I am Karnatos

Always Go Right

2008-07-27T01:41:00.000-04:00

Always Go Right is a new project that I am working on. It is the endeavor of four geeks on a common quest; Aggro Me, Bandit, Anski, and myself.

We will be sharing the geekier side of things we come across in our lives, be it online, out in the real world, or elsewhere. Together, we are adventurers working towards a common goal; we are on a journey to reclaim our Geekhood.

We hope that you will join us in our quest. We want people to share their stories, ideas and adventures in order to get in touch with all that defines our geek culture.

Where do we go now?

2008-07-27T01:17:00.000-04:00

Hello again.

It's been a while, no? Truth be told, I am at fault for not updating this site when I started my Tumblog this year, and for that I am sorry. I'd like to invite you to head over there if you are interested in checking out the cool and crazy things I come across on the vast internet time suck.

The Tumblog is also named 'i am karnatos', sharing the same branding as here for cohesiveness (actually, it is more likely due to laziness). Just know that the format is completely different... but I don't think that matters anymore, I don't update this place like I used to.

If you were wondering, I consider this place on indefinite hiatus. If I do ever come back to it, I'll make mention where I am posting the most at the time.

You'll also notice that the top-most post talks about my most recent project, Always Go Right... if you really want to see what I am up to these days, that is truly the spot to check out. I hope to see you there!

Level 70 and Dead PC

2007-09-30T22:03:00.000-04:00

I am writing this post from my rebuilt box. Okay, it is not completely rebuilt, but I did have to buy a new hard drive and re-install the world (still in progress as I type)... this really irks me, but this is why we are told over and over to perform backups.

My main drive died Friday night. Luck would have it that I FINALLY ding'd 70 with Mylene in EQII Thursday night (I'm just noticing it has been a very long time since I posted... yikes!). I wanted to play Friday night, but my machine just went ker-plunk. After me digging and kicking at my PC I narrowed it down to it being my primary hard drive. Soooo, to make a long story short I hope to be back up and running tomorrow night (gah! EQII's patcher just crashed on me!).

And The Winner Is...

2006-08-28T12:48:00.000-04:00

... "Zombie Freakshow!"

Zombie Freakshow won another costume contest in City of Villain’s Liberty server this past weekend. I never thought of this character as being a well-designed character, but twice now I've come away winning a grand sum of cash based on her costume's design; first I won 100K, and this past weekend I won 300K.

I really like the ideas of in-game contests being run by the players rather than the game's Administrators... and I'm not saying this because I've won twice in 2 weeks. I really enjoy the idea of people creating extra curricular activities in-game, it really adds to the game's apppeal.

To me it is a type of 'player-created content', something I really enjoy talking about. It reminds me of an article I read in PC Gamer's magazine about players in Star Wars Galaxies and Guild Wars creating professions that were outside of the ones provided by the game. The example I remember from SWG, as I sit here and type, is the one of taxi cab drivers; people were selling time in their land speeders to get across Tatooine faster. In Guild wars people were taking payment as escorts to lower-level players seeking safe passage through dangerous territory. I really enjoy hearing about people coming up with such ideas, I adds an extra depth of immersion to the games and it shows that players are learning the provided game mechanics to create their own content.

Its small steps like these that I hope will eventually lead to games that give players the ability to create intricate content for the games we play. Until then I'll keep hitting the costume contests in CoV... there's some serious coin to be made!

Return to Villainy

2006-08-22T10:16:00.000-04:00

I’ve jumped back into City of Villains again, and it feels good to be back. The game has more missions than I remember, and I’ve only reached level 10 with my newest villain.

My new ‘main’ is Zombie Freakshow; she’s a Mastermind Bubbler that commands a legion of zombies. So far this legion consists of only two zombies, whom I have lovingly named Barnum and Bailey. They do whatever I command them to do… and they do it without complaints!

I entered Zombie Freakshow into a costume contest over the weekend, there were some really good costumes. The contest was being run by the Super Group named T.U.F.T., and Zombie Freakshow won for a prize of 100K! Hell Yeah!

A couple of online friends I’ve made over the past year have joined up with me on the Liberty server, we’ve been having a real blast. It looks like we’ll erect a base soon and slap a huge AGGROCULTURE neon-sign on the roof to invoke fear in all that oppose us. That’s right, we’re expanding from EQ2’s Nagafen server to CoV’s Liberty server. Perhaps the Brownies from EQ2Daily will create a Goodie Super Group and meet up with us in the PvP zones some day… but I doubt they’d have the nerve to take us on!

Motivation

2006-07-14T23:03:00.000-04:00

A couple posters I made for Aggro Me's blog got a bit of notice lately. It is nice to sometime have work you've done get noticed, no matter how serious (or not, in this case). A couple other sites linked to his post that comprised of several reader's submissions, and the whole idea, although a rehashed one done to several other themes, really caught on and became really catchy and truely a blast to check out.
In the official Aggro Me Forums we'd started a thread to post ideas for posters that eventually got included in the blog post... but soonafter other people started posting some of their hilarity there... you truely have to pop by and check out the gems that have been posted. I have to admit that I found most of them more entertaining than mine, so go on and rush over to have a looksee for yourself.

EQII: Player vs. Player on Nagafen

2006-03-15T14:32:00.000-05:00

I've signed up for Everquest II yet again, however this time it is to start a new character up on Nagafen, the new Player vs. Player server.

I've not logged in to my main characters (Mylene and Karnatos on Crushbone) really; I've been mostly playing my Evil Gnome Brigand named Karnatos. Now, I've never really played a scout class before, at least not very far. I've surpassed the level 16 of Auratus, my to-be-assassin on Crushbone, and am now level 18 as of this posting.

So far I've enjoyed my time on the Nagafen server, and I am really enjoying my choice of Brigand. I've not personally raked up many PvP kills, however... I've only been killed by players a handful of times so far. I supposed I really need to put my neck out there more in order to get my PvP counts up.

I've joined a guild named Aggroculture that's been started by the gang on the Aggro Me Forums. The guild is an Evil guild based in Freeport, and we’re just getting things going really.

We’ve also got a rival guild with the gang over at
EQ2 Daily, the Goodies reside in Qeynos (wherelse?) and their guild’s name is Brownie Troop 187 – yes, that’s right, a Brownie Troop. Their name alone lets you know these guys are out to just have some good fun… and so far the mostly verbal rivalry has been overly humorous.

I’ve noticed some interesting things, and others are noticing too.

Scout classes seem to be over abundant on Nagafen, likely because they can both do tracking and go somewhat invisible. As a result it is difficult for us scouts to find good gear to wear. Apparently other classes are having similar problems, however when I check the broker and just do a quick check for wizzie or healer gear, there’s a good deal more to choose from than for us scouts.

However this is good news to crafters! If you are wise to this trend, and the trend continues, you could stand to make a great deal of coin from making gear for scouts. Figure out what the good armour-types are for them, figure out which poisons they like, and figure out what types of weapons they tend to use… and you could become rich beyond your wildest dr… OK, maybe that’s exaggerating a little/lot, but I do think coin is to be made for crafters that cater to those archetypes.

