounts, Brewfest gold coins, etc) and earn achievements.  For more detailed information on all events, check out the World of Warcraft’s official Brewfest Page.

As far as achievements go, there is a couple of news ones to go along with last years goals.  Wowhead has a nice Brewfest – Achievement page to go along with the event, as well as the usual comments from regular users to help one should you become confused, lost or just don’t understand what you need to do.

This years achievements include:

Strange Brew – “Drink the Brewfest Beers listed below.”  This quest, along with The Brewfest Diet, were the most frustrating to do the first day of the event.  There were so many people gathered around the vendors that you could hardly find the person to click on.  Even then, if you were lucky enough to get a coinbag and click, the items you needed, they would display a, “Item is Busy” error.

Brew of the Month – “Join the Brew of the Month club.”  This requires 200 Brewfest coins, which are earned through quests.

Direbrewfest – “Kill Coren Direbrew.”

Disturbing the Peace – “While wearing 3 pieces of Brewfest clothing, get completely smashed and dance in Dalaran.”  Again, this quest requires Brewfest coins to buy the various garments from vendors in Ironforge or Orgrimmar.

Have Keg, Will Travel – “Obtain a Brewfest mount, or transform yours into one using Brewfest Hops.”  If you can’t get a mount to drop from killing Coren Direbrew, then you have the option, this year, of buying Hops from a vendor.  These will automatically transform your own mount into something more … festive.  Of course, this will require Brewfest coins from quests.

The Brewfest Diet — “Eat 8 of the Brewfest foods listed below.”  See my comments concerning Strange Brew.

Drunken Stupor — “Fall 65 yards without dying while completely smashed during the Brewfest Holiday.”  Similar to the regular achievement of falling 65 yards without dying, except you have to get hella drunk and do it.

Down With The Dark Iron — “Defend the Brewfest camp from the Dark Iron attack and complete the quest, “This One Time, When I Was Drunk…”  This happens randomly, as far as I can tell.  The quest in question doesn’t pop up until AFTER the event is over.  Dark Iron Dwarves will start drilling up out of the ground in tunneling machines.  Once they do, go to a table, grab a refillable mug, drink and then chuck the mug at them by clicking on the mug.  It’ll hurl itself automatically.  This goes on for awhile, but once it is complete, look for the broken cog wheel laying on the ground with the exclaimation point over it.  It will give you the quest in question and you’ll then need to turn it in to the main events dude at the front of the vendors area.

Does Your Wolpertinger Linger? – “Obtain a Wolpertinger pet.”  This was my first and only achievement for Brewfest last year.  You can simply buy these from the vendors … for Brewfest coins, of course.

Brewfest is another great way that Blizzard keeps players entertained and involved in the game.  Social events such as this are an outstanding feature that allows for a nice change of gameplay, good interactions with guildmates and other attendees and lets you take a break from the usual grind of leveling or “end game” mechanics. 

So, put aside your leveling, save your rested xp and go grab a big old mug of ale from that Ogre over there.  It’ll be worth the hangover the next morning.  Oh, and as a side note, Drunken Vomiting is a channeled effect that leaves you dazed and immobile for a few seconds.  No, no I’m not making it up …

Heros, Season 4: Redemption

Monday, September 21, 2009 will see the return of NBC’s “Heros.”  A 2-hour season premiere will be our lead into the next chapter of the universe everyone seems to love to hate.  Will the writers be able to pull a rabbit out of their hats and leave us in awe, this time around?  Or will we be treated to the same old formula that they’ve stuck to for 3 seasons now? 

The formula I’m referring to being: a convoluted one or two episodes, a flashback to several days, week, months or even years ago to catch us up on the convoluted episodes.  Then we’ll be treated to some form of the future being put in jeopardy, usually caused by something our “heros” end up doing anyways that they then have to undo making the whole season pointless. 

Yes, it may have worked the first time around because it was new, shiney and everyone loved it.  Season two left many fans jilted.  And season three, divided into two parts, tried to redeem itself in the end, but I fear it was too late.

Nevertheless, tomorrow I’ll happily sit down and watch it all over again. 

NBC: Official Heros Online

The Abyssal Maw

Without so much as a peep, that I’ve heard of, Blizzard updated their “Cataclysm” page September 14th with The Abyssal Maw.  Aside from lore and a little hint at what it could mean for “Cataclysm’s” story, there is nothing about what this content will be.  Of course, I’m guessing a raid instance.  Check it out for yourself to learn some good old Warcraft history.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – The Abyssal Maw

Learn & Grow To Prevent Repeats

I know I’m opinionated and do not necessarily choose the softest words to express myself. I accept that there are folks that are going to be pissed off and upset by things that I write. It has also come to my attention that some folks will go as far as to ignore you completely if they have been offended, even though they keep you as “friends” in online forums.

All of that is fine. It is the way of the world and one of those things you have to accept as you get older. You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can’t make all of the people happy all of the time.

Then there are the people that you actually like and have respect for. You are polite, kind, offer help when it might be needed … and are refused or rejected at every turn. These can be co-workers, family, “friends,” neighbors. No matter their place in your life, they try to avoid you at all costs.

