August 2015 – Page 33

On the Liebster Award

August 9, 2015 by Ashgar

Blaugust Post #8

Grace called it a blogging disease, I think of it as more of a chain letter. Either way, thanks for the Liebster award!

Here are my 11 random facts:

I am the youngest person on the regular cast of Aggrochat.
I’m a decent ice skater, and used to play hockey.
However, if you put me on roller skates, I just fall down a lot.
I will admit to liking a single song by N’SYNC. Said song is produced by one of my favorite EDM artists.
I was given my first computer (a laptop the size of a briefcase) when I was 4. I could barely carry it.
I have beaten Mega Man 8 more times than I can count. While in school, I beat it every time I came home, which meant about twice a year.
WoW was technically my first MMO (and like Grace I didn’t play before Burning Crusade), but before WoW I was in the beta for Wish.
I have an irrational love for shapeshifter characters. This has manifested in me playing a Druid whenever it comes up, but it isn’t limited to just that.
I buy rulebooks for Pen and Paper RPGs I’ll likely never play, just to see what’s interesting in them.
As far as food goes, I believe that cinnamon makes almost everything better.
Despite claims to the contrary, I’m not a robot.

And here are Grace’s Questions:

1.Why do you blog?
I blog to get my thoughts out to whoever might be interested in reading them. In some ways the podcast serves as this, but the blog helps for more long-form thoughts.

2. What was your favorite childhood cartoon show?
The answer to this question depends on how you’d like to define “childhood”. I remember really liking the Powerpuff Girls when I was younger (It premiered when I was 7). Later, I was part of the Toonami generation, and really liked Dragonball Z.

3. Fantasy or Sci-Fi?
Fantasy, full stop. Exceptions are made for Sci-fi that’s really just pretending to not be Fantasy, like Star Wars or Mass Effect.

4. What’s the most amazing place you’ve ever been? I was too young to gamble (or anything else, really) when I was there, but I really loved Las Vegas. It’s just an amazing spectacle, and I haven’t seen the like anywhere else.

5. Pizza: Chicago or New York?
In general, Chicago Pizza is better than New York Pizza. However, it’s nearly impossible to actually get good Chicago-style pizza outside of Chicago while a bunch of places do a decent imitation of New York-style pizza around the country, so in most locations the opposite is true.

6. If you could only pick one game genre to play for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I’m a big fan of Action-RPGs. If I can stretch that definition far enough to fit Diablo, Kingdom Hearts, and Elder Scrolls under the same umbrella, so much the better.

7. What inspired your character name?
This one’s easy. There’s some more story there, but that’s the name I took for my Druid in WoW when we started playing Horde-side, and it ended up sticking.

8. What is your greatest gaming moment or achievement?
I like soloing ridiculous content, and every so often I drag other people into it. I managed to solo the first boss of AQ40 at level 80 (it required a silly amount of Nature Resist gear), but I’m more proud of getting enough people in to clear the instance. I’d previously had groups that even at level 80, could not get past Twin Emperors, so doing it with a few guildies was a pretty awesome experience.

9. Do you share your love of games with your real-world friends and family, or keep it to the internet?
I keep a Pikachu Amiibo on my desk at work, so my love of games isn’t exactly a secret. I’ve gotten into discussions about games with family and co-workers, but a lot of my current co-workers play World of Tanks, which I don’t have a lot of interest in.

10. Have you ever had a really weird pet?
Nope. I had a dog once, and when I move somewhere that allows them, probably will again.

11. What is your favorite type of environment/biome in-game and IRL?
I’ve always been a big fan of forests. I grew up in a location where nature trails were readily available, so I spent a decent amount of time walking and riding through shaded areas in the summer. In games, forests (but not jungles) tend to be relatively quiet and mysterious, but they sometimes have the “twisty little maze of passages” thing going on. My tolerance for that trope depends on how much you’re expected to rely on trial-and-error.

And 11 more questions:

Why do you blog? Yes, I know it’s a repeat. Deal with it.
What’s the first game you remember playing?
Dogs or Cats?
Do you have a favorite villain?
What are your thoughts on escort missions?
Borrowing from the “stereotypical interview questions” list, What would you say is your biggest weakness? (I did actually get this question a lot last year.)
What character archetype do you find yourself playing most often?
Other than games and the means to play them, do you own any gaming-related items?
Because I know who these questions are going to, I can ask this one: What’s your favorite system for Tabletop RPGs?
What upcoming games (if any) are you looking forward to?

Because Thalen hasn’t beaten me to it, Tamrielo and Kodra, have fun with this one.