I’ll chime in with an update to me Goodie experiences soon (sooner than next month I hope), for now… I’m off to get some writs done, Aggroculture is not even level 5 yet!

Lates!

Monthly Check-In

2006-02-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

Seems I've been busy. What have I been doing? I've been working, mostly... but I've had time to get some gaming in.

I've been playing City of Villains mostly; my main focus has been on playing as Radioactive Decay... and right now she's level 17.

I've created a few other ALTs lately too - my favorites so far are Biomass Energy and Mad in Plaid.

I'm also going to be returning to Everquest II, likely this weekend, to prepare for the introduction of Player vs. Player (PvP) to the game. I'll be joining the ranks of Freeport to be a member of a guild named Aggroculture.

Aggroculture is a guild that readers of the popular EQII blog named Aggro Me are starting. We've been organizing it in the official Aggro Me Forums... and we've already gained an official nemesis guild named Brownie Troop 187... a silly bunch of listeners/readers from the fantastic EQII Daily podcast/website/forums will be making up the majority of their ranks.

This whole PvP game play has me excited to return to the world of Norrath... I just hope the game play holds up to the hype!

Radio PSI

2006-01-09T00:40:00.000-05:00

Heyas - long time no post... sorry 'bout that!

Tonight I tuned into to my brother' radio broadcast debut for Radio PSI - tonight was an eclectic (to say the least) mish-mash of tunes from the whole spectrum of music genres.

Radio PSI is on the air ever Sunday night from 10-12PM EST. You can also join listeners in IRC by joining the #radiopsi channel on the DynastyNet Server (irc://mars.ca.us.dynastynet.net/).

Tonight was a good show - I'll be tuning in next week... feel free to drop by the IRC channel and tune in for next week's broadcast!

CoV: Rotten Rodney Gets Super Leap

2005-12-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

I'm still playing City of Villains, and I must say that I am still having a real blast. My main character I am currently playing is Rotten Rodney, he's a brute... and now he can leap over tall buildings!

For anyone that does not play City of Villains/Heroes, at level 14 you have your first chance to pick your travel power; I picked Super Leap. Having chosen this, he can jump some serious distance with ease. He can jump but high and far - so getting around is muuuuch easier and quicker now. Also, getting out of trouble in a hurry is a lot easier now too... but I suspect my oponents will be doing the same soon enough!

I was speaking to my brother about CoV this evening too... and as I was speaking to him I realised something about this game that I'd not realised before. Although I am playing a villain, and I do bank heists, kidnap people, and other bad deeds of similar sorts... somehow I still do not feel like the badass I wanna be. I don't feel down-right Evil (with a capital 'E'). I feel powerful, but not a real evil-doer. Sometimes it feels like Rodney is a bad tempered do-gooder, but I am not exactly sure why I feel that way. Sure, the zones look all dilapidated, people I speak to are seedy... but I don't feel like I'm a villain like Doc. Octopus, Mysterio, and The Joker. I can't quite put my finger on it yet... I dunno exactly what it is.

I think if CoV took place in the same city as CoH, and you actually came across heroes now and then and had to fend yourself (even if they were randomly generated PC heroes rather than other players) I think you'd feel more of a villain. I dunno. If I ever manage to pinpoint what it is exactly that's lacking, I'll post about it.
Having said that though - this game is a lot of fun. Here's some quick screenshots to check out of some characters I've been playing in both Heroes and Villains:
Heroes

Thermoblaster (Mutation Blaster)

Little Tweaker (Technology Defender)

Mylene (Technology Blaster)

Villains

Rotten Rodney (Mutation Brute)

Jack Ketch (Natural Master Mind)

Midnight Storm (Magic Stalker)

Rotten Rodney Partying

Grave Thief (Natural Dominator)

Rotten Rodney in the Serpent Lair

Rotten Rodney dishes out some damage

'Lil Miss Muffett (Natural Stalker)

'Lil Miss Muffett poses

CoV - "Simultaneous Systems of Character Choice" @ Kill Ten Rats

2005-11-23T12:53:00.000-05:00

I read a great article posted on the always-excellent Kill Ten Rats website regarding the CoV/CoH character generation process. It relates to my little rant about the same subject, although it boasts the character generation as a pure positive (and its a huge positive for this game; I just do not feel its full potential has been realised).

APC - The Fight Begins

2005-11-18T10:52:00.000-05:00

I am rather excited about the Multiplayer Story-Telling RPG that I've been playing these past few months; its been a real freakin' blast to participate in. A Peaceful Country is now rolling along in Chapter 3, and the action is getting rather exciting. I'd read the story from the beginning if you are new to the storyline, but the action I am excited about starts right here with Oseon entering a pub named the Fat Tiger in search of the whereabouts of August Whyttel... unbeknownst to Oseon, August's in a bit of a snag.

We've got some great players getting involved, and the story is turning out to be a whole lot of fun; I hope we keep going and finish the overall story. I am so fascinated by the creativity of the story-tellers that are playing this game.

CoV: The Tedium Creating New Characters

2005-11-11T13:09:00.000-05:00

I've been playing City of Villains now for a couple weeks, and I have to say, the game really is great. With the added models/skins/classes/etc they've provided, its even more fun to generate villains using the in-depth character creation tool. I've been really enjoying making new characters too; when I only have a short time to sit in front of the PC, instead of jumping in the game I fire up the character generator to see what I can create. It's a lot of fun to see if you can envision a persona and then create it.

However, there's something lacking in the game; creating new characters can become annoying after a while. Cryptic Studios ought to better use the addictiveness that their character generator feature offers.

Here's my biggest bone with playing with the character generator; you have to choose a name for the character before it is 'saved'. I understand that a character needs a name in order to be played... so why do I find this annoying? Well, I have to get to my other issue to better explain.

The other sore point is that you have to choose a server before you can start generating a new character. These two issues, to me, detract from the coolness and usefulness of the character generator. I really wish I could create endless numbers of characters and save them locally. If I chose to not use that character, ever, then it'd never need a name, would never need to be uploaded to Cryptic's servers for storage... it'd just be some art that I created on my home PC that I may or may not use at some later time as a played character.

As things stand right now, I already have more than half of my slots taken up for the server that my friends and I play on. The slots are getting filled with villains I've created but have not played... and I may never play them. That being said, they look cool enough I'd like to be able to keep them... somewhere.

I get really annoyed when I am put on the spot to think of a name; and since the names clash with both City of Villains and City of Heroes, sometimes it takes longer to come up with a cool name than it does to come up with a cool-looking character. You are forced to commit the design to a name right then and there, and if you can't come up with a cool name you've pretty much wasted your time because you do one of two things in this case; you either decide to not save the character, or you pick a name that your are less than satisfied with. In both cases, the chances of you playing the character is reduced to zero; I mean, who wants to play a character that has a crappy name?

If I were Cryptic, I'd change the to allow the players to generate as many characters they want; allow them to re-load them as they choose, modify them some more, maybe 'clone' a template to build off of to create permutations to see if you can create something that looks cooler than the current one and then compare them all side-by-side. Don't force them to choose a name, perhaps not even force them to choose an archetype.

