Roll The Hard Six

Friday... a day that most people embrace lovingly. Some people like myself are unable to do that, though - a work schedule that demands your time when you don't want it being demanded (especially one from retail) really loves frakking with you at times. It grips you with this sense that your will day is no longer your own, and you have to bow down and succumb to its desires.

As such, one would expect me to capitulate to this day as well. I mean... I've been sorta doing that for the past... *looks at the archives* ...nine days now? Today, Friday asked me again if I felt like doing nothing. Just when I was about to say "yes," I remembered something:

"Sometimes, you have to roll a hard six."
- William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)

And who said television filled your mind with crap?

So, was it time to roll over and beg to get out of today - to write some lame-ass entry and not do anything else afterwards? Nuh-uh - I think it's time to fight back and start posting good stuff on here again! TIME TO ROLL THE HARD SIX!

...uhm...

...oh, well. I tried.





CURRENT MUSIC:
Russell Brower and Neal Acree - "Defenders of Azeroth"
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Soundtrack

*closes eyes* It's been a while since I've heard the melodies of Stormwind City (and the Alliance, in general) sweep through my ears. Ravaged by Deathwing when Cataclysm came out, the bastion city of the Alliance has rebuilt itself and become stronger, and the music aurally conveys its resolve.

"Defenders of Azeroth" plays parts of the new and reworked themes for Stormwind City, the night elf city of Darnassus, and bits of the dwarf capital of Ironforge. The music fills any adventuring Alliance player with a sense of tenacity and pride, and as I listened to the music while going in the Royal Bank of Stormwind, I felt a surge of honor as I was re-welcomed in the game.


Motoi Sakuraba - "Guilt, Duty and..."
Tales of the Abyss Original Soundtrack

Initially, the music in Tales of the Abyss seemed to be almost lighthearted - as if the game was going to be somewhat cheery and full of sunshine. (Hey, that's what the original overworld music sounded like.)

Then... the plot came. As if getting Luke roped into an adventure he didn't want was enough, the story decides to have him be responsible for a natural disaster that literally wipes out an entire section of the earth and causes the deaths of many people - all while having him stand there helplessly as a kid drowns in toxic liquid and not be able to do something about it. Of course, finding out the horrible truth that he's only the replica of someone else would probably be the cherry on top of the crap sundae that just got rammed down his throat. With that, there's only one thing to do: trek on, stop the bad guys, and know that life is no longer as simple as one thought it'd be.

I have to admit that when I first heard this track, I was caught off-guard. Sure, the story began to delve deeper and deeper into a mystery I wanted to so desperately solve, but at the same time I was not expecting the overworld music to change. It's as if Motoi Sakuraba wanted to musically tell us: "Hey, player! Shit just got real. No more lighthearted adventuring for you - time to man up like Luke and move forward!"

I welcome this track and the changes it symbolizes. This makes me wonder about the rest of the soundtrack... will it follow the same route that "Guilt, Duty and..." paved out?





Afternoon, folks, and welcome to the first awesome entry in what seems like forever. As there are lots of things that will be going on, I must start posting the awesome right away! Clock is ticking, Josh! Clock... IS... TICKING!!!





Where were you all this time?
(Probably a decent question to ask me, huh?)

So a good few of you were probably wondering what I've been doing this entire time that I've spent posting really crap-short entries.

Now, I could make up a bunch of extravagant lies that made me look more awesome than I already am should be, but instead of going around in circles I'm going to explain my reasons with a picture.

I have no idea where this was taken, but I have to admit this was pretty clever.

In case you can't figure it out on your own:

1. Battlestar Galactica. It's the outfit the hangar crews knuckledraggers wear.
2. Legos. If the giant minifig head didn't give it away, I don't know what would.

For about the past week or so I've been going on a Galactica binge (I might have mentioned this days ago, but I definitely mentioned it yesterday), culminating at the middle of season 4 last night. To give my hands something to do, I was fiddling around with the many pieces I have - I want to make awesome things (more awesome than the things I've been doing, at least).

So, yeah. There's my excuse in all its (shameless) glory. Moving on.





Reconquering Azeroth
(Now with 20% more 80+ characters.)

It's been a while since I've trekked through the devastated lands of Azeroth. The blog archives tell us that I haven't talked about World of Warcraft since October 7 last year, and according to my achievements, my last play time was two days later. I had cancelled my account due to a financial crisis I was going through at the time (told you I don't tell you everything) and as such I needed to pool all my resources up no matter the origin. Suffice to say that in order to keep myself somewhat afloat, I cancelled a lot of things that cost me precious money - including my WoW subscription.

While I've mostly recovered, I never got myself to go back to the game - I wasn't burnt out or anything, but I felt as if there was nothing for me to do. That's where Blizzard came in. They invented a rather clever method of bringing once-players back to the game. They have what they call "Scrolls of Resurrection" - one week's worth of game time given to the players who've left the game for whatever reason. These are issued to the current players, who are encouraged to invite their friends to come back.

Normally, they don't offer any benefits (apart from getting a friend and a week's worth of free play), but Blizzard has a promotion going on right now where both the resurrector and the resurrectee receive some pretty cool things.

"Upgrade complete!" - every frakkin' adjutant from every frakkin' RTS ever

So after one of my work friends (who for some reason decided to play on Tichondrius - my home server - and not tell me about it) offered me a scroll, I figured I'd take it and go "Eh." However, I was greeted with a surprise. Resurrectees like myself were able to get the following:

• a free upgrade to Cataclysm if they don't have it already
• a free bump to Lv80 for any one character (including newly-made ones)
• a free character transfer and/or faction change for any one character to the resurrector's home server
In return, if the resurrectee decides to renew their subscription, the resurrector gains a free exclusive mount.

As can be seen here, I ended up taking the offer. (Don't worry; I subscribed - I'm not going to be a jerk and leave my friend hanging.) Now, as to who I decided to upgrade and send over to Tichondrius?

Meet Erfrischen, a Human Paladin (specced Protection) and my third 80.

Nobody you know. I decided to make a new character and have them bumped to 80. Now, some of you may be questioning this decision I mean:

Chariselle, Blood Elf Paladin.

...I already have Chariselle (who, in case you didn't already know, is also a Protection-specced Paladin) on US-Ravenholdt. Why not just have her transferred over to Tichondrius since nobody really plays with me anymore on that server? Two reasons:

1. Why waste the Lv80 bump? I mean, why have two 80+ characters when I can have three?
2. I don't have the heart to move Chariselle off Ravenholdt... or the Horde side, for that matter.

So I figured I'd just make a second Paladin (work with what you know, right?) and move her to Tichondrius.

Gefallen, Human Rogue.

Besides, Gef's more or less my PvP character (Chari got her first honorable kill long after she hit 80), and I happen to like Paladin tanking. So I figured I'd get my tanking chops on Tich done with a paladin and have Gef do whatever he wants (which is a combination of farming, PvP, doing nothing, and doing silly stuff).

And speaking of doing stuff...

ABOUT FRAKKING TIME!

GEFALLEN IS FINALLY Lv85!!! WAI~!





The Thousand Social
(Guess what I'll be doing tonight?)

After work the plan calls for a bunch of work friends and me to hang out, get food, and have fun times. Said fun times will possibly include a round or two of 1000 Blank White Cards, and as such, I've been blueprinting some ideas for brand new cards that I haven't made yet.

Now, the following five cards you'll see in a second aren't them. They're cards I haven't yet showcased to the world - which means more ideas for your own 1000 Blank White Cards game!

Blitzkrieg!
Choose two:
- conquer Poland
- conquer France
All players of non-German / non-British European descent must give you 1000 points.

I found a card that looked almost like this somewhere online (minus the points and color). I have to update this entry so I can show you the link...

The Fluttershy (SECRET)
For the next three turns you are Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
During this time, your voice cannot be louder than a whisper, and everything not involving friends or animals (minus dragons) scares you.
When the three turns end, loudly yell: "You're... going to LOVE ME!"

Ah... Fluttershy. The one pony whose overly-timid personality drew so many newfound fans into the series.

Interruption!
When you receive this card, you may keep it for as long as you like.
Whenever a card enters play that you don't like, RUDELY yell "INTERRUPTION!"
After using "Interruption!", lose 1000 points, this card, and your next turn.

A nice card to make when you're planning on countering things (or know someone's going to make a really cheap card).

Shipper on Deck (SECRET)
You are now the resident matchmaker of your group.
Your objective? Get the people sitting next to you to admit their feelings / go on a date.
Double your point total if successful.

Heaven help you if there's people there who are already taken or have major UST. Of course, if you're the one getting this card... *smirk*

Top Hat!
Act classy!
+30

What's not to love about this card?

Someone remind me to make a site dedicated to 1000 Blank White Cards one of these days...





Well, I'm off to work, where I'll be rolling more hard sixes against life. Until the 'morrow!