In my case, I wonder what it is exactly that I’ve done to some of these people. To a few, I realize that, in my younger days at my job, I may have tried to cater to the wrong group and angered or hurt some of them. To others, I’m at a loss.

No matter what I seem to do, say or think, they just seem to have an issue with something that has occurred in the past. All I can say is, whatever that was, I apologize and hope it is healed with time. If not, then I wish you well and won’t bother you again.

This message goes out to no one in particular, just a general reflection. Knowing someone is put off by me bothers me greatly. I’m not one to pine for acceptance, but when I know I’ve done nothing to deserve shunning, then I’m offended. So it goes, life continues. Excuse me while I carry on with my weekend.

My Weekend Plans & A Few Thoughts

Tonight, Friday, I took a freeday from work and spent some time with my wife and son.  We headed out around 5 pm or so and went to dinner at T.G.I.Friday’s in Antioch.  The reason we went to Antioch in the first place is because I discovered that one of the movie theaters has started doing $1.50 shows.  The movies are ones that have been out for a few months, but still a great deal at $1.50 a pop. 

Since they hadn’t seen Transformers 2 yet, and also because our son is heavily into Transformers at the moment, we went to see it.  It was my second time, and I have to admit, it was much better this time around.  The first time I saw it, there were two issues at work that distracted me from the movie.  One was that I was sick and didn’t feel too hot.  Two is that I was busy nitpicking the movie over details and constantly thinking of the negative reviews it had gotten online.  This time around, however, I loved it.  Great Summer movie, even if we are diving head first into Fall at this point.

For tomorrow, I plan on doing much of nothing.  The biggest event will be changing my oil, which I am going to do myself, for the first time.  Yes, I’m a lazy and spoiled brat that pays good hard earned money to have someone else do it.  But I have this odd urge, in my old age, to get a little dirty and do it myself. 

Sunday, well.  Sunday isn’t here, yet.  We’ll deal with that one when it gets here.

In the “A Few Thoughts” catagory, I know I’ve said this over and over again in the past, but I’d really like to do something a little more professional on my blog.  Something that will help boost what little skills I have as a writer.  So, stay tuned, maybe something will pop up here in a few days … or weeks … or months … eh, we’ll see.

People Are Still Talking About Obama’s School Broadcast

The followers of the Obama cult – whose numbers are dwindling each day – are still going on about his televised speech to school children.  They finally have something to brag about him doing “right,” so they are going to cling to it as if it were a Bible or a gun and rub it into the ground. 

No, President Obama didn’t use the speech to spread his disinformation about health care.  No, he didn’t use it to promote some other Democratic agenda.  He simply said, “Stay in school, work hard, take responsibility.”  Fair enough.  But he could have just as easily taken a different route, and I almost wish he had just so we’d have one more, “I told you so,” talking point.

Would I have let my kid watch his speech?  Yes.  If my son was in school and the speech had been announced, I would have wanted him to watch it.  Not because of any valuable message – because, really, these kids parents should be instilling this in them, not some stranger on television – but because he is the President, like it or not, and they need to be familiar with the man that is continuing to drag the nation down.

I Love To Do The Shuffle!

So, the purpose of this post is based on a Note on Facebook.  Those “tagged” are to pick up their mp3 player and hit the shuffle feature and write down the first 15 songs to pop up.  No cheating or skipping songs!  You gotta be honest.  This is what I came up with (and might I add that I do share a music collection with my wife and son.)

1. She Hates Me – Puddle of Mudd
2. When She’s Good She’s Good – Clay Walker
3. Hold Her Closer – Blessid Union of Souls
4. She’d Be A Millionaire – Rodney Carrington
5. Lover’s & Friends – Lil Jon
6. The Gift – Colin Raye
7. Sweet Agusta Darlin’ – Vince Gill
8. Tickin’ Away – Tim McGraw & the Dance Hall Doctors
9. The Saddest Song – The Ataris
10. Something More – Train
11. Thinking of You – Hanson
12. The Sounds – Alan Jackson
13. I’m Movin’ On – Rascal Flatts
14. Have A Little Faith In Me – Mandy Moore
15. Do the Monkey – The Wiggles

Word of the Day: Inundated

in⋅un⋅date

/ˈɪnənˌdeɪt, -ʌn-, ɪnˈʌndeɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [in-uhn-deyt, -uhn-, in-uhn-deyt] Show IPA

Use inundated in a Sentence

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–verb (used with object), -dat⋅ed, -dat⋅ing.

1.
to flood; cover or overspread with water; deluge.

2.
to overwhelm: inundated with letters of protest.

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Origin:
1615–25; < L inundātus, ptp. of inundāre to flood, overflow, equiv. to in- in- ² + und(a) wave + -ātus -ate ¹

Related forms:

in⋅un⋅da⋅tion, noun

in⋅un⋅da⋅tor, noun

in⋅un⋅da⋅to⋅ry /ɪnˈʌndəˌtɔri, -ˌtoʊri/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [in-uhn-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] Show IPA , adjective

Synonyms:
2. glut.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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