When the player does decide on a server, then prompt them for archetype (usually the look helps dictate the archetype in my case... I often have to press the back-arrow to change the archetype, powers, etc after I've created the costume), then prompt them for a name. They might get more enjoyment from this simple change, and it might also increase the longevity of their subscription since they might be generating several non-played characters that they decide to move onto when they are getting bored / tired of their current main. Sometimes players just 'quit' when they get tired, but if they knew they had a cool looking hero/villain ... they just might fire the game up and commit the character to a server and give it a name.

I might even be tempted, as a company, to take things a step further. I might allow the user to pose the characters they make, perhaps even allow them to place the characters in pre-determined sets, and maybe even allow them to pose enemies to recreate battle scenes for cool screenshots. The sets don't need to be spoilers for in-game content either, you could make small simple sets from existing game architecture/art for the player to create a scene... I could imagine myself doing this for countless hours to be honest; screenshot-taking can be a whole lot of fun sometimes.

Anyways, that ends my little rant on CoV/CoH - both are fantastic games, I just wish they'd allow me to play with the character generator in a more free-form fashion because I find the character generation portion of the game a whole lot of fun.

A Peaceful Country: Short Stories

2005-11-08T14:10:00.000-05:00

I've decided to re-publish the short stories I'd written for A Peaceful Country, an interactive storytelling/role-playing game that I've signed up for. I originally posted them in the Aggro Me Forums where the game is being hosted, but for archival purposes I wanted to also post them here.

Mr. Tytler's Order - originally posted Tue on Oct 04, 2005

Tough Decisions - originally posted Wed Oct 05, 2005

Repercussions - originally posted Thu Oct 06, 2005

Just a Tree - originally posted Wed Oct 12, 2005

apc short story: Just a Tree

2005-11-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

Just a Tree

Today was the first day of autumn; a celebrated Holiday, a day off, even for the Whyttel family. Stewart woke August from his bed shortly into this first official day of autumn. He wanted to show his brother something he'd never shown anyone before.

"Come on!" whispered Stewart "I want to get back before mom and dad realize that we're gone!"

A ten-year-old August wrestled with his sweater, trying to get into it at the same time as he was putting on his boots.

"Meet me around back of the shop, I'll get dad's lantern and meet you there." Stewart climbed out of the window and jumped down to the grassy backyard.

---

The two boys worked their way through the forest; August followed his brother closely because his brother seemed to be trudging through the woods without direction.

"We're getting far from home, Stewart." August said with a shiver.

"We're almost there August; it's at the bottom of the grove over there."

August followed his brother's finger and saw nothing but more darkness.

They moved on, leaves crunching loudly underfoot. The route eventually turned into a downhill slope. As the two brothers worked their way downward the trees began to thin out. August could now make out the moon through the near-bare branches of the forest's canopy. Once they'd reached the bottom, Stewart did not need to say a single word… August knew what they stood before, and it was incredible.

"How did you find… is that? Stewart…" August was mesmerized.

"Pretty neat, hunh?" Stewart said in a moonlit-grin.

"Wow…" is all August could muster; it felt like he was in the presence of Lady Hylana herself.

"Touch it!" giggled Stewart "Go on… it's just a tree!"

August walked up to the tree and placed his hand palm-open on its trunk. He could feel a warmth coursing through the tree that made him pull his hand away reflexively. This was the largest tree August had ever seen, and exactly the way he had imagined it. The tree's trunk was easily the size of the bedroom he shared with his brother.

---

"You can't do that!" echoed August in the summer heat.

"Oh, come on… it's just a tree!" said Stewart playfully as he pulled at one of the smaller branches.

"Stewart, it's not funny… stop it n…"

*CRACK*

Stewart fell to the ground as the branch snapped. August rushed over to his brother, and his eyes opened wide when he saw what his brother had discovered; it was true.

Stewart laughed. "It does have gold in it!" he said, somewhat in disbelief.

"I told you it did, you didn't have to hurt it Stewart!"

Stewart went quiet. He gripped the branch tightly in his hands; he could hear something... singing?

"Did you hear that August?"

August stared at his brother; all he heard was the summer's breeze.

"Someone's coming! August… run!"

August didn't hesitate. He just picked a direction and ran. He ran up the slope and continued until his legs could no longer keep up the frantic pace. Then he stopped.

"Stewart?" he whispered under labored breath. He then tried his best to hold his breath, hoping to hear his brother's footsteps in the distance.

Nothing. Where did his brother go?

---

Stewart stood still, and watched his brother run away. He wanted to follow but he was paralyzed with fear.

The singing got louder, so loud he could no longer stand it. And then he saw a wispy cowled figure floating down into the grove. The figure approached him, stopping right in front of him. It reached up and pulled back its hood, it was angelic. It reached out and touched his shoulder.

Stewart went weak, dropping the branch.

The singing had stopped. The cowled figure was gone. Stewart just stood there, unsure as to what had just happened.

---

"Why do you keep going there?" August asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Stewart smiled broadly as he climbed into their bedroom through the window. It was still dark out, but he could make out the voices of his parents in the kitchen.

"August, look at this!"

Stewart handed August something wrapped in a supple leather cloth.

"What is it?" August asked.

"Just check it out!"

August opened the cloth, and held an extremely detailed carving of a cowled figure in his hands. He continued to examine the figurine; it had more detail in it than any piece he’d ever seen before.

"Where… where did you get this?”

"Get it? Well brother… would you believe that I made it?"

August smirked. "Sure you did. Where did you find…"

"I’m telling you August, I made it!”

August didn’t know what to think. His brother had never shown any interest in working with wood, ever. It was impossible that he had made this…

"You used majik!?" August said all too loudly.

The two of them went quiet. When the door to their room opened, it was flooded with by light from their father’s lamp.

Their father looked at the two of them, and focused on Stewart who still had his jacket on, not to mention his muddy boots. As his father walked towards Stewart, he reached out and grabbed the figurine from August’s hands with a quick swipe.

His father looked at the figurine briefly.

"Care to explain this, boys?" grumbled their father.

"I made it…" confessed Stewart.

"I know." James replied with disappointment in his voice. "Stewart, I’ve told you before – you should never combine majik and woodworking."

"What do you know, James?" Stewart scorned. "I made that tonight, in just a couple hours!”

"… and you’ll never do it again." James stared at Stewart with an intensity made August shudder. Their father slipped the figurine into his vest pocket and left their room, slamming the door behind him.

---

When August woke, he was cold and wet. He found himself lying on his back in a pool slushy snow at the bottom of the grove. He felt his face; it was scratched up from the branches whipping him in the face as he carelessly ran through the forest earlier that day.

August opened his eyes, and before him was the tree like he had never seen it before. Its entire trunk was ornately carved glyphs and symbols that were so intricate it boggled the mind.

As he sat up he realized he was clenching something in his right hand. He pulled his icy hand from the slush, and began to wipe off the mud and snow. August soon realized it was the same broken branch from when they were just kids, only now it too was as ornate as the tree in front of him.

“Oh Stewart!” exhaled August as he stood up in awe… and he began to cry for his dead brother.

