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| A video game on the back of a turtle -- 2008-11-12
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Today's game review is for King's Bounty: The Legend. I had a lot of fun playing this game, especially since I remember squandering a whole summer playing the original.
So why haven't I been writing more articles and satisfying your selfish needs? Well for one I've been busy, and two I don't need to explain myself to you. Actually let's just stick with #1.
We have been working on a series of RPG dictionaries that would allow you to generate random content based on keywords. So you write out a quest like, "Travel to *LOCATION* and retrieve *ITEM* from *MONSTER*. You will be rewarded with *SWORD*." and the game will fill in all those variables from a database. My friend is doing the programming and I have the joyful task of populating the database.
I could just make up a bunch of names, but I prefer authenticity where possible so I've been reading national epics. In the 2nd half of this year I've finished Shahnameh, the Persian national epic (and possibly the best book I've ever read) and Journey to the West, a Chinese classic. What can I say, I like to read. But it definitely does cut into my article writing time. -- sector24 | Online bullying just got that much easier -- 2008-09-25
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Today's article is called How to Win Arguments as an Internet Tough Guy. Here's an excerpt:
In order to win a face to face argument, you need a strong grasp of the language, extensive knowledge in the subject matter, and a good understanding of logic. Arguments on the internet require none of those things. People who can barely speak your language can beat you in an argument. People who have only the most basic notion of what you're talking about can make you look foolish. And people who don't even know what the word "logic" is can defeat you, because these arguments are not about facts or logic or knowledge at all. Instead, the person who wins arguments on the internet does so through the cunning use of fallacies. Arguments that appear to be logical in nature but are not. This article will explain the most common fallacies and how to apply them in order to win any argument no matter how ridiculous.
I am currently designing a game for Facebook and I just designed a 3 player card game, so I haven't had a lot of time for the website. If the card game tests well I may post the rules so strangers on the internet can mock my skills and call me fat. Your judgemental attitudes sustain me.
-- sector24 | Now I know what Gupti Aga is -- 2008-08-05
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I'm excited to post a new article today on Final Fantasy Mythology. Here's a little excerpt:
"One of Final Fantasy's most endearing qualities is its consistency throughout the series. Even though every game is made to stand alone, there are consistent elements that help players identify the game as distinctly Final Fantasy. Many of these elements are pulled from mythology, and the goal of this article is to highlight them and explain where they come from.
There's a lot more work to be done on the article in the days to come, but I learned a whole lot already on just the first draft and I'm excited to hear your comments! -- sector24 | Been Busy -- 2008-07-08
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It's been a couple months since I've posted anything, and I apologize for that but my attention has been diverted elsewhere. I have had a chance to review Final Fantasy Tactics A2 for the Nintendo DS. There may be some other game reviews coming for the 7 of you that read them. Ah...self deprecating humor is my favorite.
-- sector24 | A picture is worth a thousand words -- 2008-04-24
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No article today, instead I've been working on my other site, Clean Dungeon. Over there, I've posted a lot of articles on gladiator equipment, so I added links to that site here under the gladiator articles. I also updated links on the article pertaining to the rapier. All of these articles are available in the Game Research section of the site.
-- sector24 | It's the last movement of a sonata -- 2008-04-21
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Today's article is a review of Rondo of Swords for the Nintendo DS. I don't normally review games before I finish them, but none of the major sites have posted one so I thought I'd put it up. It's refreshingly different, and I like that strategy outweighs character levels and equipment. I can't claim it will be everyone's cup of tea though.
-- sector24 | Oh how I love tax time -- 2008-04-14
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As a contractor, taxes are usually quite hellish for me. Two years ago, I paid 52% of my income in taxes. One year ago, I paid 44%. This year, I paid an extremely reasonable 33% of my income in taxes. However, I am not eligible for Bush's government rebate. I guess there will be no plasma screen TV in my near future. Who are we kidding I would have invested the money anyway, defeating the purpose of the rebate, which is the real reason I didn't get one. ;)
I was also able to finish Riviera: The Promised Land. It was another game I bought on the recommendation of some arrogant kid from the internet. Fortunately this game turned out to be good for the most part. Read the review here. -- sector24 | Which empire did the sinning again? -- 2008-04-01
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I finally got a chance to play Sins of a Solar Empire last week. The game has been sitting on my hard drive uninstalled because of a ridiculous installation error that no one seemed to be able to figure out until just recently. Now that I've finally been able to play I can say that even though it's not really as good as any of the games it is based on, it's still really fun. I find myself wanting to play it rather than watching reruns of CSI and Law & Order, so that's always a good sign.
-- sector24 | Weapons on a stick -- 2008-03-30
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Today's special weekend update is a game research article on Identifying Polearms. I actually wrote this article 6 months ago, but I didn't have pictures to go with the different polearms, and trying to explain them through words is almost impossible. Even with pictures, there is so little consensus and so many variants on the main polearm designs, truly identifying actual specimens is a lifelong endeavor.
This article links to Od's sister site, Clean Dungeon. It's one of my side projects (like I don't have enough of those) meant to be a weapons and armor encyclopedia. I honestly don't have time to work on it as much as I'd like. The real problem is that I can't draw the pictures as fast as I can write the articles. My inbox has over 100 clean dungeon articles with no pictures, but often the pictures are more useful than several paragraphs of text. Oh well, such is life. One day artists will fall from the heavens and I'll snag one, but until then the site will just have to limp along with infrequent updates.
-- sector24 | Don't listen to arrogant teenagers -- 2008-03-27
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One of the games I'm looking forward to this spring is Rondo of Swords. I was browsing the forum to see if there was any additional info on the game and one of the posters was going on about how most SRPG players are morons and this game called Yggdra Union totally brought SRPGs to the next level. Somehow I missed this game when it came out, so I figured I should try it.
Well let me tell you, there's a reason that the Fire Emblem games are popular and Yggdra Union is not. Read the review to see for yourself.
-- sector24 | Better than flood insurance -- 2008-03-12
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Continuing with the undead theme, today's article is about Surviving a Zombie Attack. It explains how to build a zombie-proof combat suit on a shoestring budget, and properly arm yourself for post apocalyptic mayhem. Remember zombies only have to rise from the dead one time while you're not prepared and then we'll see who's laughing.
-- sector24 | When there's no room in hell... -- 2008-03-11
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I've been working on a 3-part series about the undead for the game research section of the website. Click here for the first section on mindless undead.
-- sector24 | I'm sorry, the princess is in another castle -- 2008-03-05
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Today's article is entitled Modern Feudalism. It's kind of a rant about a company that makes my life miserable through sheer inefficiency and lack of service. There's not really any point other than I feel better having somewhere to post my inane whining. You like inane whining, right?
-- sector24 | Vmoehk ec naymmo hud so vunda! -- 2008-02-25
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Today's article is a review of Final Fantasy X. I'm actually glad that I played FF12 first, because I would have been disappointed with it having played them both. FFX will definitely be in my top 3 as far as Final Fantasy games go.
-- sector24 | Ata Bra Golem Devuk Hakhomer VeTigzar Zedim Chevel Torfe Yisroel -- 2008-02-20
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My favorite article on this site is Necromancing the Stone, a light philosophical piece about the lich and what makes it such a great monster in video games. I have frequently wanted to write similar articles, but I've had a hard time finding monsters that are equally interesting.
I'm going to take a stab at it today with an article on the golem. I was watching a rerun of the X-Files while I was doing research on this topic, and it just happened to be the episode about the golem! Kismet, I say. So in homage to Mulder, I tell you that just like the ghost is spirit without form, the golem is Form Without Spirit.
-- sector24 | 1 Year Anniversary -- 2008-02-15
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I've been working at my new job for exactly a year now. Everything in my life has been fantastic since I left my old job, but how have they fared without me?
If you've read my White Collar Slavery articles, then you know the reason I left was because they were going to use me as a scapegoat to mask their own incompetence with regards to validating an electronic data capture (EDC) system. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get the documentation from the vendor that proved the system was tested, I couldn't even get a username and password to see the system for myself. I suspected this was because there was no documentation, and the system didn't really work.
The EDC system was necessary in order to get a contract for a new study they were doing. From what I've heard, after the sponsor found out that the EDC system was not as advertised they decided to pull the EDC portion of the contract (which accounted for 80% of the revenue). The rumors flying around the office recently are that after a year of mismanagement the sponsor was also considering cutting their losses and pulling the last 20% this month.
So the short answer is, everything at the old job is exactly the same. Now all I've heard are rumors, so I can't really confirm anything. But I do know that at least two of the directors left this year, one who was caught embezzling money from the company. I'm reminded of the people who quit before me. Every time someone in the IT department left, there was a 1-3 month stretch in which my boss basically trashed them verbally in front of all the other employees.
"Now that Jim's gone we're going to have to pick up all the pieces and get things back on track."
"This would have been easier if Bob hadn't shot us in the foot."
I wonder how long I was the bullet in their foot? How many months was it my fault that they couldn't run a successful business? Who is the bullet in their foot today now that I've moved on? The answer is that if I'd really moved on I wouldn't ask those questions. Working at a place so horrible scars you, you can't get over it right away. I don't know how long it will take, but apparently more than a year.
-- sector24 | Jealousy -- 2008-02-08
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My friend is in Canada right now interviewing at Bioware, and I'm jealous. All I've got is this review of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. A distant 2nd place to be sure.
-- sector24 | Galaxies don't conquer themselves -- 2008-01-28
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Today is a review of Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar. The original game is fantastic, but how does the expansion pack fare? Read the review to find out.
-- sector24 | I can read your mind -- 2008-01-22
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No new article today, instead a revision of an existing article, Traditional Bows. I've done some more bow research and expanded the article a bit, plus I cleaned up some of the ugly grammar. But I left enough in so that you can judge me anonymously via the internet. Because I know that's what you really wanted.
-- sector24 | Minor Site Upgrade -- 2008-01-17
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I'm in heavy research mode for Armor Legacy right now so I haven't been writing a whole lot of articles. Instead I nagged Thexder to add some functionality to the site. The index pages on the left now display the article rating and # of votes. There's also some increased functionality on the back end to satisfy my selfish needs. Feel free to rate the articles by clicking on the little hypercubes at the bottom of each page. You know you want to.
-- sector24 | Fear is the mind-killer -- 2008-01-15
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I got some positive feedback concerning last week's stock article, so I decided to write another one. It's called Fortitude and it talks about one of the very common mistakes novice investor's make; scaring themselves out of a good stock.
-- sector24 | Year in Review -- 2008-01-09
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My friend says that I should write more articles about the stock market, but to be honest I don't feel like I'm an expert by any means. This year I posted a 27% gain, definitely good, but not necessarily as good as a professional.
I did decide to write an article though. It's called Double Income and it talks about the most underutilized perk at a white collar job; insider info you can use in the stock market. If you like it, leave me a comment and I'll consider adding more stock stories to the site.
I am also posting a review of Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command. A version of this review has also been submitted to Amazon and may appear in a few days. Normally I wouldn't put my content on a site like Amazon because you do all the work and they reap all the benefits. But then again when I visit Amazon and the product I want has no reviews I wish someone would post something for me. So as of this week Amazon and are even. ;)
-- sector24 | Back to Work, Suckers -- 2008-01-03
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I just got back from a much needed vacation visiting my family. Since I started my new job in February, I hadn't taken a single vacation or sick day the entire year. Partially because I haven't been sick and I live too far away from my family to visit for a long weekend, but mostly because I'm a cheap bastard and they pay me so much money I can't stay away from the office. Remember, money doesn't judge you. It loves you just the way you are.
My brother always seems to have lots of PC games that I've never played, so I get to catch up a bit when I go home. He doesn't have the same level of snobbery that I do when it comes to games either, so I also get a greater cross section of the industry than I normally would. Some of the games I played are absolutely awful like Stronghold: Legends and Flatout 2. Others are just average like Empire at War, and Titan Quest. But this year I totally lucked out because he had Company of Heroes.
One of my other friends recommended this game to me a few months back and I dismissed it because I don't like real time strategy games. But the reality is that I just don't like bad real time strategy games, and it turns out that most of them are bad. The genre just lends itself so easily to weak gameplay mechanics like perfect build orders and winning through mechanical repetition rather than clever strategy. But I liked Starcraft and Rise of Nations, and now I really like Company of Heroes. Games like this give me hope for the whole genre, even though I know it'll probably be another 8 years before I see something this good again.
I also finished a review for Dragon Quest 8. Technically I had to leave it halfway finished when I went on vacation, but I can't imagine those metal slimes have any new tricks up their sleeves in the last part of the game.
I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Now get back to work, suckers.
-- sector24 |
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