So another week has come and gone, and I am into the swing of finals week. I have picked up a few more games to try out and review, as well as a book that I will be reviewing in a couple of days/weeks. The biggest thing is that I don't have as much time to do things for this blog when I have so much to do in the real world.
1. I wrote a little about the Defiance world a little while ago, so far both the game and the series are coming together quite nicely. The new patch has changed a lot, and the server problems that the game experiences after a new patch are making it hard to play and get into it.
2. My World of Warcraft account got hacked and I have not logged in because I am too lazy to reset my password and see what kind of damage was done to my account.
3. Sims 3: My new favorite. I will always have a soft spot for the Sims, and will write a quick review in a couple days about the expansion packs that I have and what I like/dislike about them.
4. The Host: I avoided reading this book for a very long time and now that I am half through it I am looking forward to finishing so I can tell you all about it.
5. Chemistry: I have a lab final and the ACS final coming up in the next two weeks. I will be working my butt off to get these done and get good grades on them. I will let you all know about those in the future as well.
6. Life- we have a new dishwasher and dryer now, and they are amazing.
That is what is on tap for the future and I look forward to writing about most of these items. I hope all my readers are having fun reading my updates and I look forward to giving you updates in the future.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Defiance the Game
To go on with my current path of thought I felt I should write my early impressions of the game "Defiance". So far it is an interesting idea, with great voice actors, and incredible graphics. The world is well made and missions are straight forward with a clear objective in mind.
The Good:
Graphics- I got so lost in the game last night that I forgot that I was straining my eyes at a computer screen and not actually in the action.
Story Line- The story line follows another aspect of the show. Instead of St. Louis you are in San Francisco and following the plights of the people there.
Controls- Playing on the PC I can say that the controls are pretty easy. Buttons to walk, run, jump, crouch, etc... as well as the mouse movement that points your weapon and lets you click to shoot. The only negative is the movement of vehicles but I'll get to that in a bit.
Actors- The speech and dialogue is for the most part on key with what is going on in the game. The voice actors they hired are incredible and the sound mixing seems to be flawless.
Price- I know that $60 is a bit pricey for a game. Especially for those that don't have expendable incomes, but this is a good thing because, as of now the servers are free. There is no subscription for the servers and the one time payment is not bad compared to the constant subscription fees of other MMO games. My hope is that they are able to continue the free servers, but we'll have to wait and see how the game reacts once more players are playing it.
The Okay-
MMO- This is a question mark for me as I have not joined a "clan", really grouped up with anyone, or done any co-op maps. What I can say is that it is nice to have four or five other players going for the same objective since some of the bosses are difficult to handle on your own.
PvP- This will be covered in two places, here and further down the page. If you like the Halo style, run and gun, with limited skill..... this game is for you. If you want something a little more lifelike I would stay away from PvP.
The Bad-
Server- This game has instances that happen real time anywhere in the world. These instances draw anywhere from 2 to 25 people to them and once all those people come together the lag starts to happen. (I guess this is one of the drawbacks of having a free server). The cut scenes are flawless but the load rate on some of the heavier populated portions of the world cause skipping, or jarring in the graphic quality. My suggestion play late at night, or during the day when all the kiddies are at school or asleep.
The Ugly-
Mobs- There is limited artificial intelligence to this game. The bosses stand in the open but are so nerfed that they take forever to kill, the mobs don't coordinate and just fire blindly into your character. The worst part is that they hit you every time, no matter how much you dodge, cover, hide, etc... The mobs accuracy is impeccable.
PvP- I told you this would be covered here again. The matchmaking is a little off on this game. Something I know the developers are trying to iron out but it makes the game not very interesting when you are going up against someone not only a higher level, but with such good gear that you stand no chance in open combat. Best bet is to duck and kite those players but right now PvP is more broken than World of Warcraft which is saying something.
I hope that you all like the review. I actually think I would recommend this game to anyone that wants to give it a try. It is not a must have but definitely fun and worth a look into. I plan on playing this game throughout the television season and will write updates to this blog as new patches and content is released. I hope that it continues to keep my attention but we'll see how things go.
The Good:
Graphics- I got so lost in the game last night that I forgot that I was straining my eyes at a computer screen and not actually in the action.