APC Short Story: Repercussions

2005-11-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Repercussions

“Let me help you with that Kathy.” giggled Maggie to her sister-in-law.

Maggie put down her wine glass and walked across the room to help Kathleina with the last two buttons at the back of her evening gown. And she buttoned the last button Maggie peered over Kathleina’s shoulder and into the mirror, looking at their reflections. They two of them were wearing fancy white dresses, with lacy frills around their sleeve’s cuffs, the hem of their skirts, their waists, and around their necks. Kathleina’s face was painted a ghostly white.

Kathy grimaced at they way she looked, and stuck out her tongue.

Kathy laughed “I feel like I’m a little girl!”

“Quick, you have to paint my face before it is time to leave!”

Maggie sat down on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes. She scrunched up her face when she felt the cold wet brush touched her forehead.

“I haven’t dressed up like this for the festival since I got married!” Kathy said as she painted Maggie’s face. “We should do this every year.”

“The guys will think we’ve lost our minds Kathy! They might not even want to be near us at the dance, looking as crazy as us two... girls!”

“Stop talking! You are making the paint clump up… silly!”

“Mmm…mmmmm…”

“What is it?” Kathy jokingly scowled.

“My drink, I need my…”

“MAGGIE! … MAGGIE!” It was James’ booming voice from downstairs. It sounded urgent.

The two women grabbed the hem of their gowns and rushed out of the room. Maggie peered over the banister to see James smiling, leaning against the dining room table to help keep his intoxicated-self propped up.

“Maggie! Look who’s home for the festival!”

With surprise in her half-painted face, Maggie let go her glass; she leaned over the banister and watched the glass fall, smashing into splash of red on the floor below.

---

James slapped Stewart on the back.

“And then he walked into the foyer… that’s when Maggie, she, she dropped her glass of wine over the banister!”

The men around James all laughed aloud, looking over towards Maggie and Kathy in acknowledgment that they were laughing about her.

“She must be happy to have you home for the week, Stewart!” exclaimed an intoxicated Mr. Tytler.

“He’s always been her favorite!” laughed James, as he slapped Stewart on the back again.

“Say… how’s the training going? Have you met the King yet?” asked another drunken friend of his father’s.

“The training is good.” He replied curtly. “And the King’s too busy to meet with new recruits… besides, most of the greenhorns are… well, they’re gone by the end of the winter months.”

“He’s also working in the King’s stables! He’s going to..” boasted James, spilling ale as he dipped and swayed.

Stewart cut in “… No James, it’s not... It’s the Oxana Forest Rangers’ stables. They’ve asked me to help them out; it’s not even part of the curriculum.”

Stewart’s patience for his drunken entourage was thinning, and he scanned the room for anybody that was looking his way for an escape.

He saw his brother across the dance floor, pouring himself some punch with a ladle. When August turned, he froze at the sight of his brother in military dress.

Stewart was the only one in the room that was not wearing white at all. Minimally attendees wore a white paper top hat, which was given at the door to anyone that was not wearing the festival’s official dress code. Stewart was given exception because he was in military dress.

“Looking good!” August shouted over the music. Stewart simply smiled and motioned for August to follow him outside.

---

“How’s the shop doing?” Stewart asked.

“For the off season, not too bad really. We’re gearing up for a busy spring, once the snow melts.”

The two of them stood ankle-deep in the fresh fallen snow, staring at their feet.

“Did dad tell you he turned down Sir Marten’s final offer on the Steeplewood Manor contract?” asked August.

“Yeah, he mentioned something about it in the carriage-ride here.”

“Mom’s missed you. She cries a lot at night.”

“I know…” Stewart sighed. “But this is better for August. James may have been right about me… I’ve never had any interest in…”

“I know.” August didn’t want to hear his brother admit he was not interested in woodworking.

“What you don’t know, August… is that I’m not training to be a soldier.”

This caught August’s attention. “But… the uniform…”

“The uniform is the same for all new entrants to the military… but I’m not cut out to be a sword-toting foot soldier. I’m too... C’mon, you’re my brother; we both know I’m too lazy for that!”

“So… why don’t you come home?” August wondered aloud.

“August, they’re enrolling me in the School of Majiks. I’m to start apprenticing come spring. They… my superiors figured I’d better serve Windaria this way!”

August could not believe his ears. His brother was always interested in majik more than he, but the two of them always found time to pick up new tricks and practice them out in the forest, away from their parents. Stewart used to call upon winds to clear fallen leaves from the path during the fall months, would use the majik light small fires to warm their hands in the winter months. One day August suddenly found himself nearly knee-deep in mud in what had been but a shallow puddle just moments before. His brother used to mock their father at times too, bringing back carved objects that he had made from fallen branches; they’d resemble regular customers, or he’d carve animals in great detail. The intricate carvings would be so ornately detailed that it would infuriate their father because it was too detailed not to be done without majik.

“Does dad know?”

“No, and he never needs to know, August. I told you because I thought you would be happy for me.”

“I am!” beamed August.

---

Stewart lay in his cot in the Oxana barracks. He just couldn’t sleep. He kept going over his brief conversation with his brother during the winter festival’s ball not two weeks ago… He had only been living away from home for half the year, yet he felt a distance already growing between him and his family. He really wanted to tell them more, especially his mother… she’d likely understand.

Stewart pushed himself quietly out of bed and silently crossed the dorm floor, making sure not to wake any of the other fledgling recruits. He pushed the hallway curtains to the side and walked down the hall to the door leading outside; he really needed to relieve himself.

As he was pissing in the snow outside the barracks, he closed his eyes and shivered. Damn it was cold out. Suddenly there was a hand that grabbed him by the forehead and pulled him backwards, stopping suddenly as he stepped into his assailant whom was holding him very closely.

“It sucks to be you, soldier!” is the last thing he heard before he felt a knife’s blade press against his throat.

---

“JAMES! … JAMES!” Maggie was at the top of the stairs that looked over the backyard and into the side of the workshop.

James lifted his head and eyed her quizzically from across the yard.

“IT’S TIME FOR SUPPER, JAMES!”

James nodded and waved to her. He’d be in soon.

---

James entered the house about a half hour after Maggie had expected him, but the look on her poor husbands face and the well decorated officers that she could see in the backyard was more than enough indication that her husband had more than a good reason for his tardiness.

“Margaret, Dear Margaret… I’m sorry.” James looked at her pitifully from across the kitchen standing in the opened doorway.

“Stewart?” she whispered.

James could no longer look at her in the eye. He signed his eldest up for the military. He was to blame.

“My Stewart?” she whimpered.

August was sitting at the table, and James saw tears begin to well up in his son’s eyes. As he stepped forward, August sat up so suddenly his chair fell backwards behind him. August clenched his teeth, slammed his fist into the table, and then turned to run to through the kitchen, straight through the foyer, and out the front door.

APC Short Story: Tough Decisions

2005-11-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

Tough Decisions

To James Whyttel, of the Whyttel Woodworking Company,

With the passing of his father, Sir Marten has commissioned that the Steeplewood Manor Estate be updated with modern décor and styling. I am proud to inform you that Sir Marten desires your family’s services for the upcoming stages of renovations to his Manor.

