Ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone

First things first…

GREAT SONS OF NEPTUNE, TODAY IS HALLOWEEN!
I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Advertisement

GUILD WARS

There comes a time in every little girls’ life when she looks back at all that she has done and wishes she had played more video games. It’s a tale as old as time.

Gather round boys and girls, its story time yet again. Today’s topic, I’d like to share with you the deep, passionate, fiery romance that I had with possibly the most entertaining game I had ever played in my life; Guild Wars.

I’d like to say, before I begin, that Guild Wars was my first MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). Before I was introduced to this game I strictly played console games only…if you don’t count the minor computer games that I entertained myself with as a tiny, tiny child. Oh, I also had a run in with the SIMs and Rollercoster Tycoon…so, I guess I had dipped my toes into computer gaming, but not yet dunked my head in.  Guild Wars changed everything.

This is the story of my digital lover.

So the first time I remember hearing the words “Guild Wars” was from the mouth of one of my ex-boyfriends. He had just picked up the title and been immersed in it. A younger, yet still dashing, girl took notice of how he was totally ignoring her (so, apparently this just turned into a third person narration, roll with me). The debonair girl decided to investigate the situation.

Boyfriend at the time was very zoned out, he would only respond to her in short answers and without eye contact. An avid gamer herself, she knew whatever he was playing had to be pretty good. He briefly explained the premise of the game “Guild Wars” and allowed her to view some game play as he shot arrows around Tyria as a Ranger.

She was impressed. Very impressed. The game looked pretty good. Never having played an MMORPG herself she had her boyfriend explain further. However, senior year was wrapping up so she had better things to do than start a weirdo computer game…she had to apply to college.

So once her first year of college began, she became swamped with papers, assignments, and projects. She grew to love living in the smelly old library, but after a few weeks she developed a strained relationship with studying…a relationship whose bonds were quickly weakening.

So one day, when the urge to procrastinate hit her like a sack of bricks to the face, she suddenly had the inkling to try something…

GUILD WARS. No better time, than the procrastinating present, she thought to herself. So long as I don’t have to do mother fucking calculus, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

And so, she opened Guild Wars and decided to log on…

What she quickly discovered was that not only was Guild Wars good…it was exciting and addictive as fuuuuuuuuu

So fast forward to a few hours later…then days…then, I don’t know, take a break woman! It was too late, she had become obsessed with Guild Wars for several weeks.

She knew what she had to do. She got her hands on a copy of Prophecies and the newly released Factions and never looked back.

Guild Wars was pretty damn amazing. It was something new, offered RPG gameplay she had never encountered before and a sweet ass sound track. She loved the shit out of that sound track…

Before you knew it, Guild Wars and the girl were inseparable.

It wasn’t long before that the girl’s friends noticed she was being really hermit-ish, always cooped up in her nerd cave for days on end.  Her friends were worried about her obsession. But you see, they didn’t understand. To them, all they saw was this:

But the girl, she saw more. She saw an entertaining, challenging, friendly, good looking…

HOW DO I UNPLUG

So today I’d like to discuss unplugging. Mostly because its really fucking hard for me to do lately.

Sturdy as a brick, and just as fast.

I mean, we all remember a time when there was no internet, right? But my dad has always worked with computers and thus there were several in the house. So even when I was a wee little lass I “plugged in”. We had some sweet, sweet computer games.

There was Freddi Fish; that game was GOLD.

There were the Zoombinis, hard as fuuuuuuuck.

There was a scary ass game about fairy tales that I can’t remember the name of…but it had this troll who gave me nightmares. Yes, I was afraid of trolls before the internet, the fear never ends…

There was also Math Blaster! AW YEAH, MATH IN SPACE – THIS IS AWESOME.

Speaking of space, I played the shit out of that space pin ball game that used to come standard with the old school Microsoft OS. I think I started playing that after I was introduced to the internet though. Regardless, I spent hours and hours of time on this thing that I can never get back.

Drawing this would have been impossible.

Oh and that game where you are skiing and that abominable snowman shows up and eats you…maybe this is why I’m not into snow.

[Edit]: Kauf reminded me of the name of this game! It was SKIFREE!!!

A few years later, I’d be playing those typing games at school too – you know like Mavis Beacon.

Even if I wasn’t playing games, I was experimenting with Microsoft Word. Me and my girl friend Heather were obsessed with walking and petting all the neighborhood dogs, so we deviced a plan to do so and get money out of it. DOG WALKING SERVICE. I’m not kidding, this happened. I wrote up a flyer in MS Word about our prices, pasted in some clip art and changed the font to Comic Sans (a font that I would come to hate if I saw it on any media outside of actual comic books).

Remember that little paper clip dude? He always had your back. He did get really annoying though…

These were all super fun and kept me at my dad’s computer pretty frequently.

So being “plugged in” is something that has been instilled in me long ago.

Fast forward to today – where I have a netbook and a desktop – I feel almost spoiled. Granted my netbook travels at the speed of light, if the speed of light were brutally beaten with a sledge hammer, ran over by a car and is currently in a coma, being kept alive using a ventilator. And my desktop was made in 2007…soooo 6 years ago. His memory is going in his old age, but he’s still trucking. I don’t have any of those fancy doo-hickies, like tablets or e-readers, or a computer that works… But I’m still “plugged in.”