Story Line- The story line follows another aspect of the show. Instead of St. Louis you are in San Francisco and following the plights of the people there.
Controls- Playing on the PC I can say that the controls are pretty easy. Buttons to walk, run, jump, crouch, etc... as well as the mouse movement that points your weapon and lets you click to shoot. The only negative is the movement of vehicles but I'll get to that in a bit.
Actors- The speech and dialogue is for the most part on key with what is going on in the game. The voice actors they hired are incredible and the sound mixing seems to be flawless.
Price- I know that $60 is a bit pricey for a game. Especially for those that don't have expendable incomes, but this is a good thing because, as of now the servers are free. There is no subscription for the servers and the one time payment is not bad compared to the constant subscription fees of other MMO games. My hope is that they are able to continue the free servers, but we'll have to wait and see how the game reacts once more players are playing it.
The Okay-
MMO- This is a question mark for me as I have not joined a "clan", really grouped up with anyone, or done any co-op maps. What I can say is that it is nice to have four or five other players going for the same objective since some of the bosses are difficult to handle on your own.
PvP- This will be covered in two places, here and further down the page. If you like the Halo style, run and gun, with limited skill..... this game is for you. If you want something a little more lifelike I would stay away from PvP.
The Bad-
Server- This game has instances that happen real time anywhere in the world. These instances draw anywhere from 2 to 25 people to them and once all those people come together the lag starts to happen. (I guess this is one of the drawbacks of having a free server). The cut scenes are flawless but the load rate on some of the heavier populated portions of the world cause skipping, or jarring in the graphic quality. My suggestion play late at night, or during the day when all the kiddies are at school or asleep.
The Ugly-
Mobs- There is limited artificial intelligence to this game. The bosses stand in the open but are so nerfed that they take forever to kill, the mobs don't coordinate and just fire blindly into your character. The worst part is that they hit you every time, no matter how much you dodge, cover, hide, etc... The mobs accuracy is impeccable.
PvP- I told you this would be covered here again. The matchmaking is a little off on this game. Something I know the developers are trying to iron out but it makes the game not very interesting when you are going up against someone not only a higher level, but with such good gear that you stand no chance in open combat. Best bet is to duck and kite those players but right now PvP is more broken than World of Warcraft which is saying something.
I hope that you all like the review. I actually think I would recommend this game to anyone that wants to give it a try. It is not a must have but definitely fun and worth a look into. I plan on playing this game throughout the television season and will write updates to this blog as new patches and content is released. I hope that it continues to keep my attention but we'll see how things go.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
It has Been a long long time
For the amount of time I think about making posts here, compared to the amount of time actually posting here, this thing should be way full of everything. Unfortunately time and resources create a lag in actually following through on my plans. I decided today that I would start posting on this again and make it worth reading for any and all that may be intrigued by the what I have to say. Since I left you last I have started to embrace my inner nerd. I have played my World of Warcraft, I have read some comic books, some science fiction, and even started to watch a new show called Defiance. On top of all these extracurricular activities, I have been going to school, working two jobs, and hitting stress levels that should not be hit by anybody at any time. I think I would like to take this post and turn it into a review of SyFy's new TV show "Defiance".
Defiance: my thoughts and reactions:
There is a lot of mumbling from the community at large that there is not enough back story, that the use of terraforming creates a misconception of the actual events,and even that the character development sucks. I am going to disregard all these comments being made and tell you what I have seen.
The show is very complex. There are too many different types of races/cultures in the show, which leads to a very complex back story. I am not too worried about this not being covered in the pilot, especially since the show has a bit of time to develop the story as it runs. The idea of a video game that tells half the story as well as a series that tells the other half is amazing to me. If they can do it right this could be either a great success, or a terrible failure. As far as the characters, from what I have seen so far (two episodes) the main character has a lot of depth and intrigues me. He is a war veteran, drifter, and likes to live on the edge of society. He is also somebody that stands up for what is right and will not back down from wrong actions in any way. As far as the female lead, I do not know. I think nobody knows about her at all, she is someone that continues to elude words. She comes off as rash, and for lack of another word, "Bitchy". But she may be the key to all that may lay ahead for the series. The look and feel of the show is great. There seems to be a great budget which makes the show feel real, and believable. The one draw back is that SyFy is known for ruining shows, and cancelling them too early (Battlestar, Caprica, Eureka, etc...) this could cause problems for the soon to be loyal fan base this show will eventually draw.
