I picked up this game on the Xbox 360 because I was looking for something that Bill and I could play together. It is a war game, so, interests him but it’s not so involved that I can’t pick up on the game play. It has local multiplayer, which I like when game designers do, so I don’t have to send Bill to another state to play a game with him.
The idea behind Toy Soldiers is that you have a box of old time soldiers. On one end of the field is the enemy with a toy box. You also have your own toy box which you must defend using whatever tools you have available. Last night, I gave the tutorial a trial run. You start out with a machine gun. For every enemy toy soldier you gun down, you gain money. This money can be used to build new defenses or upgrade existing defenses.
The graphics of the game make you feel like you’re playing a miniatures game. Everything is realistic and fun, for example, the guns turn and shoot and planes really do fly. At the same time, it does make you feel like you’re playing with toys. The tutorial of the game is very kind; even though I was new to strategy games, I was able to have some success with it. If you’re looking to find some common ground in gaming in your household and to have fun or you want an entry into real time strategy, this is a great game for it. At the same time, I think experts in the field of these types of games will find it a way to jump into a game quickly with others.
This weekend, I finally got my science officer in Star Trek Online to LC2. Nothing super cool came with this, but, it was fun nevertheless. I did a quest that earned me my first piece of blue gear in the form of armor. I find STO to be a bit of a grind, but, it’s new and cool for now so I’m sticking with it about once a week.
I also picked up The Secret of Monkey Island for the Xbox 360. I never played this originally so it’s new and different to me. It’s a game of puzzle solving with items, but, it’s relaxing if you’re tired and you can play it while lying on the couch unlike some more active games. I’m hoping I can solve all the puzzles, GASP! I’m having a good time with that.
Bill and I also picked up Toy Soldiers but I haven’t had a chance to try it out. I’m excited because the local player mode means Bill and I can play together!
I just finished reading the book Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. The rest is after the cut, in case, you don’t want to know.
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I’ve been busy working on my cooking achievement on World of Warcraft for the chef’s title. I was going full speed but got stuck, because, in Outlands you have to do the cooking daily ad nauseum to get the recipes and ingredients for the various recipes. I’ve been logging in and doing the Northrend and Outland dailies almost every day. So far, no Crawler pet (sadness) and no recipes to complete my Chef dominance. Maybe, today will be my lucky day.
It is over. Well, at least, the bulk of the work finished just over a week ago. It was trying in a way that many other things I have GM’d was not and it was easier in a way that many other things I GM’d have not been. One thing I learned from Kinslayer was to do what I could until I felt tired and then stop. The ability to back off when you need a break is so important and more so if you are spending eight hours working through emotional content. If you’re more fresh the next day, you will do a better job and the people around you will feel like you are giving more to it. They might be disappointed one day, but, they are sure to be happier the next.
I’ve never been much to cry while GMing, but, the various battles and wars over the last one and a half months certainly put me through my paces. I always enjoyed everything I have ever oversaw on Firan, but, making the hard choices made a connection with me that was different than all the other times. It was like reading a good book, but, the characters affected were people on the back side. People who I had chatted with on public or finished a request for or talked to on a Forum. It was definitely a unique experience, in that, I don’t know if Firan will ever change so much in so little time ever again. I can’t promise it won’t. But, I also don’t know if it will.
I feel grateful for my boot camp into that world. I learned so much about conflict resolution in a short time that I might not have ever learned otherwise. I came to grips with my difficulty in making bad things happen to people, because, I realized that as long as they are consequences to actions that they were meaningful and important. But more so, I learned that gaming require some roll of the dice, a card, a mechanic somewhere that stands for some outside influence or the unexpected. I learned to savor the high and low rolls, as the same, as means by which the world could alter roleplay with some interpretation.
I had thought that my enthusiasm for World of Warcraft had seriously waned. I wrote before about how I was burned out on running dungeons. However, Patch 3.3 seems to have renewed my interest. I won’t give away spoilers here, but, they are doing some things on the mainland that will be worth checking out. Since Cataclysm was announced, I have longed to be questing again in an area where high levels and low levels mixed. I wanted it to be easier again to go out and find a guildie who needs help or to go kick the butt of someone Alliance messing with our territories.
Though Cataclysm is still far away, the idea that the world may begin changing over time sweetens the deal. I might even check out the new Stormrage novel so I can find the purpose of Morrowgrain!
I was pretty unwell the end of this weekend, so, I don’t have much to say about my gaming activities. I suppose it counts that I discussed the new expansion to Zendikar, Worldwake. That comes out in March and looks pretty exciting.
We got to Rot Face (I think that’s the name; I almost mixed them up and said Rot Gut) in Ice Crown Citadel. I think we were all a bit worn out, because, we did not succeed but we extended the raid timer so we could give it another try. The guild seems to like to sleep on it with much success!
I finished A Game of Thrones while lying on the couch watching Bill play Mass Effect 2. It’s a pretty game, but, watching people mine makes one feel sleepy. If you ever have insomnia, just watch someone mine in Mass Effect 2 and that will make it go right away. It is one game mechanic that I have not tried, but just watching it, I can’t believe such an excellent game put such a mindless grinding tactic in it.
One thing that is true about my personality, I am prone to action paralysis. It comes in one of two flavors. Flavor one is that there are so many choices of things to do and so little time. In this case, I’ll just sit there and do nothing. Flavor two is when things get difficult or overwhelming and in that case nothing happens as well. Rationally, I understand that if I’m burnt out on gathering badges that I just don’t run instances and do something else. Irrationally there’s some internal-only idea that it’s what you do and you have to do it. Then, I’ll just sit there.
I’ve been trying to get over that paralysis everywhere in my life, but, it also applies to games and gaming. They are hobbies, so, why shouldn’t I just decide to go on to something that doesn’t feel like work. I’ve been more willing to do that as of late. I am enjoying achieving things at my own pace much better. Playing Star Trek Online, I’m still at the first level of LC, but when I play, I have a lot of fun with it. In World of Warcraft, if I don’t want to grind Argent dailies, then, I pick something else.
So what is on board for tonight? Guild holiday, of course. This is when our World of Warcraft guild lets our hair down after a long week. Usually, we run an old world raid for reputation or to get an achievement. Who knows what we will run tonight? Karazhan? AQ40? Maybe, I will see if we can do Magtherodon. I don’t even know if I spelled that right and I’m going to be a rebel and refuse to look it up.
Well, twitter feed. You were seriously disappointing a second ago. Hopefully, you’ll be more uplifted now. While we wait to see if you will stop being stupid, enjoy this wonderful musak version of Addicted to Love.
I’m just making a really useless post to test my Twitter Feed for my blog. Hopefully this one will look more keen or something. HOPEFULLY YOU ENJOYED THIS USELESS POST.