It’s hard to unplug these days. Mostly because my classes are online, so I have to constantly be checking those and talking to my group project members. Equally difficult is the fact that my best friends are online, I mean I could just text them the whole day, but its faster to just chat them up on Steam or Skype. And lets say that I just want to sit back and relax and watch a movie – OH WAIT, NETFLIX IS ONLINE TOO.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Unplugging is hard to do.

The only time I’m truly unplugged is if I’m reading a book, which is usually when I’m studying at Barnes and Noble or doing it for fun before bed.

I remember I used to be unplugged way more often, but that was during my first bachelor’s degree, when all the people I loved were walking distance from me. And if they weren’t walking distance, they were just a short drive away. Hanging out then was much easier to do without “plugging in.”

But even then…I would go back to my dorm and hop on my computer, log into Guild Wars…

I think unplugging is nearly impossible now.

Us Are Not [leet]

Gather round boys and girls, its story time.

My friend Brett has been having some tough times. Right now, so am I, so I feel his pain. Therefore, in an effort to cheer him up, and because I feel like it, I’ve decided to tell the story of our friendship.

Three years ago…wait…no…Four years ago, on the internet, I met one of the greatest bros of all time. It was in the game Guild Wars that I would have the privilege of getting to know the funniest guild I have ever been in. That guild, was Us Are Not [leet]. Here’s a group picture that I made a long time ago, we are a good looking bunch, amirite?

I have been using MS Paint for a while, as you can see.

Anyway, I had just moved to pursue nursing as my second degree, so I didn’t know a lot of people in the new place I was living in. So, naturally, I spent a lot of time gaming. Thus, I spent a lot of time bonding, with Us Are Not.  One of the peeps that I got to know very well was Bretty poo. This is Brett:

Brett is a very energetic dude, and super funny, so naturally we got along quite well. It just so happened that I was going to be in one of the northern states visiting family, and Brett was like “OMG I’LL DRIVE OVER TO MEET YOU!” So I was like, “OKAY!” And so he did, and we hung out for a bit – making this the first time ever that I met a person who I played online with!  It wasn’t a very long meeting, because he had to drive back, obviously. But we had some tasties, and tasties are always the best. Also we went into a “Giant” which is a super market chain only in the northern part of the U.S. In it we proceeded to try and find all of the purple and yellow things we could. Also we attempted to drive a truck that was clearly too small for us; we were giants in the Giant.

O GOD BRETT, YOU’RE STEERING IT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC

 The funniest thing about us meeting was that when I first saw him I kind of just touched his face for like a good ten minutes. It’s weird, and hard to explain. But, when you have talked to someone for a while and you never actually met them in person, the first time you see that person face-to-face there’s like this realization of OMG YOU DO EXIST. I mean, I knew he was a real person before, but now there’s an actual person. So I poked his face a few times.

When I think of Brett, three things come to mind.

(1) ENERGETIC. Brett always a great attitude about stuff and a lot of energy. He isn’t without his limit, he is human, but its always good to know someone who is up for anything.

(2) CONVERSATIONALIST. He is an awesome person to talk to, regardless of what topic you decide to discuss. He can talk for several hours, as he has proven, and always has something funny to say.

(3) MUSICIAN. Brett has a musical famly, so I am not surprised that he is a musician himself. I also recall that he created some comedic raps, which I also participated in, in the name of Gerby! (Gerby is a long story…but, I wish we still had our old guild website up, I would quote some of our “sick” “flow” – but alas, the forums were deleted a while back) I’m always up for any music he may recommend.

Brett is but a baby (yer so widdle and younnng) so he has a big future ahead of him, I can feel it. For now, I hope you stay optimistic and continue being hilarious. C:

 

 

 

 

 

            
 

One Lovely Blog Award!

So, I can’t even believe I’m saying this…but…I was nominated for an award.

I’m not making this shit up. Blame Michael Chaney. He did it.

So those of you who don’t know Michael, he’s got seven facts of his own over at his blog. He’s pretty cool too, he writes things that you should read. Thought provoking things. Next level shit. So, I would re-nominate him, but I don’t think that’s how this thing works.

Oh, but it gets better, there are some pass along rules associated with this pink, glorious jpeg!

“The One Lovely Blog Award requires that I give seven facts about myself and nominate another five recipients.”

So, here’s seven things about Super Saiyan M…

1. Guild Wars. I played it the most consistently and vigorously than any other game in my life. It’s also the first MMORPG I was introduced to.  I’ve actually made several friends through the game, I’ve met two of them in person.

2. I lived overseas for 11 years. I have been to 27 countries, but only 3 states. I wish to continue to travel; I have more places in mind! My dream is to end up in a cool big city for a while, with like coffee shops everywhere (not Starbucks, I’m talking hipster shit).

3. My biggest pet peeve is people being on their smart phones. I’d be more specific but really I think you know what I mean… When the person you are having a conversation with hasn’t looked up from their phone screen. The guy who bumps into you because he was on his phone. The person who interrupts you mid-sentence to show you a vine video…or a facebook status…or a tweet. Come on people, why do you do that??? Seriously.