The potential is huge, the budget is too large, and the actors are great. All equations for a quick cancellation by the money hording directors at Syfy. I hope they prove me wrong, but who knows. I will continue to add blurbs as things come to me through watching this show. I will also do a quick review of the game, which I sadly bought after watching the pilot.
More to come soon, as well as a review on "The Host" once I finish reading that. I see big things for this blog and will do my best to keep it as up to date as I can do so.
Happy Searching ladies and gentlemen.
Defiance: my thoughts and reactions:
There is a lot of mumbling from the community at large that there is not enough back story, that the use of terraforming creates a misconception of the actual events,and even that the character development sucks. I am going to disregard all these comments being made and tell you what I have seen.
The show is very complex. There are too many different types of races/cultures in the show, which leads to a very complex back story. I am not too worried about this not being covered in the pilot, especially since the show has a bit of time to develop the story as it runs. The idea of a video game that tells half the story as well as a series that tells the other half is amazing to me. If they can do it right this could be either a great success, or a terrible failure. As far as the characters, from what I have seen so far (two episodes) the main character has a lot of depth and intrigues me. He is a war veteran, drifter, and likes to live on the edge of society. He is also somebody that stands up for what is right and will not back down from wrong actions in any way. As far as the female lead, I do not know. I think nobody knows about her at all, she is someone that continues to elude words. She comes off as rash, and for lack of another word, "Bitchy". But she may be the key to all that may lay ahead for the series. The look and feel of the show is great. There seems to be a great budget which makes the show feel real, and believable. The one draw back is that SyFy is known for ruining shows, and cancelling them too early (Battlestar, Caprica, Eureka, etc...) this could cause problems for the soon to be loyal fan base this show will eventually draw.
The potential is huge, the budget is too large, and the actors are great. All equations for a quick cancellation by the money hording directors at Syfy. I hope they prove me wrong, but who knows. I will continue to add blurbs as things come to me through watching this show. I will also do a quick review of the game, which I sadly bought after watching the pilot.
More to come soon, as well as a review on "The Host" once I finish reading that. I see big things for this blog and will do my best to keep it as up to date as I can do so.
Happy Searching ladies and gentlemen.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Introductions
I realized a while ago as I was going through the family blog, as well as the many blogs that I am a part of, that I have not written on this one for a while. I feel bad about that, but hey life catches up with the best of us right? So a quick update, I am entering the meat and potatoes of my degree which means that this blog may take a very analytic/scientific approach. Constantly thinking in this way throughout the week really does lead to this. It is with great pleasure that I let you all know that I am doing really well in school, and that I am also so busy that there is no possible way for me to get into any trouble whatsoever.
Current reading list:
Chemistry: A molecular approach ~ Nivaldo Tro
General Chemistry Laboratory procedures and methods ~ assorted college staff
Genome ~ I know that I have read this before but I love the simple straight forward way the author shows the reader the information
The Hobbit ~ JRR Tolkien *After watching the movie I had to read this again.
I know that these books seem a little strange, but hey that is my life at this time. I enjoy the challenge of reading so many books, but my for fun books may take a back seat as I tackle Kinetics, electrochemistry, and radiology. Should be fun right?
Chemistry Class:
This is the last of my generals before I get into the real science of my degree. From here I go onto Organic, Biochem, and Analytic chem. As well as cross cultural communication, virology, molecular biology, etc....
This semester has an interesting start: Kinetics... the study of movement. At the molecular level this gets very heavy in physics and calculus, two of my weakest but most appealing subjects. Needless to say this leads to an excessive amount of math each night. On top of that I have the opportunity to put what I study into the practicum through lab work. One of the biggest parts of the lab is the necessity of completing prelab, postlab, and all of your reports within a week. That adds up to about 15 to 20 hours of homework during the week. The one thing that I am most excited for is the fact that this lab is treated as a professional lab, and not a learning lab, which means that all of our labwork (including notes and notebooks) are technically part of the scientific community. They can be published, confiscated, sent to the government, etc... that being said everything must be done in ink with no erasing or whiting out of mistakes. When we make a mistake we are required to strike it out with a single line through the work, initialed, and dated.
