Returning to my raiding roots

My girlfriend re-awoke a beast deep inside me. That beast? The one that loves to raid in World of Warcraft.

My last foray into WoW's raiding world was when Ulduar was first released in patch 3.1 -- and during that time I was raiding until my eyes bled. But, after a short vacation from raiding which allowed me to focus more on work and school, I decided to put raiding down indefinitely and focus on more important things.

That was, until recently. On Christmas my girlfriend got me a three month subscription to WoW -- a gift that I saw as harmless! I checked out the new dungeon system, reveled in the winter quests and healed my way all the way up to a 4813 gear score.

Recently though, I had the chance to raid again. My old guild, Grim, was kind enough to let me back in, and they were short a healer one night. That night they called on me to flesh out their raid group and throw chain heals the likes of which they've never seen! I of course, obliged.

The first boss encounter I was a part of was Rotface in the Icecrown Citadel. Having not raid healed since the Sunwell Plateau in patch 2.4 , I was concerned about how I might do. Sure, I'd done a fair amount of Heroic 5-man dungeons -- but Healing Stream Totem can literally solo heal some of those! Rotface posed a new challenge to me, and that was to not depoison anyone. Unbeknownest to me, if I were to cleanse someone of a troublesome poison, an oozeling is spawned at their location. This was information I'd found out after the boss had died.

I consider myself a very proactive healer. During the course of the fight I saw my Grid addon light up with poison after poison. I had assumed that the Druids were being lazy and I began cleansing every person possible. After a short time the room was flooded with adds, all of which I'd caused (luckily, Fan of Knives still seems to be a supremely overpowered ability, and they were disposed of immediately). Still, an admittedly hard way to learn a lesson.

I didn't learn much from Rotface, truthfully. I healed up everyone that needed to and I bloodlusted with the Guild Master called for it. I hope that I get more opportunities to raid in the future, but until then -- let's hope that I'm smart enough to read up on strategies!

11 Things I Learned From DiRT 2

Good racing games are few and far between. It hasn't been since Gran Tursimo 2 that I've huddled myself in front of my gaming platform of choice attempting to shave milliseconds off of my lap time. But, with the recent introduction of DiRT 2, I've found myself taking hours out of each night attempting to dominate the competition.

While it has got plenty of realistic appeal in the form of delicate tweaks you can make to your car's suspension, tire pressure and other things I know nothing about, the real beauty of the game shines when you turn that all off. And, more importantly, it turns into something of a learning experience. So please, allow me to drop some knowledge that I've gained solely from DiRT 2.

1.) It doesn't matter what your car's high speed is if it doesn't have the acceleration to get there.

2.) "Driveability" is something to genuinely consider when purchasing a new vehicle.

3.) Travis Pastrana is likely one of the most supportive people in the world.

4.) If you win the X Games, it's entirely likely that you'll win every other race, thanks to the supremely overpowered cars the organizers give to the winners.

5.) Ken Block owes Tanner Foust money.

6.) Pontiac's cars are as atrociously designed as their logo.

7.) Dave Mirra doesn't care if you crash into his car, but he's pretty sure "that shouldn't have happened."

8.) I easily mix up Ken Block and Ryan Block (I've only had a break dancing dream about one of them, but I can assuredly beat both of them in a race).

9.) Slamming into ruins at 120mph doesn't matter if they're Croatian.

10.) China and Utah are good for two things, rally races and conformity.

11.) World renowned pros are extremely gracious losers (and, coincidentally, I'm an amazing driver).

So, with this information now in the public -- Subaru, I'm looking for a sponsor. Get at me.

Of Modern Warfare 2:

(SPOILER ALERT!)

Torn doesn't begin to explain how I feel right now.

I just completed one of the most exciting single-player campaigns that a video game has ever offered me. Admittedly it was a little short, but that's neither here nor there. Each and every moment was insanely engaging, and while there were some that didn't make sense (why would the Russians launch an attack on the suburbs of Delaware? There isn't another target with higher value? Really?), I was on the edge of my seat far more. But, morally I'm not feeling so great.

Allow me to explain.

Modern Warfare 2 has a lot to offer in the single-player department. Sure, the multi-player side of the game is a consolized abomination to PC gamers like myself, but the story line that you experience on the offline version of the game is fantastic. But, there are two glaring examples of ham-handedness that stick out.

Firstly, there's the Russian airport mission. For those unfamiliar with it, you get planted in the higher ranks of a high powered terrorist organization. In order to prove your worth as a right-hand man you go with the leader, Makarov, and kill a slew of unarmed civilians. It doesn't matter if they're running for cover or carrying another to safety, they get killed. Now, yes, this does show you just how grim the situation is. Marakov is a bad dude, and what you're doing is a necessary evil... or so you're led to believe.

There has to be a better way, Infinity Ward. You guys have shown your ability to write and bring to life compelling story lines in the past, and you've done so brilliantly. Most notably, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (an easy one, but an example that most are familiar with). Right from the get go, you play from the point of view of a man that's doomed to be executed in front of the world. The moment -- utterly disturbing, but it was a well played necessary plot element. It painted a picture, and the man executed was the President of the Middle Eastern country. Sure, it was brutal, but given the story it added up. However, when you get a group of heavily armed men to walk into an airport terminal and have them gun down everything that moves, you've gotten lazy.

Secondly, the display of betrayal of Ghost and Roach. Yes, what Shepard did was brutal, but why did they have to show the burning of the bodies? It felt like a moment where Infinity Ward took the plot twist just a bit too seriously. As if shooting them wasn't enough, Shepard had to get the last flick of the cigar, and make the bodies go up in flames. Bodies, that as far as I could tell, still had some life left in them.

Now, I don't want this to come out as me looking to hate on Infinity Ward. I've got nothing against the studio, or anything against any of the people that work there. My issue lies squarely with this game, Modern Warfare 2 (as I said before, the single-player experience is undoubtedly one of the best I've ever played). But, it'd be nice if they showed some compassion. There are kids that will be playing this game.

Sure, there's the pop-up at the beginning that makes you actively choose if you want to see disturbing moments. And yes, I did click that I wanted to play them. But this is at best a cop-out. Just like the syllabus that a teacher hands you at the beginning of their class, it's an "I told you so" statement meant to cover their asses, not yours.

Busy Times

Lately, my life has gotten increasingly busy.

I've had many affairs to attend to, including (but not limited to):

• Work

• Moving out of my parent's house once and for all

• Preparing for school

• Saving money

• Wishful thinking

Now, while I'd love to go over all of these things and completely pour my heart out -- I just can't do that. It's not that I don't think you're worthy of the information, I just don't like to be one of those.

So instead, I'll tell you a little bit about what's been going on for me lately. You know, the other stuff!

First things first, PDX LAN. I know, it was last month (July 17-20), but I wouldn't feel like a good LAN party attendee if I didn't sing my praises! Overall, it was hands down one of the best weekends I've had in a while. Being able to go and hang out with friends, play games and eat food with zero nutrition for an entire weekend was top notch.

Secondly, I've turned 21. That's right ladies and gents, I can officially buy liquor here in the United States. Suffice to say I had my celebratory night, and I won't be drinking for weeks.

Thirdly, I'm moving out. It's truthfully not something I want to do, but given some circumstances here at my parents' house that's beyond my control, I've decided to blaze my own trail and move in with friends. Hopefully everything goes well, and we can get the price down on our current choice.

And, while I know it isn't my style to write something this sporadic, I figured I'd eat up a bit of the Internet's traffic.

Until next time (which will hopefully be sooner).

Reformatting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Ah the dreaded reformat.

For PC users reformatting can often be a means of starting with a clean slate upon the release of a new operating system. But, for others, the reason for it can be less expected: a system failure of some sort. Sadly, today I find myself in the second category, all thanks to error 0xc00000e9.

Now, while I'm not entirely sure about the nature of this error, I was able to gather that it's some sort of disk error after many pages of search results (given to me by Google mind you, not the needlessly commercialized Bing). But, what I do know about it, is that it's unfixable by the Windows Vista repair feature, thanks to some hands-on experience. While I was hoping that reformatting wouldn't be the answer (I hate reformatting), it turned out to be that way.

Damn it Vista, I was just starting to take a shine to you, too. Sure, I may be predisposed to hate you, but my hands on time has really given you a new light! I was admittedly pretty smitten by the poorly supported (but cool nonetheless), Games tab that you had, allowing users to compare their computer's score to what's suggested by the developer. And sure, Aero may not be as aesthetically pleasing as OS X, it's still got its charm. But you know what? This error is some crap. You did it to me when I was looking at Twitter and listening to music on Lala. What's up with that? Was that too demanding for you?

At any rate though, reformatting wasn't an easy decision. After all, I just bought and downloaded Prototype off of Steam, I have all my World of Warcraft addons set up exactly to my liking, and I've made some serious progress in Grand Theft Auto IV. But, sadly, the ultimate result was that I had to wipe it. All of it.

Now, here I am, on nearly hour eight of my reformat (it's 1.5TB HDD, and while this seems far too long for a format, I was told via BIOS that SMART was reading my hard drive as bad, so I'm willing to give it plenty of time before I shell out tons of cash for a new one), waiting to get cracking on recustomizing my PC. Most notably, the maticulisouly setup RivaTuner fan profile that I put in place, ensuring that my video card would no longer reach temperatures of 85°C and higher (bad news there!).

But, it hasn't been all bad. Sure, not having my PC wasn't ideal, but it did give me a chance to get reacquainted with my Mac. Granted, I did spend most of today doing Father's Day activities (I trust you wished your father a happy one), but in my off time I've been thoroughly enjoying the fruits of Blizzard Entertainment's labor. I've always loved the fact that they produce software for both Mac and PC, because a Titanium PowerBook G4 was my first computer, and is still in my possession. I remember an insanely long Diablo II gaming session on it the first day that I got it, and that memory was rekindled today with a nearly seven hour Warcraft III session with my friends.

But, ultimately my Mac is a work machine. While I do have a sweet tooth for PC gaming, I do my best to work on a Mac when I can. Sure, my G5 may not be the fastest machine in my house, but this baby is reliable. After all, every single time that I've formatted my PC, my Mac has always been there to welcome me back with loving arms. "Don't worry Andy," it whispers in my ear, "you're safe now."

And I trust it. It's never done me wrong, damn it.

(Admittedly though, I miss Team Fortress II and Prototype dearly. I hope this damn format hurries up!)

Now, after reading through this once I realize that I may be acting a bit out of turn. Sure, my hard drive is a Seagate Barracuda, but it's not giving the telltale sign of its demise, also known as the click of death. But, I'm willing to chuck this up to anomaly. These things happen, it's just the life that I chose when I decided to be a PC gamer. But, everyone has their boiling point. Reformatting sucks, but sometimes there's just no way around it.

(A note about the picture as well: I realize that I'm formatting into XP. Silly, right? Wrong! I've got an upgrade version of Vista. So, I'm lucky enough to sit through this each time I need to reformat. A mistake I won't make twice though, I'll undoubtably be buying a full version of 7 once it arrives.)

On a fun side note, be sure to check out my latest article at Smashing Magazine: How to Make OS X's Exposé Work For You: 5 Productivity Tips. I spent a good amount of time on this article, so please, enjoy! And, if you've got time, watch Auto-Tune the News #5. It's funny, and admittedly very catchy.

I Just Can't Be The Bad Guy

(Heads up again, spoilers ahead!)

Today's video games are amazing things. As a player, you're given a gigantic, (usually) well thought out infrastructure for you to play in, and you can do amazing things within them.

Many games now give you the opportunity to forge your way as a good or a bad guy. Sure, both paths are meant to be equally accessible, but I just can't draw myself to be evil. And, in my gaming career this started as early as Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. In the late stages of the game, you're given the opportunity to choose the dark or light side of the force (I, unsurprisingly, chose the selfless path of the Jedi).

In Grand Theft Auto IV you have plenty of opportunities to kill people that have wronged you or your friends. Early in the game you're told to hunt down a man that's supposedly stealing from your cousin, Roman. After a short car chase, you corner the bad guy on top of a construction site, where he falls off a ledge and is left hanging for dear life. It is here where I was given the opportunity to let him fall to his death, or pick up back up, dust him off and send him on his way. I did the unthinkable: I offed him.

Not long after, you're engaged in missions where you have to help out a friend of a friend, who's fresh out of the joint and still adjusting to the outside world. His girlfriend has apparently been unfaithful, and it's up to you to work things out (the only way you know how). After tracking her down and killing her then boyfriend, you're left standing in front of her. You can either let her live, hoping that she'll learn her lesson, or grant her a dirt nap.

Here I was, standing at a moral dilemma. Sure, this is a video game complete with a loading screen and save function -- but what does it say about me if I kill her? Am I really that cold hearted? I like to think I'm compassionate.

After a short self-mediated, self-engaged debate, I let her off the hook. I just couldn't do it! As hard as I try, and as evil as I attempt to be in video games I just have to be the hero. Sure, Niko Bellic may not be a shining example of chivalry, but I'd like to be.

As bad as I can get in video games, I just can't take the bad route. Sure, being an evil son of a bitch looks like a good time, but I end up feeling genuinely disheartened. If I'm able to work, and mold the virtual world around me, I want it to be a place where those that inhabit it can be free to do as they wish -- because of me.

Now, next on the list is Mass Effect. Let's hope that I can continue to keep my morality in check (for the good of the galaxy).

Dark Sector, You Confuse the Hell Out of Me

Dark Sector is a game that came out on March 23 for those of us on the PC. And, while it has been around for some time, it wasn't until recently that I got a chance to play it. And, after no more than a few hours, a love/hate relationship was born.

To those of you that haven't played the game, but plan on doing so, stop reading. I'm going to be throwing out some spoilers.

*Ahem* So, with that out of the way, let's continue on this journey, shall we?

The story is pretty standard: you're a military badass sent deep undercover to complete a job that never existed: a high value assassination. Of course, things go wrong and you find yourself on the ass end of an ass kicking, and you're all but left for dead.

In the midst of all this happening, there's an outbreak of a vicious virus that turns anything it comes into contact with into a zombie with metallic skin, that just so happens to be resistant to bullets. So, like any self respecting military badass with little to lose, you manage to get infected, but not too infected (infected enough that you're classifiable as a super-weapon all on your lonesome, though).

Now, while that all makes sense (within the context of the game), there's one gigantic, substantial, huge (and any other words in your thesaurus next to the world "big"), issue that stood out to me. The enemies? The zombies that are made out of metal and have managed to take over most of the futuristic Soviet-bloc that controls the world? They're extremely veunerable to fire and ice. Two things that I happen to know we have a lot of.

Sure, the game is filled with a lot of pure, run and gun goodness -- so don't let this clerical issue deter you from picking up the game if you haven't. It's fun, it genuinely is!

But, as someone that tends to think things through, this really got me squeezing my mind grapes. You'd think that if you've got a rash of Russian romping zombies that have had little issue infesting (what I assume is) most of Eastern Europe, you'd think that someone would have tried throwing a lighter at them by now. Or heck, perhaps someone will spill a slightly chilled drink on one (rude, but it'd get the job done).

At any rate, you'd hope that in a game filled with paper zombies you'd at least get your hands on a flame thrower at some point. Sheesh.