AggroChat #69 – Ahk Mourn and Key Limes

May 21, 2019August 9, 2015 by AggroChat

Last night we had the whole gang back of Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tam and Thalen. Kodra fresh back from Gencon had many tales to tell of his proclivity for LARPing and his further descent into the Magic the Gathering Origins base set. He has now purchased a box, but instead of opening in one sitting he has decided to do something extremely cool with it, turning it into a series of mini draft for him and some of his Seatle area friends. Grace continues to spend time in Wildstar and in an effort to try and catch up Belghast has spent some time leveling there. There was a discussion of the various points that people stall out in that game when they outlevel their quest content. Grace also managed to play through Hatoful Boyfriend enough times to see every possible ending… and is amped about our impending AggroChat show.

For Tam and Ashgar this was a very Sword Art Online week, with Ashgar watching through the entirity of season one so that he can join Tam in playing Hollow Fragment on the PS4. Thalen rekindled his own Magic the Gathering roots as he began playing the brand new free to play Magic Duels. Additionally there is a new event happening in Marvel Heroes where bonus experience is given to playing the Fantastic Four which spawns a conversation about the hero teams we liked growing up. Bel talks about his Bel’s Big Adventure Minecraft series and the quirks of playing Minecraft with a singlular purpose, and his adventures on the Everquest II Time Locked server. Finally we talk the elephant in the room… the World of Warcraft Legion expansion announcement from GamesCom. It was a lengthy discussion dense show, and hopefully you will all enjoy it.

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Ash Calls Me Out

August 12, 2015August 9, 2015 by Tamrielo

I’m not actually participating in Blaugust (or, as I like to call it, Bel-gust), but I’m not enough of a hipster to turn my nose up when I get called out directly.

I guess there’s something called a “Liebster Award” that’s something like a blogging chain letter. From what I’ve been able to gather, you present 11 random facts and then answer the previous person’s questions, then pay it forward to someone else.

11 Random Facts:

I spent my childhood traveling on vacations with my parents. It’s given me a very broad worldview and hunger to discover more about the world that I tend to take for granted.
I am validated by achievement and driven by romance. It’s an odd duality.
I spent about a decade as a game designer, and learned an incredible amount in that time about the inner workings of how games are made.
I graduated from MIT, and it’s an accomplishment that I cling to when I don’t feel like I’m able to do anything (often).
I have a bad habit of bouncing my leg when I’m sitting. It annoys me and everyone around me.
I’m really, genuinely interested in people and what they have to say. I’m an introvert who pours energy into people like an extrovert. I’m often very reticent to connect with new people because of this– I never feel like I’m giving enough energy to the friends I have, and the thought of spending even more energy on new people is scary.
I used to wear exclusively black t-shirts and cargo pants until I realized that I can pull off clothing combinations that other people can’t. Now I’ve discovered that I have a taste for fashion and, when appropriate, love to ‘dress up’.
I do not think quickly on my feet, but I am an extremely detailed planner. If I look like I have a snappy response or a quick reaction to something, it’s almost always because I expected it and had planned for it. I go deer-in-the-headlights when faced with something I don’t have a planned response for.
Alignment-wise, I am almost certainly True Neutral.
I have very little time or interest in strictly competitive games. Even the one competitive game I play regularly (Infinity) is, to me, more of a collaborative action scene than a competitive game, even at the tournament level.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to dating. Were I not single, it would honestly be really funny (it often still is).

Here are Ash’s 11 questions:

Why do you blog? Yes, I know it’s a repeat. Deal with it.
- Discipline. It forces me to write on a regular schedule and keeps me sharp and constantly coming up with things to say.
What’s the first game you remember playing?
- I don’t remember. It was either Quest for Glory 3 at a friend’s house or Star Wars: Rebel Assault. I have fond memories of both games.
Dogs or Cats?
- Neither. I own a dog, but she’s the last phase of dog-phobia therapy. I can’t say I’m a dog or cat person.
Do you have a favorite villain?
- Sephiroth, from FFVII. It’s cliché, I know, but for the first half of the game he’s an incredibly compelling, mysterious villain that you’re chasing but don’t *really* want to catch. Close runners up would be Darth Vader and Handsome Jack.
What are your thoughts on escort missions?
- Like anything, good when done well. Ico is an incredible game that is a single, long escort quest, Portal and Portal 2 have very compelling escort sequences, and Bioshock:Infinite has similar concepts going on. There are a lot of examples of bad escorts, but the good ones really, really shine.
Borrowing from the “stereotypical interview questions” list, What would you say is your biggest weakness? (I did actually get this question a lot last year.)
- I wear a lot of masks around people, because I want people to feel comfortable around me. It works altogether too well and it means that I have a bad tendency to keep people at a distance, behind the mask.
What character archetype do you find yourself playing most often?
- The Mage. This comes in a lot of forms, but my favorite is the Duelist Mage, with sword and spell. Jedi are very close to this, as are Red Mages. I’m frequently disappointed by the experience, because they’re usually either ultra-weak or horrifically overpowered.
Other than games and the means to play them, do you own any gaming-related items?
- I used to have a lot– figures, posters, etc, but got rid of pretty much all of it when I moved across the country. Now, I have a small-but-growing collection of tasteful game art.
Because I know who these questions are going to, I can ask this one: What’s your favorite system for Tabletop RPGs?
- World of Darkness. It’s one of the few systems in which I feel like I’m making a character and not a selection of stats. It also enables interesting non-combat play in a way that pretty much no other system I’ve ever seen does well. I really enjoy coming up with and seeing players come up with interesting solutions to problems, and WoD really enables and encourages that kind of creativity, whereas I feel like a lot of other systems are an excuse to get into fights all the time.
What upcoming games (if any) are you looking forward to?
- Persona 5, more than anything else. I’m also greatly looking forward to the next installment of Deus Ex, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Why can’t Ash count to 11?
- I really don’t know.