I guess this is to make sure we are diligent in our calculations, as well as honoring the scientific method which allows for some deviation but for the most part each experiment should be done the same way to either add further evidence to theories and laws, or possibly create a discrepancy in the currently held thoughts regarding what we are doing. I know that a general chemistry lab will not be life altering, or lead to any sort of discovery but still to know that this is a professional lab and our work has the chance to be scrutinized by the scientific community is really kind of cool.
Extracurricular activities:
I have started a running program to help my body get to the best that it can be. I am excited every day by the progress that I make and the ability the human body has to improve. I can't run far or even that long, but hey I am getting better.
I also enjoy video games. I know what some of you that stumble upon this blog must be thinking, a science nerd that likes video games who would have though, but hey we all need our outlets. Currently I have been playing World of Warcraft, a time consuming/life stealing game that lets you be whoever you want to be and pretty much do whatever you want to do. Now that school has started up I probably won't be doing as much on this game, but it is still being played pretty regularly as of right now. I am still a total noob at it and but try my best to understand the mechanics of the game so I can join an arena team and move up the ranks.
Purpose:
I have decided the new purpose of this blog is to organize my thoughts and let people see who I am. I will post my thoughts on books I've been reading, rants about other players and myself on WoW, as well as books I'm reading, current events, and really anything that strikes my fancy. I hope people read this and enjoy the day in the life of a thirty year old professional student.
Come follow me on my journey through life.
Steve
Current reading list:
Chemistry: A molecular approach ~ Nivaldo Tro
General Chemistry Laboratory procedures and methods ~ assorted college staff
Genome ~ I know that I have read this before but I love the simple straight forward way the author shows the reader the information
The Hobbit ~ JRR Tolkien *After watching the movie I had to read this again.
I know that these books seem a little strange, but hey that is my life at this time. I enjoy the challenge of reading so many books, but my for fun books may take a back seat as I tackle Kinetics, electrochemistry, and radiology. Should be fun right?
Chemistry Class:
This is the last of my generals before I get into the real science of my degree. From here I go onto Organic, Biochem, and Analytic chem. As well as cross cultural communication, virology, molecular biology, etc....
This semester has an interesting start: Kinetics... the study of movement. At the molecular level this gets very heavy in physics and calculus, two of my weakest but most appealing subjects. Needless to say this leads to an excessive amount of math each night. On top of that I have the opportunity to put what I study into the practicum through lab work. One of the biggest parts of the lab is the necessity of completing prelab, postlab, and all of your reports within a week. That adds up to about 15 to 20 hours of homework during the week. The one thing that I am most excited for is the fact that this lab is treated as a professional lab, and not a learning lab, which means that all of our labwork (including notes and notebooks) are technically part of the scientific community. They can be published, confiscated, sent to the government, etc... that being said everything must be done in ink with no erasing or whiting out of mistakes. When we make a mistake we are required to strike it out with a single line through the work, initialed, and dated.
I guess this is to make sure we are diligent in our calculations, as well as honoring the scientific method which allows for some deviation but for the most part each experiment should be done the same way to either add further evidence to theories and laws, or possibly create a discrepancy in the currently held thoughts regarding what we are doing. I know that a general chemistry lab will not be life altering, or lead to any sort of discovery but still to know that this is a professional lab and our work has the chance to be scrutinized by the scientific community is really kind of cool.
Extracurricular activities:
I have started a running program to help my body get to the best that it can be. I am excited every day by the progress that I make and the ability the human body has to improve. I can't run far or even that long, but hey I am getting better.
I also enjoy video games. I know what some of you that stumble upon this blog must be thinking, a science nerd that likes video games who would have though, but hey we all need our outlets. Currently I have been playing World of Warcraft, a time consuming/life stealing game that lets you be whoever you want to be and pretty much do whatever you want to do. Now that school has started up I probably won't be doing as much on this game, but it is still being played pretty regularly as of right now. I am still a total noob at it and but try my best to understand the mechanics of the game so I can join an arena team and move up the ranks.
