All posts by Brian A. Thomas

I am the father of Ari and Sidd. I am the owner and administrator of this site.
General

Digtial LCGs, TCGs and the Like of the Next Generation That I Want to Play

I’ve never been a Magic the Gathering player. I’ve had decks, but never really played.

Recently I’ve really gotten into Android Netrunner. In my opinion it is one of the best games for two people out there… but it isn’t digital… well not officially, you can play on a client called OCTGN, but for the most part you really need to be able to get to your local FLGS (favorite local game store) and play. My local FLGS in Akron, Underhill’s Games, has a weekly Netrunner event, but my car situation keeps me from making it like I would like…

Meanwhile I also have Lord of the Rings: LCG, which can be played solo… but again, not available digitally officially yet…

So digital card games are what I’ve been looking into.

The big one at the moment is Hearthstone, but that is in closed beta and I’m not in it yet, once I’m in I’ll report more and post up some videos. There are plenty of videos of it on YouTube and Twitch. Check it out. Blizzard, who made World of Warcraft, Diablo and the StarCraft (I need to get those for Ari) made this one. It seems very well done as one would expect from a first level developer like Blizzard… (Side note, I can’t wait to see Blizzard All Stars and Titan.) This is perhaps the big boy on the block, at least in the general public eye.

Infinity Wars is another big one out there in beta. I downloaded the client a few days ago, but didn’t make an account until today (Sept 1st), and sadly they just shut down beta invites… like had I signed up when I downloaded I probably could have got in, but now I’m on a 2-3 week wait. Again plenty of videos on YouTube and Twitch… to which I’ll be adding to for sure. As of the writing, they shut down new beta invites for 2-3 weeks. Had I tried to get in when I downloaded the client I probably would have been in already and making content for it…

Hex: Shards of Fate is perhaps one of the ones I’m most interested in seeing. It seems to be combining an MMO with a TCG. Yet again, closed alpha (not even beta yet). This one you can buy your way in, but I don’t know if I’m sold on the idea of buying in… I’m not clear yet on the MMO elements… what little I’ve seen seems to be just a next generation digital TCG, but I haven’t seen any of the PvE stuff yet. I’m very interested in the concept here at the very least.

SolForge I have on my iPad… I haven’t really used it yet though. I know lots of people are playing this while waiting to get in on the above.

There are a few others on the iPad that I’m not going to link to directly, but there’s Summoner Wars, Nightfall, and Ascension…

Of course Magic has its own digital version…

General

What I Would Have Done for the New Superman/Batman Movie

The way I imagined The Superman/Batman movie. Lex Luther (Bryan Cranston) reaches across the bay to Gothem’s richest citizen Bruce Wayne (now cast as Ben Affleck, though I didn’t have a casting choice in yet and I’m fine now with Affleck) in a voice of concern about this new caped crusader that nearly destroyed Metropolis in his battle with Zod (I didn’t mind the end of Man of Steel, Superman 2 had the same result, and in that one they laughed it off rather than Superman being upset about it). Batman comes over, they have a fight but they realize they are on the same time. Meanwhile Joker (no casting choices yet, I though about seeing if Mark Hamill would unretire his Joker, but this isn’t voice acting and Mark’s acting itself is what the question would be) along with my beloved Harley Quinn (also my beloved Katee Sackhoff ever since she started campaigning for it, though I might hold her off for a part in Justice League) starts causing havoc across both cities. Batman and Superman, not friends exactly, but working on the same side fight their common enemy, in the end finding that Luthor is the one pulling the strings and encouraged Joker, Luthor has something bigger planned… roll credits, tease Justice League (which is where Katee might be better cast as Wonder Woman, a tough roll to cast, Eliza Dushku would be possible, but doesn’t really fit the role as well physically, but perhaps that would be more the point).

General

This Is Water – Your Must Watch Video of the Moment

If you watch only one video anytime soon, then this is perhaps the one.

From the video description: In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn’t become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we’ve ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education.
We made this video, built around an abridged version of the original audio recording, with the hopes that the core message of the speech could reach a wider audience who might not have otherwise been interested. However, we encourage everyone to seek out the full speech (because, in this case, the book is definitely better than the movie).
-The Glossary

Board & Card Games, Gaming

Board Gaming in the Canton/Akron Area

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I’ve been able to explore some of the stores in the greater Canton/Akron, Ohio area (CAK as our airport is called), and I’ve formed a few thoughts. My primary interest is board games, Netrunner and LCGs if I ever could play them, followed by roll playing (never get to play those either, but hey…), and then on from there. I list Canton first as I’m closer to Canton than Akron. I live between Alliance and Hartville, and work in Akron (and sadly this new job takes me out of the gaming arena for the moment due to the schedule).

I’ll cover stores first. Clubs and Meetups next, then a couple misc links that aren’t really local related but community board game related…
Continue reading Board Gaming in the Canton/Akron Area →

General

The Hobbit At 48 FPS

I finally got to see The Hobbit today at the local theater in the High Frame Rate, 48fps 3D the way Peter Jackson filmed it and intended it to be seen. A bit about the movie… it’s a great movie and a must see, I’ll speak more about the movie in a bit.

The big news about the movie is that Peter Jackson filmed the movie at 48 frames per second…
Continue reading The Hobbit At 48 FPS →

Gaming, Mechwarrior Online, PC Gaming

Me Playing Mechwarrior Online

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Mechwarrior Online is a Free To Play game where you drive large Mechs around and engage in Mech combat…

Here I am playing a little… This is near my average game play in terms of piloting and shooting, though I normally bite it somewhere along the way. About the 5 minute mark I take too long to pull the throttle back to make my sharp turn, but otherwise I think my piloting was semi-okay in this. I need to master lasers better. This is using one of the trial Mechs. The game is free, and you get a choice of 4 Mechs, one from each class without buying any, and as you play, you earn in game money that allows you to buy stuff later on, or you can spend real world money to buy the stuff without the grind, which is how they make their money, though people like me tend to just use the grind…

General

Insane Amount of Video Game Posts

Looking over all my old posts, there have been an insane amount of video game posts… of course there hasn’t been much else going on in my life really, and most of my friends/family are on my Facebook anyhow for the more random odd things… I keep saying I should update this more often and never get to it… 🙂

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Stress Missed

I missed the last Guild Wars 2 Stress Test on June 27th due to a massive headache. I got in some, but didn’t feel well enough to record more videos or take more screenshots. Lucky for me there is one more Beta Weekend Event coming near the end of July before the Guild Wars 2 releases… My original plan was to get a few more screenshots and videos that I could do commentaries on later, such as the release date announcement.

I also wanted to spend a lot of time in sPvP, and while I got there, I couldn’t figure out how to actually get into a sPvP match… lack of homework on my part. Perhaps due also in part because I skipped the tutorials… 🙂 Anyhow, I got to the loby area, but never figure out how to get into the matches from there. Apparently there is a crier or something that can get you into the matches. I’ll have to look next BWE.

I really don’t know if there will be much Guild Wars 2 news between now and release… save perhaps details of the upcoming Beta Weekend Event. No word yet if one or two of the remaining races will be playable or if they’ll just keep them until release. There hasn’t been details yet about when we’ll be able to link our Guild Wars 1 account with our Guild Wars 2 account if we created the GW1 account after we made the 2nd, or some people skipped it or couldn’t do it at the time due to technical hiccups. ArenaNet has promised they would open that stuff up before release, so we’ll trust them on that. The only reason to link them, at least for those of us at low levels, is name reservation since names are unique to the whole game, not just per server. The head start is August 25th, for those of us who pre-purchase the game, so there is still some time to go before they have to make sure the system is in place. I would guess since they announced a date, they could do it at any moment, but my guess is that they probably will hold off until August.

Be sure to join me in this great game…

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Guild Wars 2 Is Coming August 28th

Not much else to say, but news over at the Official ArenaNet Blogis Announcing the Guild Wars 2 Launch Date. I got to get ready for work, so more later…

Here is the launch date trailer for it:

There is one more Beta Weekend Event that they also announced on July 20th to the 22nd. No word if they’ll do another stress test or slip in a public beta before release, but this frankly is all I would expect.

All the more reason to get it now if you haven’t already.

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events Overstaying Their Welcome?

There is an interesting post over at the Guild Wars 2 Reddit expanding on an idea brought up on the recent Guildcast (June 20th edition, which I had started to watch but didn’t finish before posting this originally). The question is if all the Beta Weekend Events sort of diminish the game in some ways and if that goes into ArenaNet‘s release date plans for Guild Wars 2.

It is an interesting thought, and I have to agree a bit with the whole concept that they were bringing up. Continue reading Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events Overstaying Their Welcome? →

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Hey ArenaNet A Couple Suggestions

I’ve had a few thoughts about Guild Wars 2 and in the very, very unlikely event somebody from ArenaNet actually stopped by, I thought I would toss out a few suggestions for the game.

First I have to discuss the pending character wipe before the head start/launch. I am fine with the wipe, but I would really like to be able to bring select character(s) back and restart them, keeping their physical appearance. Say I want to keep Sthel in the screenshot here as she is without having to figure out what settings I used when I try to recreate her. She would be just reset to level 1 and have to start her adventure over, but the physical creation and perhaps the story line choice made during beta would stick… basically I dug how she came out and not sure if I could do it again. 🙂

Okay, now to the camera. Pressing Print Screen is fine, but I would like to have another option, let’s call it Shift+Print Screen and/or CTRL+Print Screen. What this does is decouple the camera somewhat from being centered on the character, and move them to the side so that one can follow the Rule of Thirds. This is what the Shift+Print Screen does. The CTRL+Print Screen simply overlays the lines on the screen (that don’t appear in the screenshot) to help align the shot while also decoupling the camera as the Shift+Print Screen does. There could be an option in options menu for different type of lines, be it Rule of Thirds (both 6 and 9 square versions), center cross hair, Golden Ratio and some other common ones. This is of course in addition to the first person view to allow shots without the character in it… sure one could have a friend go first person then line up the shot for you and send you the photo, but I think a slightly de-coupled camera would be nicer. This isn’t a fully remote camera, it still keeps you character in frame, just more freedom on where in the frame they are (more so to the left and right since vertically I think we already have a decent range).

You need to get yourself Guild Wars 2 and meet me in game… or just enjoy yourself on your own time.

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Continuing Thoughts on the Guild Wars 2 BWE2

Some more random thoughts on the Guild Wars 2 BWE2:

If there is a way to set the dyes on town clothes I didn’t see it… though in all honesty I didn’t look to hard. I didn’t mind my character’s town outfit and color, she looked very sharp indeed, but her armor dyes were set to a set of colors for a reason… then again town outfits probably should have a variety anyhow. This could have been in the gem store, which I didn’t really look at, but I think two outfits would be nice, with hopefully two dye options… So she could have her pretty red outfit that she had in this BWE, but perhaps another green one that matches her eyes… You could then also have the option of having one or both match the armor dye set or have both match eachother or both separate as I noted already…

The big ending events during the Beta Weekend Events should be put in as monthly mega events if they can make a few more large events like those to keep things fresh… and then they should repeat more than just one time so that more people can participate. They shouldn’t occur as often as other dynamic events, but every 4 or 6 hours or so, a little past the 2 hours that people typically play on purpose.

One of my favorite things in World of Warcraft was archealogy. I really hope to see something like that in the game someday… they already said they are adding fishing down the line, but wouldn’t be in by release… so archaeology ArenaNet… make it happen.

You need to get yourself Guild Wars 2 and meet me in game… or just enjoy yourself on your own time.

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

My “Let’s Play” Of Guild Wars 2 from the Beta Weekend Event 2 this Weekend

As I mentioned earlier, I recorded a video this weekend. This is the result.

Skip to 30 seconds in to get past the long black screen. I forgot to set the time of the title video to 3 seconds and it stayed at 30 seconds…

She has to change her clothes midway as I didn’t notice she was flashing us every time I looked up to the city for a while there… as I said in that previous post though, from a role play perspective I’m not sure she would mind.

This is the new non-fuzzy version. The issued turned out to be the Sequence setting was too low and knocking back the 1600×900 video down to 720×480, and while I scaled to fit, that fix didn’t stop the fuzzy… and it turns out when I made the preview window really big in the old version, it didn’t look as good as I thought. So a few lessons learned about Premier… I understand that CS5.5 and CS6 fix some of those issues by making the sequence from the video clip itself. I am using CS5.
Continue reading My “Let’s Play” Of Guild Wars 2 from the Beta Weekend Event 2 this Weekend →

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Guild Wars 2 – Beta Weekend Two Nearing A Close

As I write this, the Guild Wars 2 2nd Beta Weekend Event is nearly drawing to a close. The developers at ArenaNet have a hit on their hands. Seriously I am starting to have a major crush on this game and foresee it being a major point of fun in my life… far more than World of Warcraft ever got, and even more than Star Wars: The Old Republic got to. I may have waxed nostalgic about it a bit so far, but I may indeed do more… far more.

This isn’t to say the game is 100% perfect by any means. There are a few outstanding issues I would like to see fixed before launch, but launch soon please guys… Continue reading Guild Wars 2 – Beta Weekend Two Nearing A Close →

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Initial Reaction to Guild Wars 2 – BWE2

It is just a day into the Beta Weekend Event 2 for Guild Wars 2. So far so good. Some (if not most/all) people who pre-ordered from the US Amazon store have gotten in. This created a stir, since everyone else had to pay the full $50 to pre-purchase the game to get in (pre-orders cost a $5 deposit). I personally don’t care. If the people cancel, Amazon bites the bullet on those orders since I am sure they have to pay whatever price they pay for each key they give out. It wasn’t what ArenaNet (the developers) wanted, but at the same time they want to keep Amazon happy. I understand people being upset, I mean we paid $50, the pre-order people paid $5 or so, and we can’t cancel, they can, but personally it doesn’t matter to me, I am enjoying the hell out of the game and wouldn’t want to cancel.

Anyhow, on to the initial reactions to the Beta Weekend Event 2 so far. I won’t go over the stuff I covered in my coverage of Guild Wars 2 so far… Continue reading Initial Reaction to Guild Wars 2 – BWE2 →

Gaming, Guild Wars 2, PC Gaming

Guild Wars 2 – BWE 2

There will be a new Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event coming June 8th to the 10th…

Beta Weekend Event 2 will begin on Friday, June 8th, at noon PDT (GMT-7) and will run until Sunday, June 10th, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-7).

Source: Announcing the Next Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend.

So far I have the 9th and 10th off, so I hope I can stay off and get in game a lot that weekend. Hopefully I can get some really good game time in as I am super stoked about having some real time in the game, which I didn’t get last time, and nearly none at all during the stress test day.
Continue reading Guild Wars 2 – BWE 2 →