July 2015 – n00bgamer

July 29, 2015

Windows 10: Early adaptation woes

Free says it all. So does nagware…

It’s July 29, 2015. Today signals the arrival of the Windows 10 release, and so far only 190 countries were lucky enough to be first in this tiered upgrade of Microsoft for their early adaptation. I’m waiting patiently (or trying to) for the notification to arrive and its just one of those things tech addicts like me are susceptible to, are the constant fiddling with new operating systems. This version though makes me breathe a sigh of relief, but then again, this is taking a very familiar turn.

Not long ago Apple started the practice of free operating systems such as the release of Maverick, the first free iteration of OSX deployed to any apple computing device barring their smartphones and tablets. It makes perfect sense that Microsoft would now take their turn in hopping onto the nagware bandwagon.

Here are some of the negatives that do come with free operating systems;

The Bad

Nagware – Those silly notifications reminding you to update as soon as you can this app and that account. The purpose of it all really is to drive your information to intelligence companies for advertising, targeted sales marketing. Ideally free tools for ad annoyance.
Error full gaming – Let’s face it. Early adapters will have early adaptation misery. Waiting on installation screens, error resolution, the hunt for new drivers because my LAN port doesn’t connect to the modem anymore and all that. Suck it up, it comes with running new operating systems. There’s a common fix nowadays so lower your pride and right click and hit “Run in Compatibility Mode: Windows 7” har har har har.

First reported BSOD on Windows 10 on day 1… Good Jab! First day Funk!
BSOD – or Blue Screen of Death. Don’t worry, there will always be one if you’re running a Microsoft product. In fact, there’s already a reported case of a BSOD on Windows 10 on one particular <a href="http://www.reddit best task tracking software.com/r/Windows10/comments/2ii4li/” target=”_blank”>Reddit post. One of the most frustrating things to come across when migrating to the new operating system. Early adaptation, doesn’t always rule!
Bloatware – think all that extra navigation animation is cool? Well its eating up your precious memory and resources to get that extra 2fps boost to your already 90fps game experience.

The Good

Free – always a good thing. Your wallet will thank you. Your wife will thank you. Microsoft will own you. But hey, more bandwidth for games right?
Its more likely to be shipped with new hardware.
They can track your ass if you’re into software piracy. (They can track your ass too if you paid).

So without further a due, lets put on the black eyebags, roll up the sleeves, and wait for the loading screen to finish so that after we install our games, we can run into our first error… Doh!

If you’re set on upgrading still to windows 10, just remember there are pre-qualifications to getting it. Just head over to this handy link from Microsoft;

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-upgrade

After upgrading, let’s all take pictures of how we rage quit against the installation!

July 26, 2015

The N00bs explore Star Wars Saga Edition RPG. Comedy ensues.

So after running a few sessions of Hunters Hunted 2 in ancient Japan for a few weeks, n00b-a-fette suggested we take a different flavor yesterday. Given I’ve been itching to play a more science fiction themed RPG, his suggestion of trying out Star Wars Saga Edition (or the D20 version) came right up our alleys. It was a familiar world and easy to relate to.

Having tried some of the other Star Wars tabletop titles such as X-wing and Edge of the Empire, I’ve been shunning playing a Star Wars themed tabletop game for two reasons. The first being is that it takes so long to setup for a game to jump into what should be familiar territory, and those unique dice that would be pretty difficult to collect or replace from this side of the world.

Surprisingly, it seemed very D&D 5th edition, and rolling for stats on dice you already had lying around made for quick character creation.

Ron Pearlman as Capt'n "Quick Credit" Quint — Ron Pearlman as Capt’n “Quick Credit” Quint

Ended up rolling a scoundrel heroic class, with Ron Perlman as my character sketch lol

Epic critical hits, critical botches, and raucous laughter then ensue as we see an inept Jedi guardian lose his master in front of his eyes. The team faces down what seems to be a high level Sith Lord. Of course the ideal strategy was not to face down one of those and run. Like, to another planet if at all possible.

Unfortunately our snarky capt’n didn’t have ship at the moment, and he was forced to make some sort of one way deal with yet another Jedi sympathizer noble from the Organa clan. With little options, he gathered his first mate “The First” and hoped to go on what should have been a quick and easy delivery run in the oldest looking excuse for a derelict that resembled a turtle more than a cargo frigate.

The party is then promptly chased down by one of the Sith’s starships and if not for the captain’s dodgy piloting, and the Jedi tapping into the force to find himself better at operating a turbo laser than a lightsaber, the party is able to escape. Barely.

Let’s see where else in the galaxy these misfits would find themselves. The game is turning out to be more like Spaceballs than Star Wars. lol!

July 20, 2015

Diablo III – The Rainbow Goblin and Whimsydale

Somewhere over that rainbow... — Somewhere over that rainbow…

So i finally got my Crusader to level 57. Took some help from a friend, but its awesome to see some of the mid level gear on the increased difficulty setting.

As i was grinding my way through the Caverns of Araneae and i came across a treasure goblin but it didn’t look like

any goblin i’ve seen before.

Here’s Blizzard’s artwork on the goblin i saw that they presented in one of their keynotes recently upon the release of Reaper of Souls.

This time though they had much more in store than epic drops. They bring you into this mystical map called “Whimsydale”. Here you’ll be able to unleash your inner cuteness rage. You’ll be slaying animated cuddly little teddy bears and pink and rainbow ponies. Ever felt like taking that cute toy by its feet and bashing its head against a wall? Well here you’ll be able to paint Whimsydale red with the blood of cuteness.

It needs more color... blood crimson to be exact! — It needs more color… blood crimson to be exact!

You’ll also run into more epic drops ranging from rare finds to legendary items with the multiple pinatas hanging around the tress here. You’ll need to make more than one trip back to town to empty out all the item drops. Thankfully, the portal appears when you are able to slay the rainbow goblin quickly enough and timed at a point where he just opens up a portal to Whimsydale to escape. Slay him there and that portal will stick around long enough for you to pass on through.

I’m guessing this guy only appears in hard mode and up as I didn’t encounter him in the earlier stages of normal mode. Then again pretty much most magical drops here are at least Rare and hardly any blues will be dropping at that point. The game gets pretty OP by the time you’re swinging around in adventure mode at level seventy.

Oh and you see a tip during some of the loading screens stating “The Cow level is a myth.” I’m guessing they came up with Whimsydale as something much much cooler.

July 17, 2015

Diablo III – Exploring Reaper of Souls

Here’s yet another title that I’ve been following through the years. Diablo has been an anticipated title each time it’s been released. We have so far the current expansion being played “Reaper of Souls” where if they thought Diablo and the lords of hell weren’t enough, they had to make the angel of death rebel against the natural order of things to add more flavor to the world of Sanctuary.

Sadly the Crusader character class wasn’t out yet upon first release. But since there was a sale happening on blizzard (50% off), i went ahead and got my own copy of the expansion. Jumped right into the most generic name possible, and off we went into New Tristram. Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the game has changed. The gold auction house was gone (i was surprised to see gold compensation for previously auctioned items), as well as the need to manually stat out your character (aw no more agi-barbarians lol).

That house on the hill looks interesting. Oh look! A shooting Star!

Your expenditure on the title is immediately gratified with a blend of artist rendered graphics as well as a good dose of cinematic storytelling (we love this about blizzard). And as compared to how they expanded the world of Sanctuary in Diablo 2, both the story and your grinding activity is balanced out with full audio when it comes to lore (i love this), as well as a polished and well defined system we’re all familiar with.

No more item thieving as all players get their own loot drops. Those in turn could be shared with a party member if you find it unusable or just don’t need it. This gives the game a terrific way in making sure everyone gets what they need but without affecting the need to be in a social group or party to diversify the types of loot gained.

Overall, this game is definitely a must try. Oh and yea, this is the game that breaks mice so even if you’re armed with a Razor, you might want to switch it out with a mouse you’re willing to abuse/replace in the shortest amount of time.

For now, i shall loiter in the general chat trying to look for another level 4 character. I keep forgetting that most other players are now at max level so if you’re just starting out your adventure, its best to bring company!

July 15, 2015

Pranks we all played and were victim to…

Its very common these days that we see a lot of n00bizens walking around and not paying attention to their surroundings. They walk like zombies, or stay still in the house, face illuminated by the artificial LED lights served up by a handheld device. Their insatiable hunger for farming dark elixir taking over each waking moment of the day. And the only anticipated excitement throughout it all, is the anticipation of war (starting in 40 minutes), where we bring our tactics and armies to bear.

That being said, I know exactly how such people can easily fall prey to the more aware friends and barkadas we have. I’ve been pranked before and have rage quit in the most glorious fashion (friendship over moments) my site. But despite my supposed diverse retinue of pranks, this video by Kupal Lord on Facebook deserves a trophy!

If you’re too addicted to Clash of Clans and aren’t paying attention, watch out! You just might fall victim to a new Gem prank!

It would have been awful being on the receiving end of that prank. Kudos to KL for the hearty laughs this video provided. Why stop there though? Since today’s supposed to tickle our funny bones, (its Thursday and Friday can’t get here sooner) let’s look at another prank, this time one that takes advantage of the sleeping schoolmate!

That last one went around facebook with the title “Crit ni Rikimaru” and boy was there an increase of slapping the sleeping kid in class.

Now if that doesn’t have you rolling on the floor, you’re probably that first guy still playing Clash of Clans and still oblivious to the possible pranks that your friends are concocting for reading this blog.

If you still don’t think you’d be falling prey to any pranks, you’d better watch this last video. If you spot yourself doing anything that this guy does, you’re in for a world of hurt!

July 12, 2015

Video of the Week: Clash of Clans: Hog Rider

Finally got to TH7 and slowly progressing the clan through its levels.

Then i discovered the Hog Rider commercial of Supercell during the superbowl…

After seeing that, I was inspired.

Haaaawg Riiiiiidaaaaaaaaahs!

I had to cry out each time i was attacking in the war.

My wife was short of throwing my android device into the toilet for all the echoes of “Hawg ridaaaaaahs” that permeated through the household. Each time my children saw me, each time i opened the game, you’d hear the words “Haaaawg riiiidaaaaaaaaah” and you’d either hear the chuckling of those that get the joke, or the stern words of a scorned mother who was sick and tired of hearing that line each time she’d attack with her noah’s ark army.

Thankfully, after only a few failbombs where my Hogs literally bunched up together and ran right smack into a large bomb awaiting at that secluded worker’s hut right up top project tracking system. I was finally able to get my act together and run a proper attack, complete with luring and TH7 vs TH7 war.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to record my run.

But, one of our friendly content donors from the Clan “Cubao Fury” was kind enough to lend me a hand in putting together a video. Special mention to his opponent who also three starred him in return just to even out the playing field in the war. The Fury lost that bout, but hey they’re still kicking!

Keep clashing Cubao Fury! You’ll get to clan level 5 soon!

Oh and here’s the 2nd video of the Hog Riders! Enjoy!

July 12, 2015

X-Com: Enemy Unknown n00b moves

Oh how one had to wait 20 years for a proper remake... — Oh how one had to wait 20 years for a proper remake…

Stemming from my addiction of tactical gaming titles, I’ve been following this franchise ever since MicroProse’s release back in 1994. The sequel of that version X-com: Terror from the Deep was more commonly known in my pc gamer group as Error from the Deep, as there was no internet back then to patch boxed game titles.

Moving on, comes 2013’s latest version and most faithful to the original (albeit missing the Avenger) X-Com: Enemy Unknown. When you get to do almost exactly what you got to do as the original, but without the terror of forgetting light flares during a night interception mission. That being said though, there are a lot of critical strategies I’ve forgotten since the original and its always nice to remember them as I get my rear end handed back to me.

So for those of you still yet to start on the game here are a few pointers to make sure your n00bness shines through;

What to choose, what to choose…

1. Don’t research up as fast as you can to gear up and increase survivability.

2. Always charge in with your strongest guy/gal!

Maybe if i scream really loud they'll run away... — Maybe if i scream really loud they’ll run away…

3. Never be afraid to run in alone!

4. Take that screenshot to prove you stared death in the face!

I'm not sleeping on the job... just resting my eyes for 5 minutes. — I’m not sleeping on the job… just resting my eyes for 5 minutes.

5. Never save when you enter the tactical screen! Saving is for sissies!

Outnumbered and Outgunned... epic! — Outnumbered and Outgunned… epic!

6. Its not about surviving, but how to die in the most epic way possible!

But if you choose to play this game seriously, then you’ll find out it’s complicated, and not that much fun… till you whip out the mecha!

Chop off his limbs and give him eternal life!

No sharks?!? Ok how about a floating weapons platform with LASERS!

But all in all, if you loved the original, or are new to the series, then you MUST try this game. Its absolutely engaging, frustratingly hard (depending on which difficulty level), and good for hours and hours of rage-quitting.

July 6, 2015

10 years of World of Warcraft

After an ungodly amount of game time and a battle.net account that’s as old as my eldest child, I’ve come to the following insights;

Its just like any other form of entertainment, it can suck you in as well as a Game of Thrones season and leave you crying after you die in a major content raid (or nerf), depending on which side of the fence you stand on.
Mike Morheim knows how to run a company. Over 20 years (including Silicon and Synapse) of taking my parents money as well as a majority of my working career’s fruit.
Chris Metzen on the other hand needs to take a huge hit of new inspiration as we’re still waiting on what he’s got in store for us in regards to new content or this “Project Titan” they had us sold on before any news went out. And no i hope it wasn’t Heroes of the Storm.
I’m over 4 lvl 90’s and a couple of lvl 100’s, and i still find it hard to disconnect.
Community driven events and activities are what made this game. And to this day, you can still jump in as a newbie and enjoy its population. At one time it had the same size as a small country with over 11 million monthly subscribers.
I’d still bug my buddies to try this game out. Its old, but if you play it for the first time, it can still compete toe to toe with the latest titles out there. Albeit it’ll need some sort of engine overhaul soon. Or… ahem.. Project Titan *cough* *cough*
Kung-Fu Pandas… lots of em.
The internet has tons of info on this topic. Its pretty easy to find what you need to enjoy the game in detail from guilds to farming patterns.

In any case, i’m down to my last few days of the 10 year run. Its been good, but let’s see if its still got some kick next expansion eh?

Sometimes, you just need to take a selfie!

July 3, 2015

Welcome n00bs!

So here it is! A spanky new domain name, to a spanky new blog!

This Blog is still under construction

N00bgamer.com is going to be a blog site about games, reviews, tabletop hobbies, and pretty much everything a 30 year old plus crew could do in just getting by this game called life. Its a place for us to catalog our journeys and adventures in imaginary, virtual, and real life play spaces.

If you’re seeing this site, you’re probably one of our friends, so i’m glad to report that our new life adventure awaits!

But before anything else… Its time for War! (in Clash of Clans that is).

Hot Throbbin Luv,

Site Admin

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