Purpose:
I have decided the new purpose of this blog is to organize my thoughts and let people see who I am. I will post my thoughts on books I've been reading, rants about other players and myself on WoW, as well as books I'm reading, current events, and really anything that strikes my fancy. I hope people read this and enjoy the day in the life of a thirty year old professional student.
Come follow me on my journey through life.
Steve
Monday, June 4, 2012
Workouts
So today was my third day going to the gym. What fun!!!! I don't know what it is that keeps me from working out but I have actually been enjoying my time at the gym this time around. Maybe it is because of the amount that I have let myself go since college, maybe it is because I have nothing better to do over the summer. Whatever it is I have enjoyed every minute of this enterprise. I also just finished the second book of the Brotherband series which was very entertaining. I'll do a full book report on it later on but all I can say is I'm really pulling for these outcasts...
Monday, May 28, 2012
Been A Long Time
I was thinking about everything that I was planning on doing, which included keeping the blog up to date. I know that sounds silly but it was one of my goals. Unfortunately I have not been able to, or more truthfully not been willing to, write. This is ridiculous since I absolutely love to write and I have actually written a lot in my little pieces of notebook and notebook paper all over the house and in my room. So a quick update and more to come this summer since I absolutely want to continue all that I can do. I just completed my Associates degree from Front Range Community College, with a 3.25 GPA. Not honors but not bad either. I will be moving on to Metro State University of Denver in the fall and working towards a degree in medical Biology. I can't wait to start that. More to come in the future but that is the quick note about what I have been up to.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Brotherband
It has been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. I know I have been slacking off but I decided that today I would write a quick book review of "Outcasts" the first book in the new Brotherband series.
I enjoyed this book a lot. There is something about the mix of fantasy with historical context that just makes me feel like I am part of the book. The characters were very relate able and believable, just a little bit too fantastic for real life though.
Premise:
This book follows young Hal as he enters manhood. His father was killed in a raid and Hal never got to know his father who was one of the most esteemed warriors in all of Skandia. Hal is unlike the other Skandians though as he was born of a slave mother and is always considered Arulean at heart and not Skandian. Hal is also extremely smart and likes to create new inventions throughout the book. His ingenuity both help him and hinder him as he completes his brotherband training.
I won't give away the end of the book since it is still extremely new, but I just wanted to say that this book is probably one of the best young adult adventure books that I have read. The training sequence alone made me want to go back to the weight room and regain what I had before I discovered the joys of sitting in front of a TV or computer and couch potatoing out.
Det har været et stykke tid siden jeg har skrevet indlæg på denne blog. Jeg ved, jeg har været slacking off, men jeg besluttede at jeg i dag ville skrive en hurtig boganmeldelse af "udstødte" den første bog i den nye Brotherband serie.
Jeg nød denne bog en masse. Der er noget om den blanding af fantasi med historisk kontekst, der bare får mig til at føle som om jeg er en del af bogen. Tegnene var meget relatere dygtig og troværdig, bare en lille smule for fantastisk til det virkelige liv om.
Premise:
Denne bog følger unge Hal, da han kommer ind manddom. Hans far blev dræbt i en razzia og Hal aldrig kom til at kende sin far, som var en af de mest ansete krigere i hele Skandia. Hal er i modsætning til de øvrige Skandians skønt, da han blev født af en slave mor og er altid betragtet Arulean på hjerte og ikke Skandian. Hal er også meget smart og kan lide at skabe nye opfindelser i hele bogen. Hans opfindsomhed både hjælpe ham og hindre ham, som han afslutter sin brotherband uddannelse.
Jeg vil ikke give væk i slutningen af bogen, da det stadig er meget nyt, men jeg ville bare sige, at denne bog er formentlig en af de bedste unge voksne eventyr bøger, som jeg har læst. Uddannelsen sekvens alene gav mig lyst til at gå tilbage til last rum og genvinde, hvad jeg havde, før jeg opdagede glæden ved at sidde foran et fjernsyn eller en computer og sofaen potatoing ud.
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