Two weeks between the last blog and this one, I have to pick up the pace. The problem is (if you can actually believe it) is that work has gotten worse. It is piling up and this morning is the first time I have had some chance to sit and think since well, the last blog. We will hit a few topics here and there, I really would like to get back to this blog once a week or even a couple with a little less content. I don’t always have to fill the cup, but at least I should put something in it once a while (I have no idea what I’m trying to say).
Skyrim
So, I have not played Skyrim in forever…seriously it’s been about a year since I picked it up. I was level 30, about 60 hours put in and even though I loved the game, I put it down because of reviews, life, etc. When I got my new television, I mentioned that I had put the game in to see how pretty the television made it so to speak and was wowed to say the least. Welp, that was probably the spark that I needed to get back into the game. Of course, my first few hours with the game since then have been a rough patch to get through but I think I am getting the hang of it again.
My character is now level 32, my skills are progressing along (my sneak is now at 80, archery around 60 and a few other skills right well over 50 including speech, light armor, lock picking, etc) and I am finding my groove so to speak. I still have not went back to the main storyline, I have spent my time with odd quests and playing around with thieves guild which is by far the best part of the game. Speaking of thieves guild, that brings up a story which is one of the reasons I love the randomness of Skyrim.
I was working on a Thieves quest, Dampened Spirits is the name of it I believe where you must poison not only the rats underneath the Honningbrew Meadery but the vats of the Meadery too. Fun little quest, where it leads into a fairly brutal boss battle (at least brutal for somebody who had just gotten into the game about 2 hours ago after a year layoff) with a pain in the butt mage who wanted to shock me to death. Anyway, after pilfering everything that wasn’t nailed down and finishing the quest, I walked out of the Meadery and as I exited the building, what would land right on top of the building? A Frost Dragon.
After changing my britches, and realizing he was not attacking me directly (he was engaged with a couple of guards), I whipped out the bow and went to work. One of the things I remember from my past dragon battles is that unless you are a bad ass in melee, striking and moving is your best option. As I’m plucking him with arrows, out of the corner of the right screen, I see a Flame creature about to attack me. Yeah, I don’t need that right now, thanks. Thankfully, a guard appeared and struck the sucker down. That would not be the only time that he saved me.
I had landed a couple of critical strikes, and the sucker was near death before I guess he finally realized who was dealing the most damage. After having a couple of close calls with his frost breath, I dealt the deciding blow. I was about to run over to his body to absorb his soul when all of the sudden I felt a clubbing from my back. A frigging bandit, are you kidding me? No sooner did I draw my mace and take a quick healing potion than the guard who had helped earlier came back to floor him in a couple of quick strikes. Run over, absorb the dragon’s soul and collect my loot (dragon bones, scales, gold and half my arrows, LOL, I love archery perks). Man, I love this game.
Anyway, also became a Thane of Riften after finishing off some Skooma dealers (and a crapload of Pit Wolves) and performing a ridiculously simple fetch quest for the mage of the realm. Now, I have two houses (the other one is in Whiterun) and two housecarls. Unlike my home in Whiterun, it appears I can actually do something with this one as it has a ton of upgrades should I elect to spend the gold.
Seriously, somebody could play this game and get max level without barely touching the first few main questlines. Thieves Guild, Companions, Dark Brotherhood (though something about those quests make me feel a little icky inside), not to mention the oodles of side quests available. Even if somebody didn’t bother with the quests, they could still level with alchemy, smithing, and even odd things like picking locks and pockets (which explains why I got the Thief achievement for picking 50 locks and 50 pockets). I do think I’m going back to the main questline soon, but I’d be lying if I said that it is all that necessary to enjoy the game.
WWE 13
Welp, still playing this fine game. I am through the Brothers of Destruction and went through a match or two of the Rock section of Attitude mode. I know some people love the Kane and Undertaker, but seriously this was the least entertaining by far of the sections. The only parts I really enjoyed was the Mankind/Undertaker Hell in a Cell Match (of course) and the parts with Rock or Ken Shamrock. It’s more so my loathing of the Undertaker though than Kane. Kane when he’s actually on has always been more entertaining in my opinion than the Deadman.
I am also still playing Universe mode, though I’m finding that the unlockables are a bit confusing. I tried to get the ECW belt unlocked which is completed by winning a championship at Extreme Rules. Well a few belts changed hands at Extreme Rules, but alas nothing popped. I guess because I created the matches ala rebooked about ninety percent of the pay per view. The mode confuses me because it gives you the option to mess with everything but then the rewards I guess require you to leave things alone. Seems a little counter-productive don’t ya think? Still fun game, and its staying in my rotation for the immediate future.
Quick Hits
As most people know, I watch plenty of wrestling. Unfortunately, I also know all too well the tragedy of wrestling and many of its most popular figures. Scott Hall, once known as Razor Ramon, former Tag Team Champion and former Intercontinental Champion has had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. So much so, its pretty much left him a very old 54 year old in no shape to wrestle or even live life decently. Recently, one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Diamond Dallas Page who has taken on this crusade of trying to save wrestlers (he’s done wonders with Jake “The Snake” Roberts) has taken on Scott Hall to try and rebuild him. Scott Hall needs a new hip and a lot of rehab, but that costs money so there is a fund out there trying to raise money. All of the money is going to his treatment and because it is Diamond Dallas Page, I think it will be successful. If you are interested in giving money, go to this site below:
We Can Rebuild Scott Hall
Speaking of which, the site is kinda like Kickstarter (for those familiar in the product) in which it offers rewards for certain levels. One of those levels is to get a phone call from the “Bad Guy” himself. That might intimidate me just a tad, no offense. He was a great character in and out of the ring, but he never seemed that personable to me. I would probably enjoy a phone call from DDP more myself. The only “reward” that I would be really interested in is the DVD which is supposed to chronicle both Scott Hall’s development as well as how they did so well with Jake “The Snake”. That would be pretty entertaining for sure. I am considering giving but I do feel of the ilk that I don’t know if Scott is going to keep with it. Addictions are horrible, and many times people never come back.
I did also get the final achievement (that I wanted to win) in Happy Wars. The 40 quests achievement with the last quest achieved being to kill 500 warriors. There are two achievements left which I guess I might figure out eventually, but I am not sure if I have the drive to do it. Which is kinda sad since they did just release an update to the game which allowed for 3 character slots per class along with a new game type which is based on the ole tag you’re it principle (first person to kill somebody else, becomes the king, and then if you kill the king, you are it. Last team that’s it OR to enter the opponent’s castle with the king wins the game).
What is also interesting is that I came “this close” to getting the MVP achievement or finishing as MVP with the most kills and least deaths. I’ve gotten MVP several times, this time I got MVP with 28 kills and 5 deaths. I was tied for the most kills, and 3rd (somebody got 3 and somebody got 4) on deaths. I have never gotten any closer, and I might never get any closer. But if that’s the last thing I do on the game, at least I went out on a high note.
I have learned that Hitman Trilogy is simply not for me which is unfortunate because it is the first time in probably a year that I have pre-ordered a game. Then I went out and seeked all of those game guides and even bought a couple of classic x-box games (#2 and Contracts) as comparison for the graphics. Guns and stealth just don’t mix for me. You could give me a bow, a sword and some really clanky chain mail and I would be quiet as a church mouse. But give me a sniper rifle with a silencer, and I would make enough noise to wake the dead. But sadly, there is no place for a homicidal maniac in the world of Hitman. Needless to say, I can’t wait until the Deadpool game or movie comes out.
Final Thoughts
So, even though it was out last week, I did get a chance to buy Wreck it Ralph on Blu-Ray and watch it over the weekend. It has to be one of the best Disney Movies I have seen in years. Sure, the whole video game motif is going to make me a bit biased, but they really do service to the whole genre. You could tell that somebody with a deep love of video games came in and did a bang up job. The picture is perfect, the sound is top notch and the darn story was so heartwarming that I think I even thought about weeping just a tear to see how it felt. Seriously, though wonderful movie and if you love video games in any way, you owe it to yourself to grab this one.
Touching on reading before I go, but somehow I’ve managed to accumulate 21 Shadowrun fiction books, mostly from Half Price books but with a few from Half.com (managed by Ebay) as well. On pure memory alone thankfully I have not accidentally purchased the same one. It has given me an excellent perspective on how to write Shadowrun, but generally these books are pretty well done, and I am starting to think I need to take a step back and do some short stories before embarking on such a grandiose scale. Take my prologue and change it up a bit for starters. As I evaluate my writing and my life, I hope you kids have fun this week. See you later.