With all of that done, here’s my set of (actually 11) questions:

What is the best spell to cast?
What food item(s) from a game do you want to eat above any others?
You’ve got an infinite supply of one consumable, and can never carry any others. Which consumable do you choose?
You have to choose a race and class that you’ve never played seriously before. What do you pick?
What game did you think you would hate but actually loved?
What game did you think you would love but actually hated?
Pick a zone from any game to live in. Why?
You can excise one class from every future game. Which? Why?
What’s your favorite story?
What hobby does no one (yet) know you have?
What is your favorite secret shame? >:D

Bel, Liore and Thalen, you’re up, if that’s how this works.

#Blaugust Day 10: Liebster

August 13, 2015August 9, 2015 by Thalen

I have been tagged by Grace with the Liebster. She has questions, I have answers. Let’s see here.

11 Facts about Me

I own approximately 50,000 comic books. They are mostly superhero comics, and are very well organized.
I’ve never broken a bone.
I got my first computer when I was 4; it was a TI 99/4A and I was hooked from then on.
I wear hiking boots most days. They’re very nice boots though.
I own all the Street Fighter RPG books that White Wolf released. It’s a better system than you might think.
The only sport I pay any attention to is soccer, and that mostly just at World Cup time. If we had a club in my area, I might actually go to matches but that’s not happening any time soon.
No matter how much I try to change my sleep schedule, I remain a night owl. It’s just how I am.
The first book I read (not counting picture books and such) was The Wizard of Oz. It’s still a favorite.
Washington, DC is my favorite city in America. I’ve been there 4 times and there’s still so much more to see.
For most types of games I prefer PC over consoles. JRPGs are the main exception.
I play FPS with keyboard and mouse.

Why do you blog?

I blog as an excuse to write. It’s something I like to do, but without some concrete goal in mind I tend never to do it. Therefore, blog.

What was your favorite childhood cartoon show?

I have to pick just one? Man, it’s hard to think back and decide what was my favorite then as opposed to what I like now. Probably Duck Tales, I think. Duck Tales was pretty awesome.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi?

Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

What’s the most amazing place you’ve ever been?

Tokyo is incredible in ways I have difficulty putting into words. I had been to large cities in America such as Chicago and New York, and I still wasn’t entirely prepared for the scale of Tokyo.

Pizza: Chicago or New York?

New York. Chicago has excellent pizza-flavored casseroles; they are not pizza.

If you could only pick one game genre to play for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Hmmm, toughie. I think the 4X genre (Civilization and that sort). Infinite replayability.

What inspired your character name?

I needed a dwarven sounding name, and I just started throwing syllables together until I came up with something that didn’t sound stupid. The original Thalen Firebeard was a dwarven mage I played in the first D&D 3.0 game I was in. I reused the name for my dwarven hunter in World of Warcraft, and it ended up becoming my main internet identity.

What is your greatest gaming moment or achievement?

Hard to choose. Possibly the Sindragosa kill that Belghast has mentioned in the past where I was one of just a couple of people still up and got the killing blow on her just before she put all of us in ice blocks.

Do you share your love of games with your real-world friends and family, or keep it to the internet?

Most of my real-life friends aren’t big into online games, but we play local multiplayer games together on occasion. And we play plenty of tabletop RPGs and board games on a regular basis.

Have you ever had a really weird pet?

It wasn’t really a pet, but we had a quail in a terrarium for a couple of weeks after it hit my dad’s truck and he brought it home. It turned out to still be alive, so we kept an eye on it for while and he eventually took it back out and released it.

What is your favorite type of environment/biome in-game and IRL?

Forest, definitely. Preferably nice open forest without too much undergrowth so it’s easy to walk through.

And now I’m supposed to tag some people. Finding people who haven’t already been tagged for this is not easy. If I pick someone whose already been Liebstered, I apologize. My tags:

Aywren

Dallian

Wolfy

And my 11 questions: