Words of Replicant Jesus

I had a blast last night running Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) with my two new players and I think they had some fun too.  It was fast and easy to run and I plan to document the game as best as I can for as long as I can keep running it.  In other news I saw Inception and it was amazing the sound track is also fantastic so yeah, not much to say there.  I am still kind of baffled by the new Protection changes for Cataclysm, but Wigglylight will soldier on once they get all the kinks worked out.

Anyway quick update, next post will be for my new L5R possible campaign, hopefully long term campaign.

With the first of the Cataclysm class change previews going up today, I can’t help but wallow in anticipation for the 16th when Blizzard finally posts the new information for Paladins. Our class is so awesome we need that much more time to perfect our ground shaking changes.  With the recent announcement of the Death Knight tanking tree being Blood in the expansion and some preliminary changes about Rage Normalization I am excited to see what they have cooked up for the paladins.

I don’t have too many inferences yet on where they will take us but there is some writing on the wall:

- I expect them to make changes to Hammer of the Righteous or Seal of Command and even possibly both.  I think the fact that our threat rotation is exactly the same in single target and AoE is just boring.  I look forward to this.

- The Dispel mechanics will definitely change some of how I play at least when it comes to dispelling my own magic effects like on Steelbreaker.

- I think paladins in general will get a low level instant attack ability to add to the low level experience and make it more interactive.  At least more interactive than auto-attack and judgement.

- More of a wish and inferred guess based on similar vanity shaman changes; but I suspect that the varying paladin races may get race specific mounts in Cataclysm.

The 16th will be a good day, I look forward to the new class changes being posted today!  And now some Thom Yorke to soothe your weary soul.

The soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 is a stellar follow up to the first game’s soundtrack.  Where the first game emulated Bladerunner and the 80’s synth pop sounds, the second goes for a more gentle melding of darker tones and aggressive synth sounds for an overall more epic score.  I really prefer the second soundtrack to the first though both are excellent there are many songs that have a more diverse and aggressive sound, not to say that Mass Effect 1 OST was not aggressive but it had a very different tone than the second game sound wise.  I will list my favorite songs and what I liked or disliked after the jump.

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Between Mass Effect 2, school, and a general unreliability to keep my site updated I had lapsed on my updates. But thanks to some encouragement from a fellow guild mate I am back to try and remedy that. I don’t have anything particularly moving to say today but I do have much to talk about.  I picked up Mass Effect 2 in January, hard to believe it is already March and Final Fantasy XIII is right around the corner.

Speaking of Mass Effect 2, what an awesome second act for the series.  I know some people don’t like some of the elements but I found it amazing.  Being able to transfer my character into the second game and continue his story was awesome and hooking up with Tali’Zorah vas Normandy was the icing on the cake.  from start to finish it is an awesome ride and the combat system is so much tighter and better than the first game I absolutely love it.  My main grips is that I wish there was more armor customization, more conversations between and with quad mates, and deeper friendship paths for all the characters.  My enthusiasm is high for Mass Effect 3.

I also started up on Valkyria Chronicles for PS3, which I got over Christmas and I am enjoying it.  The story is so-so but the actual game mechanics and the tactical combat is very fun.  I should beat it here soon.  I am getting Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 as well, don;t really know much about the game story wise so it will be interesting to go into it blind.  I also started playing Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition with some friends from school.  It’s really nice to run a game again after so long and it keeps the creative juices flowing.

As far as World of Warcraft is concerned, I was burnt out for awhile but I am getting back into it and working on the Lich King.  Interesting fight, I like it, keeps you moving and thinking and is quite the challenge for my guild.  I am interested to see new Cataclysm stuff and I am still debating if I want to race change to a Tauren or not just for the fun of it.  I also plan to do some writing over Spring Break and try and put some progress on this crappy novel idea I have.

Also despite what my guild mates think I am not an atheist or a scientologist.  But I do love me some Asian women.  One final note the soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 is awesome.

I love Asians… I love all womens… this site is dangerous.

http://asianposes.com/

I have nothing more to add… the kawaii factor is off the charts.

I love music and I think that music plays a huge role in my game playing experience. Ever since I was young some of my best moments from playing computer and video games is the music. From Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III to more recent works like Mass Effect and even World of Warcraft. I find that a good musical score can really make the difference between an okay experience and a great experience. I know this isn’t the same for everyone and I am also aware that many people play with the music turned off which is a shame but I understand.

Especially in games like WoW where the music can get repetitive after playing it for so long but still a good musical score can really set a good dramatic tone. I know for my own games, one day, I will demand a good music accompaniment that is appropriate to the setting and tone. I can’t even visualize a game without first putting a musical score to it, or listening to a work that seems to be fitting for the given scene.

One day I shall make it so.

I should be studying for a Java programming exam but I have some time to kill to talk about my experiences in Ulduar.  I will break the overview up into three parts, each section pertaining to a subzone of the raid instance.  This only covers the content I have cleared or experienced and should not be taken as gospel but just a collection of my experiences.  Breakdown of Part 1 after the break.

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I love this version.

I am a huge Radiohead and Thom Yorke fan, and I just felt like sharing a video of the man doing his thing. Plus I am bored and not trying to find anything productive to do.  So much excellence.  If I ever get to make my dream MMO, I will have Radiohead/Thom Yorke on the soundtrack somewhere.

Although a great post I felt remiss when I went I perused this post linked from www.massively.com; there was no mention of Final Fantasy XI, which of all the MMO games I have played has one of the best soundtracks I have had the pleasure of listening to. If you get a chance listening to this soundtrack is worth it for the ears, especially from the first expansion; the combat music is excellent and the Crystal Warriors music is pretty much one of my favorite battle songs ever.

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