Your family’s history of expertise in woodworking for the past 25 generations is well known across all of Windaria, and is even heard of in all lands of Aeralon. Furthermore, being a local Steeplewood success, the Whyttel Woodworking Company is the obvious choice for such an ambitious and prestigious project.

It is for this reason that he has chosen your family business over all Windarian competition. He has requested the Whyttel Family be the sole company contracted to oversee the renovations of his Manor. Construction will begin this coming spring, and will continue for the foreseeable future. For this reason, Sir Marten is recommending that the entirety of the Whyttel Woodworking Company’s resources be focused on the Marten Manor renovations for the duration of the project.

Sir Marten patiently awaits your response to his kind offer.

- Squire Guydion

James had read this letter countless times this past week; it still made his blood boil.

Tobias broke the silence “We made the right decision James. We can’t just stop serving our customer because of…”

“… I know Toby, I know.” answered James.

James crumpled the note with one fist, and dropped it to the floor.

“Let’s walk.” sighed James.

The two men exited the workshop, and James locked the doors behind him. The air was crisp and the grassy yard was shimmering underneath an unobstructed moon.

Toby drew his wool coat over his shoulders. “I expect this years’ early frost will upset the field workers...” exhaled Toby with icy breath.

“I imagine it will.”

With the conversation going nowhere, the two men walked down the trail towards the road out front of James’ house in silence. When they reached the road James noticed that his bedroom lamp was still on. He could make out Maggie sitting up waiting, despite the late hour.

“Heard from Stewart yet?” Tobias asked, drawing James’ stare away from his bedroom light.

“No. Not yet.” He started walking again “He’ll be better off though… he needs to learn some discipline and respect.” he replied, although Tobias had not asked.

“He’s good with horses; he’ll do well for himself in the King’s military, James. Heck, he may one day ride with the King’s Color Guard!”

“… he was happy to leave, Toby.”

James’ eyes blurred the shimmering moon light, and his used his sleeve to dry his face.

“Please, let’s just walk tonight….”

APC Short Story: Mr. Tytler's Order

2005-11-08T13:47:00.000-05:00

Mr. Tytler's Order

Stewart pulled his blankets up and over his head to block the mid-morning sun. His arm then crept out of the sheets and searched his bedside table for his spectacles. When he did not find them, he sighed heavily and rolled over.

His father was standing over him, his hands clasped behind his back. Startled, Stewart groaned “Yes James?” He always used his father’s first name to address him.

His father simply said “Time’s passing you by Stewart…” and handed Stewart his spectacles. Stewart placed them above his nose and let his eyes adjust as he watched his father, James, leave his room.

Stewart looked towards the sun and grumbled to himself. He got out of bed and went to the window that was letting in the light. He looked out the window towards the woodshop across the yard. His younger brother was already out there with uncle Toby, working on the lathe again today.

He reached out to the window’s pull and closed the window tight. He then drew his thick curtains closed to return his room to the darkness he preferred.

“No use going back to bed…” he thought aloud.

---

With warm tea in hand and looking a little bedraggled, Stewart made his was down the steps into the backyard. Across the way he saw his brother still working away on the lathe. His brother was only 16 and was turning out to be a natural woodworker. The whole family was rather proud of his improving skills, especially at his young age.

He stopped at the fence that surrounded the workshop and placed his tea on a fence post. He looked down the customer pathway leading up to the shop and saw Mr. Tytler tying up his horse-drawn wagon. He worked his way down the pathway to greet Mr. Tytler.

He reached out and slapped the horse’s neck firmly. “Good morning Candy!” he said with a smile.

“Hello Stewart” replied Mr. Tytler.

“Good morning Sir. She’s feeling better, is she Sir? Her leg looks great!”

“Candy has recovered remarkably, Stewart. I thank you for all your help with her.” Mr. Tytler said as he reached for his coat.

“She sure has grown since I saw her last fall.”

“Indeed, she’s soon ready for the market now. Once her leg’s at full strength I hope she’ll get me enough coin to finish the house.”

“You’re selling her!?” blurted Stewart.

“Well, yes. Yes. Well… I intend to.”

“But she’s so beautiful…”

“… and she’ll be worth a lot!” Mr. Tytler cut in. “Is your father in?”

“Yeah. James is in the shop. I believe your order is ready, too.”

“It is, I got word last night it was ready for me to pick it up… ah there he is.” he said as he waived to Stewart’s father.

---

“That’ll be 137 and 15, Sir.” yawned Stewart.

“Mr. Tytler, it’ll be 135”, came James’ voice from the back room.

As James turned the corner, he chuckled “Stewart, we want our customers to keep coming back…”

“No worries, Mr. Whyttel, its well worth the going price.” smiled Mr. Tytler. “And I’ll be coming back with another order by mid-summer if the market treats me well.”

“Sounds good, we’ll hope to see you then. Good luck this summer!”

Stewart followed Mr. Tytler as he headed down the pathway towards his cart. Stewart’s brother was already helping their two uncles load the wagon with Mr. Tytler’s furniture order.

“Good day Stewart!”

“Hey August… saw you on the lathe again this morning.” Stewart replied as he handed August a chair.

“Yeah, it’s easier than I expected... and today I learned that the cutting blades are sharp!” August giggled mockingly as he pointed to uncle Toby’s bandaged left hand.

Stewart whistled and laughed. “Nice work there Tobias!”

“It’s not the last time he’ll cut himself, guys… guaranteed!” chimed in their uncle Terry.

The four of them continued to crack jokes at each other as James Whyttel watched them load up the wagon with Mr. Tytler’s order. As he stood on the house’s front porch, he took a drag of his lit pipe. “I’m not going to be Mr. Popular after this season Maggie.” he said to his wife, clenching his pipe between his teeth.

“I’m sure Stewart will understand, James. He’s never been interested in learning anyway. He’ll likely be relieved.” Margaret replied through the window.

James turned and entered the house. “But the business has always gone to the eldest Maggie…I just wish I’d paid more attention to him when he was younger…”

“James, he’s a young man now. He’s not a child. He’ll understand, I promise.”

“He always insists on taking the shortcut, whenever he can, Maggie.” he said, speaking over Maggie’s consoling voice. “For the Love of the Lady, I caught him just last night using majik to engrave Mr. Tytler’s furniture! You’d think he’d know by now that we Whyttel’s do not mix our crafts. When we work the wood, we treat it as the pure art form that it is! He knows better than to use majik when he’s working the wood, Maggie!”

“We’re still a little irate, are we James?” shot Stewart as he walked through the front door. “Mom’s told you before, your voice carries…”

Stewart walked straight through the foyer, through the kitchen, and went right out the back door.

“You’d think you would have figured that out by now, old man!” he blurted before the door slammed.

CoV: Having More Fun as a Villain

2005-11-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

I bought City of Villains on Tuesday, and I must say it is fantastic. With the release of CoV, even the owners of City of Heroes get the graphics engine upgrade - they get better textures, cool new effects, and other great things like ragdoll effects for the fallen. The game looks even better than it did, and it started out looking fantastic to start with!

So, as per usual, I have no idea what class to play - I am working on it though, so far I have 2 characters I'm messing with, but like I did with Heroes, I'll likely make more before I'm satisfied.

We're playing on the Justice server for CoV, and on Guardian for CoH... not sure why we moved to another server, but I'm guessing they (my guildies and co-workers) wanted more character slots for their Baddies.

A Peaceful Country - Chapters 1, 2 and 3

2005-11-03T19:53:00.000-05:00

Our interactive story named A Peaceful Country is now in its third chapter. We completed Chapter 2 not long ago, and now we're in Chapter 3. We're picking up a few new characters / players this chapter too, which is truely excellent. The more we have contributing to the overall story, the better. We can split up now and then and work on side-events, all kinds of fun stuff.

This chapter ought to prove interesting too - it looks like Jay (played by Anskiere) and August (played by myself) are about to get themselves into a little bit of trouble... in fact, August is already in more trouble than he realises.

CoH: Having Fun as a Hero

2005-10-28T16:12:00.000-04:00

I’ve been playing City of Heroes for over a week now; I can truly say it’s a fun game… it feels like an MMO-meets-Arcade style game. The action is quite fast paced; missions (so far) scale to team size .. giving you more of a challenge for larger groups, which is nice. Most missions are instances as well, which is also nice.

I’ve already made a ton of characters. The one I am playing the most, right now, is Thermoblaster. He’s currently a level 10 Fire-Fire-based Blaster. I was surprised the name was even available to be honest… so that’s pretty cool too. I joined the Super Group (guild) that my co-workers formed named “Made in Canada”… which is funny because I used to play with guys in a Quake2 clan of the same “Made in Canada” name waaay back when.

I also made a Mylene character; she’s a tad too tall (OK, way too tall) so I’ll have to try and weave a story as to why she so Amazonian in height. She looks pretty cool too, dontcha think?

I’ve made a handful of other characters too… so far I can’t seem to generate a character that feels like a “Karnatos”… I guess the name is not really superhero-ish, maybe that’s why nothing I can come up with seems to fit (yet). I’ll keep taking a swing at things, see if I can’t generate something that looks like a superhero named Karnatos.

Hmmm, as I type I just got the idea that maybe Karnatos is more fitting as a villain for the City of Villains that comes out this Monday… yeah, I’ll likely do that.

Oh! And last night I downloaded the big huge hoarking City of Heroes patch. It’s a massive graphics upgrade, and introduces the cool engine upgrades that CoV brings with it… like rag doll physics and the likes. My machine was definitely running the game slower last night, but it really does look nice. I can imagine, however, that others that have older riggs might be upset with the performance the game gives them now… which does not match what the box claims anymore, I’m sure of it. Oh well, we’ll see what transpires – many people do not like change; myself, I’m all for it.

GMail Invites: What's The Point?

2005-10-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

I logged into GMail today and noticed something completely useless... I have 100 Invites to give out.

What's the freakin point? Does not everyone that either wished they had a GMail account, or not even knew it existed, not already have a freakin account? I mean - come on! It's not like its this secret society here... it's GMail!

So, this is a call to all of you out there that still don't have an account and just plain old wish they had one but don't know anyone on the internet already that has not invited them 1791 times already... if you want one, heck... fire me off an email and I'll hook you up!

Now - don't come bitching to me if I can't give you one, because - OMG - maybe someone will actually ask me for an invite... I *may* just run out of invites!

P.S. - GMail really is the best web-based mail I've used to date. I've tried a ton of others, and still... I like this one the best so far. However, if you know of a better one, and you aren't just trying to pull the wool over my eyes, let me know about it - yeah yeah, email me about it and I might check it out ... maybe.

CoH: I am a Superhero

2005-10-20T11:06:00.000-04:00

I started playing City of Heroes (CoH) this past weekend... and I must say I am impressed so far with the product.

It's an older game, came out over a year ago... maybe even nearing 2 years ago. That being said, it doesn't feel dated graphically. System requirements are low-ish too - I have it running on my Athelon 2800+ w/ an ATI Radeon 9800Pro 256MB, but I betcha it would run fine on my 1GHz Athelon using an older GeForce 4 card too. I am impressed with render distances for the city, and how they handle the city buildings rendering distances separately from the objects used to populate the world (citizens, mobs, crates, cars, mailboxes, etc.) Their decision to handle the rendering differences using separate algorithms/routines makes the world seem more real to me since I've not yet experienced the world flitting in and out near the horizon - something EQ2 suffers from, sadly.

Having said that, I've only scratched the surface of the game... I don't even have a level 6 character yet... so I may become disappointed at some later date, but right now I am quite impressed with the overall look of the game.

I've created, gads... 7 characters now? Right now I've come up with a Fire/Fire Blaster and named him "Thermoblaster" (I am surprised that name is not already taken, actually). I've made mostly blasters too; I think they are the nukers in this game, and that's what I usually play. I have a blue bug guy I named Bugged Out (sonic guy), a Fire/Ice guy named Box Heater, an Ice/Ice guy named Coleman Cooler, I created a Mylene character (but can't remember for the life of me what she is), Created a Fire/Ice guy named Karnatos (but I dunno if I'll use him really - Karnatos is not a good Superhero name), and I made a scrapper named The Shawarma Chef - I might play him now and then for kicks.

So, as you can see - I've made a few characters. The character generator is quick extensive... I don't think it's as amazing as some people tout, but I do agree that it is extensive. It has so many combination possibilities that everyone you meet has a unique look to them - something that is important to creating a character that you identify with since you look different than others.

I don't have any good screenshots to post yet though. Once I figure out how to rotate cameras to see my guy head-on I'll get some picture-taking action going on; some things look very slick in this game.

APC Short Story: Just a Tree

2005-10-13T13:04:00.000-04:00

I've posted the fourth short story for August's backstory, "Just a Tree", in the forums for A Peaceful Country online RPG run by Supernoob.

I've been having a whole lot of fun playing this game, and I really hope it keeps going!

APC Short Story: Repercussions

2005-10-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

"Repercussions" was published today. It is my third installment in the series of short stories I am writing for A Peaceful Country.

I hope you enjoy the story.

APC Short Story: Tough Decisions

2005-10-05T16:53:00.000-04:00

I posted the next part of a series of short stories for A Peaceful Country.

This entry is titled Tough Decisions, and involves James Whyttel, August and Stewart's father.

APC Short Story: Mr. Tytler's Order

2005-10-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

I posted a short story for the A Peaceful Country that is the beginnings of the back-story behind August Whyttel.

I named this first part of the story Mr. Tytler's Order. Rather than focus story on August himself I decided to take the angle of telling the story of August's family through his older brother Stewart.

I hope you enjoy this first part of the Whyttel Family back-story.

Haiku: Serenity

2005-10-03T10:54:00.000-04:00

A tiny firefly
floats by like a gossamer.
It's Serenity.

A Peaceful Country - Chapter 1

2005-09-29T09:49:00.000-04:00

It looks like we've practically closed Chapter 1 of A Peaceful Country; so far we have four player characters, and Supernoob's handling 2 NPCs. So, a quick rundown of PCs:

Oseon Cristi - played by Gnume Awldewe.

Jay - played by Anskiere.

Estil Verraine - played by Aggro Me.

August Wyttel - the character I am playing

Lieutenant Marcus - NPC played by Supernoob

Hierophant Sylyanna - NPC played by Supernoob

If you've not started reading yet, here's what we've got for you to read:

A Peaceful Country - Prolgue

A Peaceful Country - Chapter 1

If you are all caught up and are waiting more, come on over and watch Chapter 2 take off.

Enjoy the story!

Auratus - Alt. Toon in EQII

2005-09-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

Auratus is my Froglok Predator character in Everquest II. As of this post update, he is a level 15 predator working on the Betrayal of Qeynos quest. I intend to make him an assassin... despite his failed attempts to murder the Queen of Qeynos.

Currently he is a member of Myth Inc., a guild on the Crushbone server.

He is named after a type of frog; Auratus Panama. I chose settings in the character generator to make him resemble the actual frog.

Everquest II Poetry

2005-09-26T08:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a collection of the Everquest II poetry that I wrote over on Aggro Me's Forums. There are other fantastic poems found there as well, so if you like mine there are more than are as good and better on the forums.

Enjoy!

That Mob Cons Red
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 08, 2005

Your Carpet is Nice
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Solo Play's a Pain?
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Never Been Fed
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Wall-To-Wall
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Healers Aren't Whiners
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

^^^ 8xEpic
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

What's With Those Weird Scarecrows
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 12, 2005

Wizards Need Coffee
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 13, 2005

That vixen 'lil elf
originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 22, 2005

I am Gordon Freeman

2005-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Well... I'm not Gordon Freeman, but I bet he wishes I was!

This weekend I hit the game a second time. I have no real idea how far into the game I am because I've managed to completely avoid any news about the game, avoided stategy guides, etc... so I don't know how far into the game I am. I do know this however, I have seen several 'maps' now.

The game is simply fantastic. In that, I mean the game itself is fantastic (more on what I mean by this in a sec) - I am having a hell of a lot of fun playing the game. From the crazy run as the beginning as you run away from the Combine without a weapon to jumping around frenetically in the train yard and underground railway, to zooming around the canals of City 17 in my hoverboat hingamajigger. It all makes for a fantastic game.

However, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed by some things - and they have nothing to do with the game play at all, it's just stuff that bugs me...the technology-freak side of me always wants more I guess.

So, the biggest disappointment? The physics. Don't get me wrong, they are amazing, but... and it's a big but to me... they still don't feel quite right. They way they are implemented works fantastically for the game itself, but there are aspects of it that bug me at times.

So, examples. Sure, the intro/tutorial section of the game provided me with a cool playground with teeter-totters, swings, a marry-go-round, and enough crates too place on them and watch the fun. And, yes, objects had weight, and the one object's weight affected the others. All like you'd expect. But it still did not quite feel right. Better than anything I've played before, but still not quite right.

However, other than saying they just don't feel right I just don't know how to describe it properly... you'd have to have played the game to get it. Like I said, it's not like the physics are bad... I guess I personally was just expecting more due to the prior-to-release-hype behind the game's physics engine. It's good... just not as realistic as I'd hoped.

The second issue I have is in-game world consistency.

For instance. I was walking along a wooden plank atop scaffolding. Also at the top of the scaffolding was a wooden crate that was in my way. So I crowbarred the crate and it broke as expected. After that obstacle was beaten, I quickly saved because I was going to attempt something crazy - try and destroy the planks on the scaffold itself. But I could not! Why could I destroy a wooden crate, yet wooden planks would even so much as spliter? Well - because the game required them to stay in-tact.

I understand that the game is somewhat linear, and the scaffold could not be destroyed because I could no continue on through the game as intended. Destroying that scaffold would have been bad for me, so they made the wood a sold object that could not be destroyed. It's not a huge deal really, but it does remove the immersion into the game. Something like that happens in-game and the illusion of reality and immersion of ruined.

Anyways; I'm starting to rant about something I am truely enjoying... it is a fantastic game, and if you've not played it you owe it to yourself to give the game a try... especially you were like me, bought the game on release day but have these last nine months and have still not installed it. It's fantastic, I just can't wait to get off this water buggy of mine.

Wizards Need Coffee

2005-09-23T15:58:00.000-04:00

I can't think in the morning,
but I need coffee, not rest.
Without it we'd be sorry,
I'd just Fizzle, at best.

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 13, 2005

What's With Those Weird Scarecrows

2005-09-23T15:56:00.000-04:00

What's with those weird scarecrows,
they're all over the place!
And then once you've killed them,
they throw-up their face!

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 12, 2005

^^^ 8xEpic

2005-09-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

I hate Brian Nichols!
His voice makes me sick!
I'd love to kill him,
even at ^^^ 8xEpic

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Wall-To-Wall

2005-09-23T15:29:00.000-04:00

Began with a bed
then crafted them all.
His room soon was full
of junk, wall-to-wall.

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Healers Aren't Whiners

2005-09-23T14:07:00.000-04:00

"We healers aren't whiners!",
she said hands on hip.
Next fight she cast nothing,
her group split in a snit.

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Never Been Fed

2005-09-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'm level 50
and never been fed.
If I'd known about eating
I wouldn't be dead!

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Solo play's a pain?

2005-09-23T13:34:00.000-04:00

Fury's your main,
Mystic's your alt?
Solo play's a pain?
That's your own fault!

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

Your carpet is nice

2005-09-23T12:54:00.000-04:00

Your carpet is nice
Its nicer than mine
Yours goes faster
Time to bitch and whine!

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 09, 2005

That mob cons Red

2005-09-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

That mob cons Red
This one cons Blue
To get next Ding faster
Which mob should I do?

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 08, 2005

That vixen 'lil elf

2005-09-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

That vixen 'lil elf,
she's so damn pretty.
Emotes really well,
always quite witty.

She asked for some coin
to buy a new robe.
"My old one is red,
no longer in vogue."

I bought her more things,
she treated me nice.
She still wanted more,
"Yeah, the best will suffice!"

Then we got married...
..in game, not real life!
I was so damned proud,
now she was my wife.

I wanted to meet her,
told her I'd fly there.
I'd pay my own way,
"The cost? I don't care."

She called me that night,
"I thought you should know...",
she had news for me,
"... my real name is Bo."

I had dropped the phone.
I could not beleive!
that she... he tricked me!
I was really peeved!

I'd bought her good loot!
Even sent flowers!
Gathering resources...
I must have spent hours!

The split up was quick.
"It's over! It's done!"
She had all my gold,
She'd left me with none.

I wanted to cry,
but that's when I met
a cute lil halfling,
her name was Sylvette.

I've sent you this note,
I thought you should know...
"We're getting Married!"
A wedding we'll throw.

If you should buy gifts
for me and my dame,
then I should warn you
it best not be lame.

She already said
"If I do not like
things that they buy me,
they can take a hike!"

It's different this time,
I really dig her.
We meet next month, "Man...
this gal's a keeper."

originally posted at Aggro Me Forums, Sep 22, 2005

Time Spent on Aggro Me's Forums

2005-09-23T09:14:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been really busy, not leaving me much room for gaming time at night.

For instance; I've not played Auratus since last weekend. I only gained 11% with Mylene, now holding at level 34, 61% of the way to 35 (I was at 50% on Monday).

So, what have I been doing with the sporadic free time I've had? I've been spending time on Aggro Me's Forums.

I post there quite a bit (currently 3rd highest poster after Aggro Me himself and Anskiere... the forums-posting maniac ... heheheh). What are we posting about there? It all depends really. There's a ton of topics that are covered, and not all of them are directly Everquest II related. The boards are definitely EQII-oriented content, but there's a lot more going on there than one might expect.

Lately we've had some poetry stuffs going on, and it is related to EQII... but some of it is really good. I'll be posting some samples of my own entries here every now and then.

I also am partaking in the freeform role playing session that's taking place in the forums. It's called A Peaceful Country. I mentioned A Peaceful Country in this post of my own here. We're currently in Chapter 1, and we are wrapping up the initial introduction to characters and learning what's afoot. I am playing a young man named August Whyttel, a man who puts his pocket knife to good use carving wood and selling his wares as he travels from town to town; there's more to him than just that, but you'll have to tune into the story as it unfolds to learn more about him and the adventures he's about to have.

We've got a couple crazy game's that are currently being played in the forums there too:

We have A Story Game telling a story about a group that are off for adventure, and it's been a lot of fun. I can't wait to see how the story pans out.

A word-game that we loving call a Stupid Waste of Time.

A new riddles game called Riddles, Riddles and more Riddles

Another new game where we post screenshots of us in EQII and people have to guess where we are, and if they can they try to recreate the same screenshot with their own character. We call that game Where Am I?.

Feel free to drop on by and check out the crazy stuff we post about in the Aggro Me Forums... it is a good time, even if you don't play Eeverquest II.

Respec for Mylene

2005-09-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

I managed to get some game time in this weekend as Mylene. I managed to get 50% of level 34 with her Saturday night, before I moved on to playing Half-Life 2. Her respec was not as difficult as I had imagined, and so far I am happy with the result of it.
I did find that the combat changed forced me to play a little differently. I found that over all fights lasted a little longer, but also noticed that some of my new spells are really great. Overall I feel that I will be happy with the end results, but I didn't get enough time in to form an official opinion. I only had time to slay orcs at the entrance to Zek, and I was capable of handling groups of 2 and 3 orcs at a time, with only having to run once from a fight.
And, even though it’s a small thing, I now have a teleport spell (portal) much like the evac that scouts get, except that it’s only for me. Yay! I can finally really get my ass out of trouble in a hurry. If I did have this before, then I am the dumbest Wizard in quite some time.

Half-Life 2

2005-09-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

Well well; I finally played some Half-Life 2 last night. I bought the game the same month as EQII came out, but only got around to installing it around mid January. I played a very little bit when I installed it, but it was not much really.

I booted it up last night, and it was on Jan 18th when I played aparently. Well last night, since my little boy was sleeping but soon due to wake for a bottle, I fired it up No use getting into a quest of something with Mylene or Auratus... just time for something I can save any any point so I could feed the baby and then go to bed once he woke up.

Well, I played Half-Life 2 for 2 hours. It was a blast. My precision skills in FPS games was on, and I could tag things at very long distances. It was great fun. Looks like I have a diversion for those night that I can't string more than a few minutes together to play a game. Much much fun was had.

Roses are Red

2005-09-16T15:37:00.000-04:00

I noticed today that over on Aggro Me some silly poems I wrote about EQII were posted for the usual Friday's Humor. The post can be found here, and the forums thread that the poetry was pulled from can be found here.
This is not serious poetry, let me tell you. If stuff I typed in off the top of my head; but if you play EQII you might enjoy some of the entries.

Betrayal of Qeynos

2005-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned briefly that I am playing as Auratus, a Froglok that is striving to become an assassin in Everquest II. Well, I did the first part of the quest this week, and I took a screenshot of Queen Antonia and her cronies just before they knocked me over the head and tossed me out with the gnolls in Antonica.
I was speaking to my guildmate Sela last night and mentioned I would upload the screenshot I took for all to see... so here it is.

Now Auratus finds himself as homeless, wandering around the Commonlands killing orcs and whatever else the Overlord of Freeport desires in order to prove himself, praying the Overlord will grant him safety within the walls of Freeport.

Its kinda funny, I was thrown out of Qeynos for trying to kill the Queen (sounds reasonable I guess), but I can't move in to Freeport because I failed my missing to kill the Queen in the first place - which is why I need to prove my worthiness for the Overlord.

Anyways, good fun!

A Peaceful Country

2005-09-15T07:56:00.000-04:00

I've dug a new trench in my world of geekdom this month; I've signed up for a diceless freeform online-RPG that is being run on a Forum. The game is being called "A Peaceful Country", and I am playing a character named August Whyttel.
The game just started yesterday, and I'm not 100% how things will work out in the end, but the people in the forums are quite funny and are also RPG-folk, so it ought to be half decent. As of now it appears the guy running the campaign, Supernoob, is a decent enough writer with a good imagination... he should be fun to play off of.
If you are interested in the story that gets told, feel free to read the History and the Prologue to the chapter we're currently playing. Then feel free to read the actual chapter as it unfolds.

Ding Auratus!

2005-09-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

I logged in as Auratus for a bit this evening. I needed to kill around 460 orcs for my betrayal quest. I ended up grrouping with a gent named Forktunge for a bit killing orc pawns. We killed a lot.

So far I am liking the new combat system using Auratus, currently a Predator. It did not take much getting used t, but then again he's only level 15.

Speaking of which, he ding-ding-dinged 15. Heck, he's near 50% of the way to 16. Thank you SOE for the experience-boost!

I might log in as Mylene later tonight.

EQII Patch: Combat Changes et al

2005-09-14T08:01:00.000-04:00

So last night I logged into Everquest II to get the big super update. This is a whopper of an update; it includes all updates to handle the new Desert of Flames expansion for the game, it includes the newest combat changes, and I am sure I'm forgetting a ton of other parts of the game that were changed, updated, etc. but it was a whopper update.

Anyways, all looks well really - although I did not have time to play my Wizard, Mylene, last night. I did log in as Auratus, my Froglok Assassin-to-be. First thing I had to do was respec the guy, which was rather easy for a level 14 character. I noticed that mobs were conning differently, for intance - the orc pawns grouped with a shaman were triple-downs while the shaman himself was double-down. They used to be all single-downs if I am not mistaken. Anyways, despite the con change they don't seem to be any easier... so I'll have to re-learn what I can handle.

It'll be interesting to see how Mylene and Karnatos handle after my respec and skills and taken into account... people that played the Beta are saying that you need to relearn how to play your character. Ought to be interesting, and hopefully a lot of fun.

Welcome to I am Karnatos

2005-09-11T13:09:00.000-04:00

Welcome to I am Karnatos. What is this site? It is my personal blog about me, and more precisely about the other side of me; Karnatos.

Here I will be posting little tidbits about my alternate-self, be it just my findings online, my in-game personas, or whatever... when you read about it, it's really about me.