4. The most liberating thing I have ever experienced, was losing my phone. I was no longer in charge of anything, I had an excuse for everything. And everyone  had zero expectations for me showing up or responding to anything. It was glorious. However, after this happened a second, third and fourth time, I have to say this feeling was quickly replaced with more darker emotions.

5. I have been reading comic books since I was a wee child (any Psylocke fans?), I collected trading cards, and I watched anything with superheros on television. I’ve been pretty obsessed with super hero and comic culture for the majority of my life.

6. Scent is like my favorite sense. I get it, hearing is cool and seeing is like super important. But smelling is where its at. The smell of food gets me every time. I have purchased more perfumes than I’d like to admit. Every gift I give to one of my girl friends is usually scented. I can identify every bath gel, shampoo or conditioner that I own by its scent. Since being in nursing school I’ve spent a shit ton of money on scented antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers. I crave certain smells, which is why I have a lot of candles as well. I also am keen on what my friends smell like. This may sound creepy, but its how I operate.  Equally strange, I suppose, is that I can block or minimize other scents. It’s a weird super power to have. The worst is when I have allergies (which happens far too often) and I can’t smell anything at all.

7.  I’m a bear. Evidence:

Ferocious clawing action going on! Hide yer kids, hide yer food!

Now, the nominations, cause I got to select la crème de la crème of wordpress writers…that I am subscribed to.

1. Miami Transit Rider: If you know Miami, then you know bad driving. If you know Miami driving , then you know frustration. But, if you take the public transportation in Miami, then you are Daniela. And I suggest reading along for a ride that you will surely be able to relate to. Her rants are awesome.

2. The Global Citizens Blog: I’m not sure if this kind of blog counts, but I’mma nominate it anyway. It’s a really interesting blog to follow, each post is by a different student who is partaking in the Victoria Overseas Exchange (Vic OE) exchange student program. I love reading about what each person is doing, their new experiences and what they’re learning along the way.

3. Keep Culture Weird; I like Dave’s posts. I’d say more, but really you should read it, cause its hard to sum up all of them. Several, several guest posts made on the blog are by his students, all good fun reading.

4. zi0otography: I’m obsessed with the photography that’s posted on this blog. It’s beautifully captured and captivating. :D Also there are pictures of the Netherlands right now, because I guess the photographer is passing through.

5. Museums Reviewed: This is the shit. It’s literally posts about museums – which are basically my favorite thing. A Polish guy in the Netherlands guides you through the good ones, the bad ones, all of them really. It’s the fucking best. I’m not sure why you’re still reading this…you should have clicked the link and investigated by now.

6. SaSa Stories: Sarah is studying marine biology in Groningen, cause she’s a bad ass. I love reading about her adventures, she is so adorable it hurts. Her blog still seems relatively new. But I’m not judging…I’ve only had this blog for a month lol.

7. Blogging Robin:  I have to support my fellow nursing students! Cassandra is a Canadian nursing student who I can closely relate to. She also feels that shopping is a disease… Once again, this is more of a new comer to the wordpress world.

My work here is done.

 

 

 

 

 

            

Videya Gaimes

So I saw this funny Skyrim video involving a snow bear…who is out of control!

And I was reminded that Elder Scrolls Online is a thing…and I forgot about it existing.  I had been keeping up with the ESO happenings by listening to the RatzCast, but due to my summer activities I have since fallen off the bandwagon.

Which brings me to Final Fantasy XIV Online, which a couple of my friends have really delved into. As much as I enjoyed playing the lil’ bit that I did (thanks to Kaufman), I don’t really do pay-monthly MMOs. And I keep hearing that the US servers have been having some troubles as of late. So, yeah.

I caught up with some of my Wisconsin family and LOD peeps, seems like a couple still play Guild Wars 2 and a couple definitely do not.  I logged in the other day, the patch alone was massive, and when I finally logged in no one was online.  Immediate boredom :C – so much personal heartbreak surrounding how over this game I am.  Especially when Kiam told me she was interested in it…but maybe I can pick it up again with her?

I DON’T WANNA WAIT FOR OUR LIIIIVES TO BE OUVAHHHH!!!

It really just makes me upset with how gaming, in general, has really lost its appeal for me as a hobby.  I’m not 100% sure what happened. Am I too old to play videogames? That’s not a thing, right? That’s not a thing. That’s impossible.

The other day I was cleaning up my desktop and rediscovered my screen shot folder from the original Guild Wars.  I’m not sure how one game, without the flashy graphics, was able to keep my attention for six years.  I really miss that game.  For the hell of it I logged in and it was a fucking ghost town.  I remember when that shit had so many people there were multiple districts.  Nostalgia for miles, bro… it hit me hard right in the feels.

So I ended up going on a complete nostalgia binge, thanks internet. It was brought to my attention that there’s a dude that makes fucking amazing game-related swords from scratch on youtube; its called Man of Arms! I swear, no one tells me anything.  So this is me, informing you, if you didn’t already know. I gat chu bro: