Malfi's World

State of Gaming - October

2009-10-01T13:46:00.003-04:00

As we slip (officially?) into Fall - HI OCTOBER! - what's going on with my gaming?

I'm such a "behind the curve" gamer. I just picked up a batch of four XBox games that have been out for a while. My latest attempt to hook into the FPS genre, which I've never been a big fan of. Or am at all slightly proficient at playing - Dead Space, Dead Rising, Lost Planet and Devil May Cry 4 (Best Buy had a three pack of the latter three, and Dead Space was on sale). We'll see how that works out for me. I foresee a lot of frustrated controller throwing in my near future. And possibly nausea.

With the PS3 I jumped into Assassin's Creed this weekend, trying to get the feel for Altair's controls again. I missed diving off buildings. I'd put it down a few months back (April I think) when I hit memory block 5 and combat suddenly became a LOT harder. I really enjoy the game, but I need to hook myself into the control scheme before I become frustrated again. I find I'm running up walls when I meant to be running around them, and ladders have been confounding me lately. Elsewhere on the PS3, I'm poking into Penny Arcade's first chapter again.

The Wii has been gathering dust lately. Not much inclination to wave my arms around spastically in an attempt to get Mario (or anyone else) to gather bits and bobs. However, when The new Super Mario Brothers Wii version is released soon, I'll be all over it. I LOVED the DS version, and this one has multiplayer!

More of my recent gaming focus has been on the DS, spurred on by the latest Professor Layton adventure. I finished that already, and now I'm working through Scribblenauts, with Mario & Luigi, Bowser's Inside Story on deck. I picked up Lego Battles (because, you know, LEGO!) which has been a fun little strategy game. Very reminiscent of Civilization, but using the brick. And, since I convinced a good friend to pick up a DSi recently, I also grabbed some shovelware for the two of us to enjoy together - DRAMA QUEENS! A board game about being a teeny bopper worried about working at Hot Topic and who's dating who? Sign me up!!

PC wise I'm digging into EQ2's latest Game Update, #53. Tons of new bits to explore, including the Chronomagic, the new (to Norrath) Achievement system, Shard of Love, and a world event with a token (TOKENS!!!) reward system I must master. My laptop will be back on Saturday (Come on FedEx!) so I can get into two boxing and farming up some void shards for armor.

I also downloaded, but haven't yet installed, NeoSteam, based on some back issues of Beckett that dug into the game. I'm looking forward to losing myself to a couple of hours of that this weekend. Steampunkery for the win!

As ever, I'm faced with the conundrum of so much to do, and so little time to do it. I'm going to have to set myself up a schedule to get through all the great gamey goodness out there!

Back to school!

2009-09-22T10:09:00.003-04:00

Maybe it is the feel of fall in the air, or because I was lacking in card based combat. Or (most likely) because they bribed me with a 2500 gold prize I won for participating in their Facebook game. Whatever the impetus, I jumped back into Wizard 101 last night for an hour or so while I waited for my DVR to get a good lead time on Heroes.

I forgot how much fun this game is! I haven't played since mid July, though I've religiously banged in the codes for special weapons and pets that came out in Beckett's MMO magazine. I had a whole slew of new goodies to claim, as well as lots of new systems to begin exploring. Crafting has entered the game, an auction house, Grizzleheim, and there are a plethora of housing items for me to obsess over.

My favorite teacher, Cyrus Drake, was waiting for me, dripping with contempt and expecting answers as to why I hadn't finished the latest class quest with my level 29 Myth Wizard, Morgrim Hexmender. I just shrugged at him, and assured him I'd get right on it. The I skipped out of class and went in search of more housing goodies.

The last time I played I was on a mission to collect all the dropped and picked up housing items in Wizard City, so I could fully furnish my home. Thanks to the Friendly Necromancer's handy housing item chart, I was ready to farm to my little heart's content.

My first goal was to collect Rattlebone's feet. I'd been successively battling him in hopes they would drop, and had a bag full of junk that I'd gotten instead. Lucky for me, they dropped on the first fight! Woohoo! I have skeleton feet! I then stopped by my old dorm room to pick up all the furniture there, as well as hopped into the shopping district to get the little door from the pet shop. Let the decorating begin!

The wooded cottage actually has quite a bit of space for decorating. There are both indoor and outdoor areas, with a nice copse of trees and a river running through the grassy area out front. The Life Pedestal still seems to be broken (I couldn't get my Unicorn Statue on top of it) but the rest of my furniture looks great!

My next target is The Harvest Lord, who has a pumpkin and a smokey pillar that drop. It's nice to use these lower ranked targets as practice to get back into the game and remember what all my spells do. Soon enough I'll be back in Marleybone, completing my homework for Professor Drake!

DS is it!!

2009-09-21T09:36:00.003-04:00

Most of my gaming time lately has been wrapped up in the latest Professor Layton adventure to be released stateside, the Diabolical Box. I fell in love with and devoured the first game, the Curious Village, because it was perfect for portable gaming. Easy to drop in and run through a few puzzles, or collect some hint coins, while standing in line at the grocery store. Diabolical Box takes the excellent formula from the first game, and makes it even better with a whole slew of quirky new characters and mind bending puzzles. Add in an interesting and innovative story, highlighted by superbly animated cut scenes and video, and I'm in gaming Heaven!

The puzzles range from the mundane to the complex, with many classics and many that are just plain tricky sprinkled about. Additionally, there are three mini-games that you can jump into whenever you like, new weekly downloadable puzzles from Level-5, and unlockable puzzles from completing mini goals during the storyline. The story itself has 138 puzzles, with an additional 18 unlockable for completing these goals, and (to count today) four weekly puzzles. On top of all this, the games interact with each other via passwords that unlock more puzzles and concept art.

Now I eagerly anticipate the next game in the series (according to Wikipedia there have been four and a half games released in Japan already) to be released here in the US so I can get my puzzle on again. In the meantime, I'm hunting down the soundtrack, as I love the music that is liberally sprinkled throughout the series.

Also, prompted by Stargrace's excited Twitterings, I picked up Scribblenauts yesterday and have been tearing through that ever since. I spent a good hour last night playing around on the log in screen, combining different tools and a variety of prehistoric monsters to see what kinds of trouble I could get in to.

Lots of good portable gaming to keep myself occupied on my commute for a while. Too bad I drive.... Time to look at getting back on the train!

My Fall TV schedule

2009-09-18T14:12:00.002-04:00

Inspired by Ysh and Pete, here's my Fall TV line up. I arrange by network because... Well, why not?

The CW
Supernatural, Smallville, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries
I'm a CW whore, but I have to agree with Ysh, Vampire looks kind of lame. It might get the axe from my DVR schedule soon. Supernatural is still my Buffy replacement. Smallville, even though the story lines are getting as lame as the final seasons of Charmed, still has its... well.. charm. (Not to mention Tom Welling! *drool*) But Gossip Girl? LOVE IT!!! True, scripted, FANTASTIC mind rottiness. XOXOX

ABC
Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Castle, Eastwick, Better Off Ted, V
Ah my "adult" brain candy rot show - the Housewives I expect to get even MORE ridiculous this season. Brothers & Sisters makes me cry, and I love it for that. Great ensemble cast. I'm giving Eastwick a chance. Totally can't wait for V, based solely on childhood memories of Jane Badler (Diana) swallowing a whole Chincilla on our TV. And Better Off Ted must come back as Ted is my current tv husband (he beat out Carter from Eureka and Will from Glee) and I can't get enough of him. And Castle is a must watch. Captain Hot Pants!!

CBS
Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother
The half hour comedies live on the TiVo in my bedroom, as I don't need to see them in HD. I can't wait to see what's in store for the boys when they get back from the North Pole. And maybe this season we'll actually find out WHO the mother is. Plus, NPH! How can you NOT watch NPH?!?

FOX
Fringe, Glee, Dollhouse, Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show
Yay Fox! You actually kept some good shows for once!! Dollhouse is going to be smoking this season. Fringe has already started off interestingly, if trite with the whole "We're killing off the main character!" drama gimmick in the first episode. But I fully expect Glee to be canceled within six episodes, because this network is run by asshats. I'll get my raunchy humor out of Family Guy. Simpsons is a winner. And I'm giving Cleveland a chance.

NBC
Merlin, Heroes
Ah Heroes, the trainwreck full of people I either don't know or don't care about. But I'll keep watching, hoping that this season something significant will happen. Or at least somebody hot or somebody with an amazing new power turns up. I do hope Merlin comes back. It is a new twist on the boring buddy comedy formula.

BBC America
Torchwood, Being Human, Doctor Who
I'm almost all caught up on Torchwood. About half way through Season two. Then Children of the Earth, and I'll be all set for next season. I LOVED Being Human, and I really hope they get picked up for Season 2. Doctor Who I'm fairly behind, though, and need to play some catch up on Netflix once I'm done with Torchwood.

The Food Network
Anything on this channel, What Would Brian Boitano Make?
Curse this channel for all its shows. I love them all. Edge of the seat, nerve wracking, nail biting terror for Chopped and the cake contests, and all of it. But my hat is off to WWBBM. This is the single gayest thing I've ever seen on TV. Ever. Beyond Queer as Folk. Blows the socks off South Park Big Gay Al episodes. This is pure, 100% homo in all its glory. I LOVE IT!

The Cartoon Network
Batman Brave & the Bold, Star Wars Clone Wars
I've got to catch up on these. All of last season is on the TiVo, but I haven't sat down to plow through them yet. I've heard too many good things about Clone Wars to skip it. Batman? Well, its Batman! How could I say no?

Phew!!! That's a LOT of TV. I'm sure some of these shows will get pared down asthe season wears on. Or they'll get dropped. But for now, I'm looking forward to a GREAT fall!!

What's in a name?

2009-04-14T10:59:00.007-04:00

I'm going to change the name of my blog to Malfi's Meme-o-pad!!

Not really, but I saw this fun Meme by Ysharros over at Stylish Corpse and decided I wanted to do it too. Feel free to post it on your own site if you like. No obligations with this one.

1. What is your current main character’s name (or names, if you play multiple games)? Explain how you chose the name.

Current main character? Well... Let's see:

EQ2 - Malfi Autumnmist (Antonia Bayle) - Wood Elf Conjuror who is a compilation of the names of the two characters I first started playing back in EQ on the Rodcet Nife server way back when (see below).
LotRO - Malfirio (Windfola) - Man Hunter. Extension of my "primary" game name.
W101 - Morgrim HexMender - Myth Wizard exploring the world of Krokotopia. (No variation of Malfi)

The not so current:
WoW - Malfi (Proudmoore) - Undead Warlock and proud owner of a Fell Stead, a ridiculous imp, and a succubus who doesn't quite get it...
SWG - Malfi Iqu (Tarquinas) - Twi'Lek Grand Master Entertainer/Image Designer. Proprietor of Iqu's Hairdo's & Body Styling and the Pauze8 Saloon. (Well, former proprietor, since they are now packed up and on my pleasure barge, orbiting Tattooine).
MxO - Malfi (Syntax) - Are you sensing a pattern here?
V:SoH - Malfi (Um.... Wherever the League ended up) - Poncy druid of some sort I think.
CoH - Nyte Ember (Freedom? I think) - A Fire/Fire Blaster who has shadow abilities
CoV - Ahbra Kadaver (Freedom?) - Zombie/Dark Mastermind. LOVE this name and character build
FFXI - Malfi (No clue) - I think he was a Taru? Or maybe the human looking one? Don't remember, I didn't play very long.

2. What was the name of your very first character in an MMO? Explain how you chose that name.

I don't know where I pulled it out of, but I decided to call my very first character - Malfizorous, the half elf rogue of Qeynos (Rodcet Nife server) in EQ1. Yeah!! At level 20 I added in "Shadowslipper" as his surname. I may or may not have been reading through Lord of the Rings again when I named him. I guess "Z"s sounded more fantasy oriented to me? Malfizorous degraded (pretty quickly) to Malfi in guild chat, which is where my current crop of names comes from. Five characters are MUCH easier to type than the ten I started out with. After 55 levels (old school EQ levels) I picked up a high elf mage by the name of Xhar Autumnmist from a friend who swapped over to playing his bard. So that's where my current EQ2 character's name comes from - Malfi Autumnmist. An homage to the two of them.

3. Have you kept a specific name through various games, or do you tend to change your naming habits based on the individual game?

Depending on the world I do try for some variation of the name Malfi that fits in with the game culture. Barring that, Mattexl, an old, old, OLD Bulletin Board name, will do. For example, my Hunter on Landroval in LotRO is named "Texl". My tertiary name is Ashtarel (My secondary in SWG and the name of my Ratomancer in EQ2) as I like the sound of that name too.

For my alt army, however, all bets are off. There is no similarity between any of my other 23 alts in EQ2. I've always envied those people who manage to pull together names for all their alts that are recognizeable as being the same person - ending them in "gar" or starting each with "Vesp" or some such. But not me. My current EQ2 alt army includes Traigo Leafskimmer (Elf Ranger), Giagundous (Troll Berzerker), Purdi Durnuglee (Ogre Bard), Krylek (Arasai Wizard), Trincket Gnimbledigits (Gnome Warlock) and Poemia (Erudite Illusionist).

4. Do you ever reserve names, planning to use them for characters that you might play later? If so, what are they and why do you hold on to them?

No, I haven't ever reserved names. I always try for Malfi right away and if I can get that I'm pretty happy.

5. Of the three common archetypes in MMOs — tank, healer, DPS — which is your current main character?

My current mains are, all of them, DPS of one sort or another. Typically ranged, and usually with something I control between me and the bad guys.

6. What archetype was your very first character in an MMO? Why did you choose it?

Rogue was my first foray into MMOs. Unlike other people, I didn't swap around. I built the rogue and ran with it, right out the gate. I don't think I discovered the joys of altaholism until I was well into the 30s. Why did I choose the Rogue? Probably sneak hide, as I like to explore and I figured that combo set would let me get through the most places if I really wanted to. Oh! And I like staring at butts. I have a screen shot gallery somewhere of all the Norrathian butt I've stared at over the years, as that is just about all you would see as a rogue back then. Just get behind it and backstab to your heart's content. If you don't see a butt in front of you, you're doing something wrong!

7. Are you usually attracted to one archetype over another, or do you play them equally? Why?

Pets! PETS! PETS!!!! I loves the pets! Oh how I loves my minions! I'm hooked on pet classes and really enjoy playing them. I started with the Rogue but once I had a taste of mage goodness with Xhar, I've tried to find pet classes in every game I've played. I love the versatility, soloability (usually) and the fact that I have a custom made speedbump/meatshield right there whenever I need it. I was in HEAVEN when they added Masterminds to CoV. Too bad there isn't a Hero side equivalent.

In general, though, I prefer DPS classes. I don't like the responsibility of a healer, as I have ADHD to the extreme and have a tendency to wander away from the computer when things slow down and I'm bored - hence why I mostly solo. I'm much too pretty and WAAAY to intelligent to be a tank. (J/K to all the meat shields out there!)

8. What is your favorite feature from an MMO you no longer play?

What about a favorite feature of an MMO that I DO play, but it has been taken out? My most missed feature from EQ2 is the original crafting system! Complain all you want, I loved the complexity and interdependency of it. It wasn't the dump things in a hopper and press a button to get a "CLOAK OF AMAZING AMAZINGNESS" ten seconds later. Subcombines, usually made by another class, that required thought to gather items up for and coordination to make sure you could get to the point you wanted to get to. It spoke to OCD me (Who manages to beat ADHD me into submission when I've got something to REALLY focus on) and was one of the things I enjoyed most in the game.

9. Is there an MMO that you would play if it was free? Which and why?

I'll try any free MMO, just to check it out. Why not? I'm not losing any cash over it. And you can find some real gems. Wizard 101 is an EXCELLENT example, that I have subsequently dumped a bunch of cash into with my crown purchases. I've also got Dream of Mirror Online, Runes of Magic, and Mount & Blade on my computer waiting to play some more. The best thing about them? I don't flog myself for NOT playing, as I'm not spending any money on any of them.

10. How do you measure the success of a character in an MMO (total kills, titles accumulated, wealth, rare items collected, level reached, etc.)?

I agree with Ysh on this one. Fun! If I'm having fun playing the character, then it is a successful character. If I'm not having fun, and spending hours and hours doing it, then I really need to step back and reevaluate what I'm doing and why.

A MEME! A real, live, MEME!

2009-03-31T10:15:00.004-04:00

Wow! Stargrace tagged me in a meme. I'm very touched, and appreciative of her doing so. She is a great friend, and an excellent writer, so head over there and check out her blog if you haven't yet.

In any event, Here is the MEME:

"This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver's opinion, brilliant."

Now, I know for SURE that the little bits and bobs of writing I've actually placed on here (few and far between to be honest) are short of anything resembling brilliance. However, since this is my first MEME tag I'm going to leap into it with GUSTO! Here are the rules:

1. When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.

2. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don't have seven friends. Show the seven random victims' names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were pized with Honest Weblog. Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.

3. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!

How exciting!!! I have a TON of bloggers I read. I may have some trouble getting comments posted (for some reason many blog sites HATE my work computer, which makes me a blog lurker most of the time) but I'll get a message to them somehow. So, in no particular order whatsoever, here we go...

The Ancient Gaming Noob - Great writing that encompasses a weekly gaming group, interesting stories about Eve Online, and truly heartwarming family gaming.

Bannable Offenses - The rantings of GM Dave never fail to amuse me. Even though my career in FFXI was short lived, I love to hear about his exploits working on the game. And of course there's Susan. EVERYONE loves Susan!

Shattered - I enjoy reading Kasul's take on the various games that he plays, and hope to spend some more time in game with him in the near future. I think we'll have a blast journeying through Middle Earth together.

Dragon Chasers - A circular tag, since Pete tagged Star who tagged me, but whatever. :-) Pete's writing is interesting and fun, and lot of his thoughts about gaming are similar to my own. Many times I'll find myself nodding my head as I read through his posts about this and that.

West Karana - I think you would be hard pressed to find a gaming blogger participating in this meme who DOESN'T link to West Karana. Tipa is the most prolific writer and gamer I've ever met. How she finds the time to play all the games she is into, and write intelligently about them, and create her AiM comics, and get her finger into all the other things she pokes into, as well as maintaining a life, job and sanity, I will never know. My hat is off to this very classy lady.

Gnewton's Journey - Gnewton is a gnome I know. We played together for a while in the Nostalgia guild Tipa put together in EQ1 last year. While we don't see as much of each other in game any more, I enjoy checking in on his blog every now and again. His journeys, both in and out of game, are inspirational for all of us.

Ommatidia - While not really a blog, but still able to be loaded into Google Reader, Ommatidia is an ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING creative writing experiment. Each "post" is limited to 101 words, and is used to further the story of one of the many characters that the author has created. They are not continuous and rarely is the same character written about day to day, but the various vignettes come together into a cohesive story "whole" (for lack of a better term) that is enthralling. This is one of the sites that I most look forward to reading each day.

Whoo!! Limiting it to just seven is tough! Hopefully you find one or two bloggers you haven't read before and will be adding them to your regular reading schedule.

Now for the facts:
1. I love my 18 year old cat Tobie more than anything, and every time I think about losing him I start to tear up.
2. I miss my family on the west coast terribly, and look forward to moving back home in the next year or two.
3. I like to eat brussel sprouts. With garlic. And salt. YUM!
4. I have more Lego than I know what to do with.
5. I am an Aries through and through. I exhibit just about every trait associated with this sign (both positive and negative) to a "T."
6. I have more games (video, computer, console, handheld, board, card) than I know what to do with.
7. I danced ballet for 10 years after high school, and miss it a great deal. Especially around Christmas, when I'm NOT dancing in the Nutcracker.
8. I have more Magic:The Gathering cards than I know what to do with.
9. I could be the poster child for ADHD.
10. I need to exercise more. A lot more. (Points to the Wii Fit gathering dust in the living room)

And there you have it. My first Meme! Fun for EVERYONE!

Room to spare

2009-01-07T09:27:00.003-05:00

With the influx of so much new shiny, you'd think I'd have plenty to keep me occupied when I get home from work. And I do, it's just that presented with so many options I tend to lock up and can't decide what to do.

So after dinner last night, I just went with my old standby, EQ2. Since I played my carpenter up from 50 - 62 primarily on the new TSO instances, I had a backlog of Carpenter recipes to get through. Including the new Wantia recipes from the Village of Shin. An hour or so at the woodworking table, and I was 15% through 64 with all recipes completed.

Taking Kasul's advice from this post I headed to the daily tradeskill instance to grind out the rest of level 64, even though my vitality was shot. Why would I do this you ask? Well... it has to do with space.

See, I'm an altaholic. I've got 24 characters on Antonia Bayle. They are all in the same guild, spread across two accounts, and space is at a premium for me. I don't have enough of it. Malfi (my main) has had a bank account stuffed to the gills since about level 2. I'm an insatiable collector of anything that isn't nailed down. And I never throw anything away. I still have some blown glass tradeskill components on my alchemist, and those have been out of game for over a year - or is it two now?

I need space.

Level 65, for carpenters, has the LOVELY Rosewood Strong Boxes. 32 slots of storage goodness! And I need 334 of them. So my goal was to hit 65 and start grinding out the storage for my bank slots. I managed to upgrade all of Yrkin's (Carpenter) bank slots as well as Maellendy's (Alchemist) before I headed to bed. This weekend I hope to finish off the rest of the characters on my main account and start working on the second.

I'm also going to make some Ebony Furniture Shelves so all the bits and bobs I've made over the past 20 levels can get onto the broker and stop clogging up my bank space!

My next tradeskiller to focus on will be the tailor, as my alt army needs storage space while adventuring. Texl is only in his 20s now, so he has a long way to go, but with experience potions and full vitality he should be able to get there fairly quickly.

Holiday Gaming

2009-01-06T15:18:00.003-05:00

I'll admit it. I spoiled myself ROTTEN this holiday season. Despite dire predictions by my manager, I actually pulled in a very respectable end of year bonus for all my hard work in 2008. Enough to pay off the debt I wanted to tackle and leave some left over for fun! My holiday gaming gift(s) to myself were:

Guitar Hero III w/ guitar (PS3)
Guitar Hero World Tour w/complete band (PS3)
Wii Fit (Wii) - Thank you Canadia!!
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (Wii)
Ultimate Ghosts N' Goblins (PSP) - Circuit City bargain bin
Devil May Cry 2 (PS2) - Circuit City bargain bin
Myst (DS) - Circuit City bargain bin
Lock's Quest (DS)
Lord of the Rings Online Lifetime Subscription and Mines of Moria (PC)

Let it be know I did my part to support the American (and Canadian) economy!! And my amazing family gave me two more Wii Motes and two more Nunchucks. Merry Christmas to me! I can't wait to crack into all of them with friends, especially World Tour and Rayman. I'd forgotten how much fun the Guitar Hero series is and have really enjoyed getting back into it.

For now, though, my gaming is focused on a golden oldy. Like many of the bloggers I read, I have a HUUUUUUUGE backlog of single player games for my consoles that I haven't finished. My current goal is to finish off God of War I, so I can work through GoW II. I last seriously played GoW in April of 2007, where I got stuck on the beam walk section of Hade's Challenge and, after dying many, MANY multiples of times, gave up in frustration. When I fired it up the other night I buzzed right through that and completed a huge chunk of the remainder of the game.

After I finish Kratos' journey I may look in on Dante and work through the Devil May Cry series. Or maybe I'll finish up the Prince's journey through Persia. So much good gaming to be done, and the freezing heart of winter is the perfect time to do it!

Wii wish you a Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T20:19:00.003-05:00

Here it is, Christmas Eve and I am home in California, far from the freezing ice in Boston. In all the years I've lived away from mom and dad, Christmas always meant a couple of days away from the hustle and bustle of my every day life and getting to recapture what it was like to be a kid. This year I decided to bring along my Wii to pass the time on Christmas Day waiting for my sister and nephew to get here.

When I set up the console last night, I plugged in Wii Play to teach my mom how to use the wiimotes. We had a great time playing the cow racing game, knocking down scarecrows and running into trees. Then I plugged in WiiSports when my dad came in for the night. We ended up bowling until midnight, which was a lot of fun. They both kicked my butt (beginner's luck!!) and we all had a lot of fun.

This is what the holidays are all about. Spending time with friends and family, playing games, having a good time, and making memories together. Like laughing about how you get nothing but splits no matter how you bowl. Or how impossible it is to get a strike even if you get it right into the pocket. >:-)

Wherever you are and whatever you are up to tonight, have a wonderful time and remember to tell the people you care about that you love them. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and lots of gaming goodness under your tree!!

Crafting weekend...

2008-12-22T09:34:00.002-05:00

With two blizzards blowing through Boston this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to focus on crafting with my many alts in EQ2. I buckled down and got a lot accomplished:

Yrkin completed his second crafting instance, this time outfitting the dwarves in Firemyst Gulley. He gained three more levels and is now a level 60 Carpenter.

Maellendy churned out potions and combat arts to gain four levels to become a 50 Alchemist. Now she can delve into the wonderful world of the crafting instance as well.

Trincket gained three levels, going from just barely into 43 to a 46 Jewelcrafter.

Xharel gained four levels going from midway through 43 to 47 in Woodworking.

In my next push I'll get the two of them up to instance level as well.

My other crafters - Texl, Tobiegh, Granyte and Exander didn't get any attention this weekend, but I may have time at the aiport tonight to play them a bit and get some crafting done. They are all still in high 20s to mid 30s, so they have a long way to go.

The Potato Heads!!!

2008-12-18T16:19:00.002-05:00

For Halloween this year I decided I wanted a Mr. Potato Head for my desk at work. Just something to have fun with and liven up my office. Then for Christmas I decided I needed more! They all came today and my absolute favorite is Opti-Mash Prime!

A little Googling later and I found all sorts of Potato Head sets I can pick up. And I remember from last year's visit to the NYC Disney Store that they have bins of Potato Head parts I can pick up. So I'll have to make a trip down to the city soon...

Interesting Bits

2008-12-10T15:13:00.003-05:00

Today I got to spend some quality time with my DS. It's very quiet around here right now, due to the craptastic economy and not much going on client wise. So I was able to sneak in a surprising amount of time with my favorite handheld.

I decided to tackle the last few puzzles I had to solve in Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Guitar Hero On Tour being a bit too rambunctions for stealth play in my cubicle).

I have been putting off these last few brain teasers since midsummer when I first picked up and immediately got hooked on the game. It has a great story, stunning graphics and some amazingly fun puzzles. There were a couple of mind benders I just couldn't figure out as well as a few Sliding Block puzzles (which I abhor) on my To Do list.

The best part of the game is the interesting story line that is interwoven with the many different types of puzzles. Add to this the unlockable bonus content and the 26 downloadable "weekly" puzzles and you've got more than 150 different puzzles to try your luck with. Most of the puzzles have a slight trick or different way of looking at that, once you discover it, makes them amazingly simple to solve. A few even have the "*smack your forehead* I can't believe it was that EASY!" solutions to them.

If you haven't picked up this little gem, and you enjoy fiddling with puzzles, you should go get it. Right now! The game is an excellent fit for the DS, as you can use the stylus to help figure out the solutions to the mind benders. I for one am eagerly awaiting a port of the sequel (which has been out in Japan since last year) and hope that Nintendo gets it here in time for my birthday next year.

The Shadow Odyssey Introduction

2008-12-09T14:06:00.004-05:00

Read through the story below for a nice little in game accounting of what I've been up to since TSO shipped. Rather than deal with the lag of a hundred bajillion adventurers fighting over mobs and resources in the Moors, I decided to jump right into the crafting aspects of the expansion. Other than Malfi as an 80 sage, Yrkin was my next highest crafter at 50. Since that is just the right level to participate, I took him to the Moors and found the Ship Out! quest line to get the necessary faction for the Supply Division. Since then he has done the Clockwork instance once, solo, getting him to level 55 and also earned two more levels doing first time combines of the essential recipes in the 50 - 55 Carpenter books. That puts him at 57 right now with a slowly replenishing vitality. He's also done two weekly quests and is eyeballing some writs for faction as well.

Trincket and Maellendy are my next two highest crafters, and I've been working on them in the traditional way. Since they are both scholars, they can level just off pristine combines without too much reliance on writs. Both gained three levels - Maellendy 43 to 46 and Trincket 40 to 43. My Woodworker, Xharel, is also in his 40s, but I was getting bored with crafting by this point. As Stargrace says, after doing the tradeskill instances, crafting the old way is just not as much fun!

So I took a break from the crafting table and took Yrkin out for some adventuring in Antonica. He had earned a couple of levels in Mara running the introduction to the village quests, which dinged him up to 20 or so. I wanted to get him his Shin charm, but for that he needs harvesting of 240. Most of his skills were in the 30s, except trapping which was NINE! Oye! So back to Oakmyst and The Caves to get that up to the minimum for Antonica, then out for harvesting. I forgot how much fun I have in Antonica, and I started running quest lines as I was seeking out harvestable bits all over the place. This of course lead to more levels which got me to looking at my gear... Ugly. So...

I decided to get him geared up with full Steel armor (Granyte) and weapons (Exander), bow and arrows (Xharel) hex dolls (Texl), food/drink (Tobiegh), and jewelry (Trincket) as well as App IV abilities (Maellendy). Yes, I have every crafting class available to me, and I LOVE to gear my alts up with all crafted stuff. It's a great way to play the game in my opinion as it really feels like you are taking a character from nothing and working your way up through the ranks! I used steel for the armor and main weapons, fir buckler and bow, and non-rare materials for the rest of it. I really like the smart loot options they put in place in Antonica. 99% of the time a Treasured chest gives him a new Adept I which is a GREAT way to adventure. Always something useful!

That's what has been keeping me busy in game! What was supposed to be 20 minutes or so crafting up his skills the other night turned into a three our, alt hopping, craft-a-palooza! But my hoppy little Paladin looks pretty good in all his gear now!

I also bid farewell to the Renegades with Malfi, moving him over to my crafting guild. Since the TSO Signature series of quests grants Status at most of the steps, and there are five (or so) new Heritage quests out there, AND Renegades are already a level 80 guild, I decided to swap him over to take advantage of the status he is going to be earning. Autumnmist Enterprises is the name of my little alt guild and currently we are level 12. Every bit of status, at this point, helps a lot so I wanted to see that status put to good use.

Outside of adventuring and crafting I've been decorating a bit, and put together what I think is a great little apartment for Maellendy in Baubblshire. If you get a chance, stop by and check it out. I have it all decorated for Frostfell right now, and will probably take some pictures of it to post here and/or in the Norrathian Homeshow thread on the official forums this weekend.

Finally, I'm going to be working on my Fury (Autumnmyst) who is currently 42. I want to get him up to 50 so he and Malfi can duo some of the instances. I've heard about the lootable furniture in the instances and want to get myself some of that, as well as the Void Shards that are available.

So much to do and so little time!

Oh! And for those keeping track... I haven't touched any information about TSO yet, outside of great blog posts by Star and Tipa. Everything I've done in TSO so far has been by my own blood, sweat and tears. And I LOVE it!

Autumnmist Enterprises Quarterly Report

2008-12-09T09:28:00.006-05:00

Report on the activities of Autumnmist Enterprises
As delivered by Xharel Notedancer
Chief Correspondent of Autumnmist Enterprises
At the quarterly Ironforge Exchange shareholder meeting
Steelday, the second of Firstchill

My dear sirs,

It should come as no surprise to any of you that Lord Malfi Autumnmist has a most excellent relationship with the Far Seas Trading Company. This conjuror extrordinaire has worked with the trading company since the moment he was discovered by their Captain Varlos adrift in the high sees surrounding the Shattered Lands. Long ago he became so popular with the Company they stopped offering him any incentive to continue such menial tasks as they offer to the common adventurer and now only call upon him when they are in need of his superior skills. This makes the advent of the new Supply Division of the company quite vexing to him.

Many of you know my lord well, but allow me a moment to introduce him to those among us who have not had the pleasure of making his aquaintance. Lord Autumnmist is a world renowned Sage. He has gained the trust of the residents of the Village of Shin, creating the Legendary Paper for the Augren family and earning their Auspicious Inkwell. He's proven his Master Sage abilities to the residents of Teren's Grasp in the perilous lands of Kunark, earning from them the Fabled Earring of the Solstice, thought to be lost in ages past. He has spent months harvesting resources all across the globe to show, again to the villagers of Shin, his mastery of harvesting and earning the coveted multi-colored cloak they honor in recognition of such abilities. And of course he has spent countless hours harvesting resources and crafting spells for you, the good people of the Iron Forge Exchange, as part of your certification programs. These hours were well spent hunched over the Engraved Desk workstations in the Willow Wood learning new techniques for crafting more and more powerful spells of mystic and divine force, as well as supplying the spells needed for his army of minio- err employees.

To be honest, though, this man is no saint of the crafting arts. He has been lacking in his pursuit of secondary trade skill knowledge. Months of pursuit of treasured bits in order to garner a basic understanding of Transmuting came to naught when the ultimate analysis found the cost to benefit ratio on this skill set were far below the minimums required by the Enterprise. As such, he returned to the lands of Faydwer and humbly requested the gnomish crafting guilds share with him the secrets of the ancient art of Tinkering. As it turns out, this skill has a much lower ratio of cost to benefit than Transmuting and after many hours of determiend study, my lord has just barely mastered making Gnomish Cross Trainers reliably. For now, the pursuit of this secondary skill has been set aside for a future rainy day. A rainy day far, far in the future.

But given all of his accomplishments, you can imagine that the prospects of proving himself, once again, to this all new trading group in order to earn the rights of access to the special books and bits and bobs they've discovered in the Moors of Ykesha is, well... That it is disappointing to say the very least. Especially considering the missed opportunity to garner the enormous amounts of favor they were granting in the heady early days of discovery due to his commitments here at the Exchange. It may be that in the future he will focus on building a personal relationship with this group, perhaps when he has the time to advance his skills in spellcrafting again. For now, however, he is content to explore the Moors, helping to tame the new lands and continue on in his adminstrative role with Autumnmist Enterprises.

In his stead he has appointed a number of talented staff members to the task of building a relationship between our firm and the new division the Far Seas Trading Company. Allow me to introduce to you Maellendy Briarthorn, Trincket Gnimbledigits and Yrkin B'Gurggle.

Maellendy Briarthorn is a rambunctious young halfling ranger who, at an early age and much to the dismay of her parents, took a strong interest in chemistry. The family farm still bears the tell-tale signs of many of her early experiments. Who knew that one shouldn't mix sulphur with an open flame in a barn full of dry hay and milk cows? Over the years she has turned her talent for explosiveness into a lucrative career as an Alchemist and is currently working through her Advanced Tradesman certification with your most esteemed organization. Recently she taken great strides forward in her abilities and is hoping to journey to the Village of Shin in the near future in order to be introduced to Supply Division representatives.

Lord Autumnmist discovered Trincket Gnimbledigits while adventuring among the ruins of Ak'Anon, now called Klak'Anon by many, when she was very young. The distraught gnomish lass was nearly comatose, in a state of emotional shock and clinging to a bag of intricate carving tools. She muttered to herself constantly and exhibited an unnatural, for a gnome, fear of anything clockwork. Lord Autumnmist coaxed her out of her hiding place and brought her back to Qeynos where, after a good cleaning, a hearty meal and many years of intensive therapy, it was discovered she had a knack for working with gems and soft metals. She quickly rose in the ranks and became one of the leading Jewelcrafters of the guild, now entering your Advanced Tradesman certification training program and eagerly looking forward to traveling to the Village of Shin with Ms. Briarthorn. She does, however, still have some issues regarding her early confinement in Klak'Anon and approaches clocks and other ticking objects with extreme caution and much reluctance.

Yrkin B'Gurggle is a talented young Froglock Paladin from the idyllic Castleview Hamlet. Raised in a family of devout Marr followers, even when it seemed the gods had left us, Yrkin firmly believes that helping others is the highest calling one can achieve. To this end he has long cultivated his natural abilities with wood and metal to help shelter and furnish the homes of the steady influx of refugees joining us in Qeynos. With the recent discovery of the Moors of Ykesha, he is eager to return to his people's ancestral homelands and strives to forward his knowledge as a paladin, righting wrongs in the lands surrounding Qeynos. However, he understands that his considerable talents as a Carpenter will allow him to have an impact in the Moors much sooner than his ability to swing a sword. Recently graduated from your prestigious Advanced Tradesman course, he immediately took an internship with the Supply Division. His talents have grown expansively under their tutelage and he is rapidly becoming one of their favored Carpenters.

As you can see, gentlemen, Autumnmist Enterprises is committed to forwarding our relationship with the Far Seas Trading Company, further cementing the excellent ties between this expansive corporation and the great city of Qeynos. If any of you should have specific questions regarding our current goals, or wish to personally interview any of our staff members, I will be more than pleased to arrange a private meeting at the Lion's Mane Tavern in the South of Qeynos.

Until next we meet, I bid you farewell and much good fortune.

{Recorded by Ebnezer Quillmender, scribe to the Ironforge Exchange}

Look for more stories in the future as we track the adventures of these three up and coming artisans!

Interesting Bits

2008-12-03T12:39:00.006-05:00

Wednesdays are going to be Interesting Bits days! These will be little things I've been toying with this week, and want to throw up a quick post on. Yes, yet another attempt to give some structure to my blogging.

Everyone else in the blogosphere has already posted about it, so I'm going to also! Auditorium. Click on it. Play it. Experience it. Even if you aren't a gamer. This thing is AMAZING! Simple to navigate and learn how to play, but very complex in figuring out the interactions of the light/sound stream.

Playing around with it a bit this morning, I was reminded of two of my favorite PS3 downloads. PixelJunk Eden and Linger in Shadows are two... experiences I really enjoy.

PixelJunk Eden is an amazing little game where you jump and swing your way around a neon garden environment, collecting bits of fluff. The goal - grow more plants in the environment in an effort to collect all the large seeds scattered around the garden. The more seeds you get the more environments you open up. It is an amazing little program that packs a lot of diversity into a simple (in appearance) design. A platformer with a twist, everything is done via threads you swing on from plant to plant.

Linger in Shadows isn't a game, but a demoscene project published by Plastic out of Poland. I downloaded it from the Playstation Store the other night, and was immediately hooked. Basically, it is a graphical/technical demo that has a bit of interactivity attached to it. By fooling around with your SixAxis or DualShock 3 controller you can unlock interesting things in the demo to earn trophies for your collection.

I really like all three of these games as they explore gaming beyond the "traditional" aspects of bash/quest/save the princess. Go back up there and click on the Auditorium link. And, if you have a PS3 I definitely recommend giving the other two a chance. You will be extremely happy you did!

On a slightly different front, I've been very good at keeping my ShutterCal updated. I've only missed one day so far! I'm finding the project to be a lot of fun, looking for different pictures to take and getting them posted up. ShutterCal has a friendly community, full of talented people taking pictures all over the world. If you have any interest in photography, or even if you just have a camera, you should go check it out.

Shuttercal

2008-11-26T09:08:00.003-05:00

Tipa at West Karana recently posted about ShutterCal, a website where you can post a picture a day, in a calendar type format. It also will send you reminders to get something posted when you might forget. As I mentioned in a prior post, I've been looking for something to get my creative juices flowing again, and I think this would be a lot of fun! I've always got my digital camera in my bag, and now that I have an IPhone on my hip, taking pictures is super easy.

This is similar to a project that Stargrace recently participated in, NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. While I don't have the gumption to participate in something on that scale, I think focusing on this blog and trying to keep ShutterCal up to date can help provide some structure to my need for a creative outlet. I've been feeling stifled lately, and simple things like this that will help me channel my creative energy should be just the ticket.

Lego Trains in New England

2008-11-25T13:39:00.007-05:00

On Saturday morning I dragged Jason up to Wilmington, Mass, to check out a Greenberg Train and Toy show. The reason I wanted to go was because NELUG, the New England Lego Users Group, was putting on a display at the show. Their display was HUGE! 6 ft. x 35 ft., with tons of trains, buildings, and a fully functioning carnival all included. It was pretty cool to see so much Lego in one place outside of a Legoland park.

My pictures aren't the greatest, but they give you an idea of the layout. My favorite part was absolutely the carnival. I've toyed with the idea of putting together a Lego carnival for years, and seeing one executed so well was inspiring. I took lots of close up pictures of ideas I want to stea- err incorporate into my own projects.

The NELUG members running the display were very friendly and I'm seriously considering joining up. I was a member of BAYLug (Bay Area Lego Users Group) back in California, and attended a few of their events. It is always a lot of fun to get together with other AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego) and see the amazing things they put together in their spare time.

I've been a long time Lego collector, almost 22 years now, but have been going through a bit of a dark age for the past five or so years. Prior to my most recent move, any time I wanted to get my Lego out to do some building it meant taking over 3/4s of my house. Now that I have the whole basement of the condo to myself I can pull out my Lego to work on projects and not have to worry about putting everything away when I want to take a break.

A project I would like to take on, and have been planning out in my mind since this summer when Jason and I visited Provincetown, is to build the Pilgrim Monument. I think it would be a fun project, and something that would really get me back into the swing of Lego design. Lego Castle has always been my first love, and the Monument has an excellent Gothic architecture that falls right into the building style I like the most.

My hope is to build it as "realistically" as possible - meaning I want it to be to minifig scale. The typical Lego Minifigure should be able to make their way up to the top of the model and look around, just like we can in real life. It should have some unique building challenges, as I would also like to incorporate the many different engraved stones that pepper the inside of the tower showing the years the various towns in Massachussets donated to the building process. I'll keep you posted as I begin work on the project!

Video Games Live!

2008-11-24T09:01:00.005-05:00

Friday night I went to Video Games Live! here in Boston with Jason and our friend Sarah. What an AMAZING concert. I only took the one picture (above) with my IPhone, but the evening was definitely one to remember.

The event is comprised of live orchestral and choral renditions of popular video game music spanning the last twenty years. Everything was represented - Mario, Zelda, Tetris, God of War, Gears of War, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, MegaMan, Metroid, you name it. There was a piece for every gamer. Designed by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, the music of the games was augmented by light shows, video clips, on stage shenanigans, and the catcalls and shouts of the audience members. Every section of the show had its avid supporters, and nobody hesitated in making it known. This was strongly encouraged by Tommy who took every chance to rev up the crowd.

My absolute favorite part of the show was when they introduced Ralph Baer and Bill Harrison, the originators of the video game. These two designed and built the very first system back in 1969, when televisions were black and white and had 13 channels. Mr. Baer, now 86, has a website chronicling the history of the development process. It was phenomenol seeing these two founders of what has become, in 40 short years, the multi-billion dollar gaming industry. I think they got no less than three standing ovations during their time on stage. Mr. Baer and a child from the audience also went a few rounds on one of the original "Brown Box" devices that held a functioning version of the very first video game. It was a tennis type game (ala Pong) with controls for moving your "player" up and down, left and right, and also to put some english on the ball and make it curve. The little boy who got to play ultimately won, to the cheers of the audience members.

Another great bit in the show was the Guitar Hero competition. Before the show everyone got a chance to play Guitar Hero in the lobby, with the winner getting to play Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion on the Hard level during the concert. If they scored more than 200,000 points they got to go home with a prize pack. I forget the name of the guy who won, but he was amazing. He didn't play on Hard, he played on the Expert level, and ended up scoring over 300,000 points - a 90% success rating on notes hit. For someone who (still) struggles on some of the EASY stuff, I was very impressed.

My favorite piece of the musical selections was absoutely God of War. As much as I love Mario and Zelda, the scope of God of War's music is perfect for the concert venue. The music washing over me made me want to run right home and jump into Kratos' world to tear up some gorgons and ogres. The choral effect was amazing, and the soloist who sang had a wonderful voice.

All in all it was a great concert experience and I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes video games of any stripe, music afficionados, and just about anyone who enjoys a good time. Jump onto the Video Games Live! website and see when they are coming to a concert hall near you!

The Way I Play

2008-11-07T15:45:00.006-05:00

I've been reading through Stargrace's posts regarding the new EQ2 expansion and the Ancient Gaming Noob's recent reminisces of his MUD days, and they got me to thinking about how I play games.

Back when I was a kid my parents had a very strict policy when it came to computer games - no new ones until I finished the ones I already had. This lead me to long hours playing games to the hilt, exploring every inch of the universe until I solved the final puzzle and reached the elusive end game "movie" that was the reward for the graphical adventure games I favored.

The HOURS I spent on the little hoverbike in Space Quest 1, trying to get from the crash site of my escape pod to Ulence Flats, crashing into rocks and ending up buried head first in the sand. The days it took me to sort through the spells in King's Quest III so I could knock off the evil wizard and escape back to my homeland. Let's not even get into the weeks of my life absorbed in Super Mario Brothers 3 at my best friend's house, memorizing patterns of marauding turtles and mushroom people.

All of this playing had me writing copious notes in order to remember where everything was. You never knew when that blue rock that could be moved was going to be an integral part to a puzzle. One game in particular, Starflight and its sequel Starflight 2, had me creating pages and pages of notes - habitable planets, lucrative trade routes, worm hole coordinates - I kept everything in a log. I was so obsessive about it, I even wrote letters to Electronic Arts (the publisher) checking to make sure I had found EVERYTHING!

Fastforward to today, and my gaming habits are a very different picture. From my computer desk I can see rows and rows of PS2 and Nintendo Gamecube games I've never even put into the console, let alone played through completion. They're right above the DS games and below the (rapidly growning) PS3 library which is following a similar path. I just FINALLY put Lego:Batman into my console this past week, and I've had that for at least a month or so already!

Beyond the vast library of games is the way I play games now. I'm the first to run crying to EQ2I when the immediate answer to a Norrathian quest isn't right in front of my nose. I've got a stack of console game walk throughs and cheat guides holding down one end of my entertainment center. And for anything that I don't have a printed version for, there are at least a thousand on-line walk throughs or hint sites I can run to for help.

Somewhere along the way I lost that drive to find everything on my own, at the same time gaining a disposable income that threw the "rules" of game buying out the window. How did this happen?

As I've thought about it, I can't decide if it is because I have become a lazy gamer, or that I just don't have the time to commit to marathon gaming sessions anymore. Have I become a too busy adult, who would rather let somebody else do all the playing while I receive the payoff for their effort? "Where's the fun in that?" I ask myself. That isn't how I want to enjoy my hobby.

So, I have resolved that for the latest EQ2 expansion - The Shadow Oddyssey - I'm not going to use any spoilers or write ups as I adventure. I'm going to do it on my own, exploring and discovering all the great content the developers have put together. I want to figure things out, and work through the quest lines, and enjoy the stories of Norrath at my own pace, not plow through them as quickly as I can.

And if I do come across something that I can't quite figure out on my own, well, it IS a MASSIVELY MULTIUSER online game. I can always fall back on one of my friends for hints and tips, rather than a canned write-up from somebody I don't even know!

Blog Name Change

2008-10-29T13:21:00.005-04:00

Hey all!

I updated the title of my blog. Malfi is a character name I've used in on-line worlds for a while now. My first character in Everquest was a half elf rogue I named Malfizorous. Very quickly I was nicknamed "Malfi" by my guild mates, and I adopted that as I moved on to different games and posting forums.

Also, an apology for the fuzziness of the pictres. I still haven't gotten my home computer system up and running yet after the move. The profile pic and the one posted below were both taken with my IPhone while out at Bodega Bay on an overcast day. Not the greatest quality!

Family Time!

2008-10-29T09:24:00.009-04:00

Since everyone else has posted entries about family, I figured it was my turn now. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am a California native from what I used to consider the "little" town of Petaluma - about 45 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, along the 101, in Sonoma County. Since moving to Massachusetts, I've discovered what a little town truly is, and in comparison Petaluma is a booming Metropolis.

I was raised on a 40 acre ranch on the outskirts of town, and grew up with all that "farm living" brings a person. I was in 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) and raised a herd of Guernsey dairy cows that I showed at local fairs and expositions. We always had a number of other animals around, including sheep, pigs, three horses for a few years, typically five or so dogs and (at one time) about 35 cats of various ages and varieties. Most of these cats were from a single, over productive "Mama Cat" who always eluded my father's efforts at capture for spaying. Eventually we shipped the entire cat herd to a friend's dairy where they were having a rat problem.

My older sister and I were lucky while growing up in that our parents never split up (coming up on their 35th wedding anniversary in 2009) and our grandparents (on my mom's side) lived just a stones throw away on the ranch. We always had a strong family connection and learned the valuable lessons of loyalty and respect for others early on. When I was 20 years old, and making my own way in the world, my parents sold the ranch and moved to four acres a few miles down the road. Having all that property was great, but also a burden to maintain. Four acres is just right to let the four dogs run around and grow some olive trees.

While I have headed out into the world, my sister remained in our hometown close to mom and dad. She now has an amazing son, Lucas, who just turned seven years old. Above is a (somewhat fuzzy) picture of he and I with my mom on a recent whale watching expedition to Bodega Bay. We didn't see any whales, but the hot dogs and ice cream were great!

I don't have any children, other than my 17 year old cat Tobie. He's a tuxedo, and he's been with me since I was 13 years old. He's lived in all the places I have - Petaluma, Santa Rosa, West Hollywood, San Francisco (two different apartments), Fremont, and now in both Quincy and Rockland in the Boston area. I did a tally and both he and I have moved over 12 times in his lifetime. I'm sure we have a few more moves ahead of us.

We just completed our most recent move, from Quincy to Rockland, where we live with my partner Jason in a brand new condo. Building a life together is interesting, and challenging, and fun all at the same time. Deciding what goes where, who is responsible for what, and balancing personal time with "us" time is turning out to be an adventurous voyage in its own right!

MMORPG? How do you even say that?

2008-10-28T10:27:00.003-04:00

In my initial post I mentioned that I play two on-line games called EverQuest II and World of Warcraft. For those of you who don't know what these entertainment behemoths are, let me explain a bit.

Way back in the beginning, before there were computers, nerds and geeks would get together to play a little tabletop game called Dungeons & Dragons. Pencils, paper, character sheets, dice, Cheetos and Mountain Dew made for long nights of battling dragons and clearing out dungeons.

When computers came on the scene, these avid roleplayers made the leap to the electronic age and began transferring their adventures into computer programs. Now instead of the manual labor of recording hit points (life totals) and character levels on paper, a computer took care of all the math for them. These initial programs were known as "MUDs - Multi-User Dungeons," where individuals could connect using dial up modems and bulletin boards to facilitate their adventures. October 20th (just last week) was the 30th anniversary of the very first MUD. These MUDs were text based, meaning there were no pictures. Everything depended on the imaginations of the participants to create the scene.

The next evolution then, was to take these on-line adventures graphical. Now known as "MMORPGs - Massively Multi-user Online Role Playing Games" (pronounced as each of the individual letters, not "MORE PIGS") the best known, EverQuest (EQ) was first published by Sony Online Entertainment in 1999. In the nearly 10 years since EQ came on the scene MMORPGs have expanded into a multi-billion dollar industry. World of Warcraft alone boasts over a million current subscribers, with the industry overall garnering more than a half billion dollars in revenue in 2006.

EverQuest II and World of Warcraft are two of the most prominent games in the current generation of MMORPGs. In essence, they are the same as the Dungeons & Dragons games of the 70s, but now instead of playing with your three neighborhood friends, you are playing with thousands of people from all over the world. The game software acts as the Dungeon Master, sending you on quests and epic adventures, and the experience is augmented by amazing graphics, full orchestral soundtracks, stunning sound effects and voice chat with your fellow players.

In one recent session I grouped with six other people, including individuals from the Netherlands, Michigan, Australia, stationed in Iraq, and just down the street from my home in Rockland, MA. All from the comfort of my home computer system. In the eight years I've been playing on-line games (I started in the original EverQuest in 2000) I've met people who have become true friends and that I still regulary keep in touch with.

So that is a little bit about what EQ2 and WoW are. If you click on the links above, your browser will take you to the Wikipedia entries where you can get some more detail on the genre. If you are interested in hearing more, just let me know! I'm always happy to show these fascinating worlds to new people!

But... What do you do?

2008-10-27T16:50:00.003-04:00

While I would love to say I spend all my time in fantasy worlds, slaying dragons and righting wrongs, in truth my reality is a little less excting. I work as a corporate trainer for a large, Boston based financial firm. My firm is the second largest clearing firm in the US, and my clients are broker dealers all over the place. This means I get to spend a lot of time away from Boston, training clients new to our platform. When they join us they need to be taught how to open accounts, initiate and monitor trading activity, move money into and out of accounts, and just about anything else you can think of related to the transacting business in the stock market using our systems.

I am a fully licensed broker, holding Series 7, 24, 27, 55 and 63 designations with FINRA, formerly known as the NASD (National Association of Securties Dealers). These licenses allow me to conduct trading activity, open my own broker dealer, act as a market maker, file Focus Reports with FINRA, and be licensed to conduct business in the 50 US states. I've been in the industry for twelve years now, starting as a sales assistant and also acting as firm principal, trading desk manager, and various and sundry other positions prior to joining my current firm. Here I've been a Client Service Manager (serving 20+ clients at a time) and now a trainer.

Now is a truly exciting time to be part of this industry, provided you enjoy rollercoasters. Luckily I do! Even more lucky for me, I work for a very stable company and have little to fear from the current economic crisis other than a rapidly dwindling 401K plan.

Links Galore!!

2008-10-27T14:58:00.002-04:00

I added a Blog Roll and a link list of a couple of the webcomics I read on a regular basis. These are some of my favorites, and maybe you'll find something you like too!

A word of caution, all of these links are pretty heavily invested in gamer/geek culture and humor, so click at your own peril. They should all be safe for work.

Hello! Hello!

2008-10-27T14:43:00.003-04:00

Matt here. I've made forays into the world of blogging in the past, but it never stuck with me - the first post on most of them read something like this first sentence actually. I read a number of blogs on a daily basis, mostly having to do with the on-line role playing industry and games such as Everquest II and World of Warcraft. I also keep current on a number of webcomics, update Facebook regularly, and in general find the Internet a very comfortable place to be.

I'm a California native who, almost two years ago now, made the switch to the East Coast. After spending nearly 28 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, the adjustment to living in Boston has been a long one. But I'm getting there, and enjoying everything New England has to offer.