Almost Back to Full Speed

Things are progressing well with my new PC. I've updated AlphasSports and posted the quarterly report on e-AAGH.net. It looks like we're almost back up to speed already.

New PC–Updates Delayed

Just an FYI for anyone who follows the e-AAGH.net sites: I got a new computer yesterday. My old one was very slow and wasn’t up to playing many current games, so I was hampered in my reviews. My new rig is allot better and has room for upgrades, which my old one did not.

The big reason I’m sharing this is because it’s set me back a bit as far as working on the sites. I’ve got to transfer allot of data from the old computer to the new one still and that’s going to take time. How much time is still up in the air. I have to get things in working order first and then I can start the transfer process. Hopefully in the next day or so I can start doing proper updates again.

If not, hey – at least I’m working on the problem on a shiny new computer. That’s a plus, right?

Back in the Saddle Again

I apparently can’t keep my word. Well, occasionally, anyway. I was playing Team Fortress 2 again – even after I said I was through with the game – and didn’t do so bad. See for yourself.

That’s not so bad, for me anyhow. I was an engineer for approximately 30 seconds before the round ended, so despite what you see here my score came from playing a soldier. 13 kills to 8 deaths is the first time in a long time I’ve been in the positives on that ratio. The sad part is that right after this, the next round saw me get dominated by three people at once (that sounds bad when said like that, doesn’t it?) and died every time I stepped out of the spawn room. Our base got flooded by the other team but I in particular seemed to get ganged up on. Fun.
On another note, after my struggles with the replay system, I finally managed to export a video, and even uploaded one to YouTube. Here it is.

It’s really not exciting but the system works, and that’s what matters. That’s all for now. Later, all.

e-AAGH.net’s Sudden Switch

Anyone who’s been to e-AAGH.net has noticed the recent format shift. Why change it again? For one, the previous format was a little limiting on future expansion. More importantly, though, is the cleaned up presentation and smoother navigation. Any opinions on it are more then welcome.

Cleveland Rocks

Hey everyone. I’m in a good mood tonight after my hometown Cleveland Indians won again with another walk off at Progressive Field. It looks like some of the old Jacob’s Field Magic still lingers there. It’s shades of 1995, actually, when that team made a name for itself by becoming contenders almost overnight and specializing in walk off wins when the park was still Jacob’s Field (it’s still The Jake to me). On opening day I made a wallpaper for my desktop to celebrate the Tribe’s new season, and now I’m sharing it with everyone here. I consider it my good luck charm and it’s staying up on my desktop until the Indians season is over.

It’s simple as can be but I like it. My motif was a sewn-on Chief Wahoo patch on a generic sleeve. I’ve got this now in many common desktop ratios, so if you’re an Indians fan show your support and download it.

Cleveland Indians Wallpaper

That’s all for now. Later all.

Portal 2’s Release Mechanic, My Take

I’ve heard allot of fussing over Valve’s unique accelerated release mechanism for Portal 2, both good and bad. There are those who think it was fun to be part of the release clock and those who doubt playing the indie games Valve linked to their ARG system had any effect whatsoever. My opinion is that for a one-time gimmick it was fun. I enjoyed tracking the updates and playing the games was a good way to pass the time. It generated sales for indie developers too, so that’s a plus. My biggest worry is that this will become commonplace. It was fun once, but more then that could be too much. Maybe once a year I could tolerate it but I can just see some marketing exec seeing the fuss that this generated and trying to implement it for their own upcoming releases.

Some companies get more leeway then others. Valve, Nintendo and Bethesda, for example. Nintendo has a deep, core connection with gamers that no other company can match and people will buy their systems just to play the latest Mario, Zelda, Metroid and the rest of their first-party lineup. Valve has a huge reputation for quality and gets more patience from gamers as far as release dates and processes then most companies (save for Blizzard). Bethesda’s the wild card in this paragraph. My argument for them is, if any one else released games as buggy as their Elder Scrolls series – especially Daggerfall and Morrowind – people would have burned them at the stake and forgotten them. For whatever reason, their games get a huge pass on crashes, bugs and glitches. Personally, Morrowind would crash on me every 10-15 minutes, almost like clockwork. Any other game that did that to me would have been uninstalled in record time but I kept playing Morrowind, accumulating over 100 hours of play, easy. While I can explain Valve and Nintendo’s freedom, I still can’t put my finger on Bethesda’s magic touch.

In any case, Portal 2 now – according to GlaDOS @ Home – has under 30 minutes left before release. I’ll be there, will you?

UPDATE: At 12:30 AM EDT, Portal 2 is unleashed.

Ready to Hang Up my TF2 Gloves

I think it’s time I quit playing Team Fortress 2, and the above picture is a small glimpse into why. It’s not just the 3 kills to 12 deaths you see here; I later got dominated by two players at once and fell to 4 kills and 21 deaths. The sad part was that until I checked the score screen I thought I was having a pretty decent round. It’s that thought, and not so much the kill/death ratio, that’s telling me it’s time to quit. When I’m dying more then 5 times as often as I’m killing and that feels to me like I’m doing well, I’ve jumped the shark.

I did grab the No-Hitter achievement later in the round for making a capture without firing a shot, but it took me almost four lives to do it. I got into the base and got the briefcase to the battlements before dying. I then got it and ran it to our front door and was killed. I then snatched it up and bolted for our intelligence with someone close behind me, peppering the walls and floor with gunfire. Just as I reached our intelligence and completed the capture – literally, it was less the a second difference - I was killed from behind by my pursuer, revealed to be a spy. That felt like a daring success, but that’s one success against how many losses? Too many.

I may log on for short jaunts now and again but my days of trying to be competitive are done. You win this round, Teenage Mutant Ninja Cyborgs – aka the other players I’ve faced – but I’ll be back in another game, and that one I will win.

And it will be sweet. Later, all