World Of Warcraft: Part 2

So where did I leave off. Oh yes, Endless Nightmares. After Mortality went down a guild called Endless Nightmares was recruiting new members for their raid group. I had switched my hunter's spec from Marksmanship (which I had leveled with, bad idea at the time) to Beast Mastery. Oddly enough, my wife's hunter had been Beast Mastery, but ended up switching to Marksmanship when she joined Endless Nightmares.

Thus began our time as raiders in WoW. This was probably the most fun period for me (my wife not so much, not sure if the guild leadership didn't like her or what, but there were times she was left out of raids that left us scratching our heads).

Anyway, my first raid with them was temporary. One of the members (a warlock), was running late, so I filled in for a couple of bosses in Karazhan. The first boss, Attumen the Huntsman, dropped the schematic (engineering recipe) for the best scope in the game at the time (attaches to a bow, crossbow or gun for I think extra crit). The warlock was an engineer at max skill, so he could make it, but of course, was not in the group. I was the only other engineer, so even though my skill was still too low, I got the pattern. What was funny, this was only my second time on this boss. The lock player was understandably annoyed, as he was at Exalted reputation with the faction that deals with Kara (The Violet Eye, I think) and had never seen it drop (he got it the next week though). That provided me with motivation to level my engineering skill, which also yielded the schematic for the second best scope, although I had no reason to make that one.

This would prove to be the height of my WoW powers, though we only barely got into tier 5 content by the end. We raided Karazhan weekly, and eventually had enough people for 2 groups (it was a 10-person raid), one for members who needed gear, and one more as a speed run (by this point, I was in the latter). Typically there was a competition of sorts among the damage classes to see who would top the damage meter. Usually our mage would come in first, while second place would go back and fourth between my hunter and the warlock.

Finally we had enough people to start 25-man content (Vanilla WoW raids were 10, 25, or 40 player raids. TBC had a couple of 10 player raids but most were 25 players). Gruul's Lair came first. I think we actually got through the first boss just fine (more or less). It was actually 5 bosses at once and required a fair amount of coordination. This is where my wife and I could really shine. One of these bosses was ideal for paired hunters to tank. He had only ranged attacks, and would polymorph whoever was highest on his threat meter, so two hunters stacking damage and trading polymorphs was one of the recommended ways to tank him (the other option is to have a Balance druid in Moonkin form tank him solo, as transformed druids are immune to polymorph). I remember we screwed up once, as the call went out for all DPS to move to another boss, so, being hunters, we just kind of went and started on that boss before our assigned target was down. Oops. Other than that, having my wife and I tank this thing was a great way to go.  Gruul gave us a lot of trouble, though strangely, once we got him down he was practically on farm.

Magtheridon's Lair came next. Interesting fact: I never got to be straight DPS on this guy. First time playing it was in a pug (our guild leader was in the pug and they needed more players so a few of us got invited), and I was assigned as a cube clicker. He has some kind of overpowered nuke, and 5 players in the raid had to click on these cubes in the room to banish him and prevent him from casting it. I was perpetually a cube clicker after that. I seem to remember him being fairly easy. Not sure we ever wiped actually.

To be continued...

World Of Warcraft

I started playing World of Warcraft back in January 2007. It's not the first MMO I've played and I doubt it would be the last, but it's probably the best, at least so far. Most of the fun was in the early years; admittedly it eventually became a grind and I don't think I'm getting back into it any time soon.

Back in 2006, around, April-May or so, I started a club in Dark Jedi Organization called United Marine Brigades, supporting Battlefield 2 and the Special Forces expansion, eventually adding Battlefield 2142 as well. My wife joined as well and (after I stepped down as overall commander) moved up to second-in-command. Ultimately, World Of Warcraft brought this club down. We had become somewhat bored with BF2 and didn't see another multiplayer shooter on the horizon to help reinvigorate the club.

Virtually all of my officers ended up moving on to WoW. One of them convinced my wife to download the trial (at the time, I think it was a 14-day trial). After taking a look while she was playing, I decided to give it a shot. Then my friend and neighbor (he lived upstairs from us at the time and kept his laptop in our apartment since he pretty much always played with us) decided to try it as well. Next thing I know, we're buying WoW and signing up for subscriptions.

The Burning Crusade era

We began not long after the first expansion was released (sorry, we can't wax nostalgic over vanilla WoW, because we weren't there). I initially created an Orc warrior named Axisomega, but by level 12 decided I wanted a hunter, which was a bad idea since my wife was playing one. Hers is an Orc, mine is a Tauren initially named Axisomicron. We joined our friend's guild (named Awesome Squad) on the lightning's Blade PVP realm (bad plan) and began the quest to level 70. My neighbor played a Tauren warrior (named Brenyeto) but ended up falling way behind, as he kept selling his quest greens and buying vendor gear. So our main players consisted of two hunters, an enhancement shaman (Shadowmurk), a shadow priest (Geekranger) and a rogue (forget his name; we called him Slicer but I don't remember for sure if that was the name of his toon). We later added a warlock (Oddun) and a holy paladin (Jiir), and a balance druid (forgot his name tho). See our problem? No tanks! We knew an Orc warrior named Ragrim who occasionally tanked for us, but he had guild obligations and eventually quit. Once we got to level 70 and wanted to get ready to start raiding we were in trouble. Jiir was willing to tank but Shadowmurk was adamant he would never heal. Brenyeto was way behind for a while and I was still too far behind on my paladin. So we had to pug tanks for a time. Eventually Brenyeto got caught up, and we set about to getting him tank gear, which involved me smelting lots of felsteel (I was mining/engineering) and then tracking down a blacksmith, who made him the felsteel armor set and charged him way too much for the service (usually it's a small fee or even free if you provide your own materials; this guy charged some 250 gold). He never really got the hang of tanking though. I think he still plays but he mostly plays hunters now.

Anyway, during this time some of us started Alliance characters on the Duskwood realm. All Night Elves too somehow. Shadowmurk rolled a warrior, my wife a priest, and myself a druid. Smart! We had a healer, and a tank, and someone who could do whatever was needed (Shadowmurk needed more help with tanking than my wife did with healing, quite the opposite of what was expected). We initially joined a guild called Ozrael's Dominion, which was part of DJO. Eventually we decided we liked things better on the Horde, and transferred our toons to Duskwood (my hunter and paladin, my wife's hunter and warrior). We initially joined a guild called Mortality, but they lasted less than a week.

Eventually we joined a guild called Endless Nightmares, and that's when we finally took to raiding.

(To be continued)

DOOM: The Wishlist

As many of you know, there is a DOOM reboot in the works being developed by Bethesda Softworks. If memory serves it reboots the original DOOM and DOOM 2 (ignoring DOOM 3) and is to feature a more old-school gameplay experience, which I would question had Wolfenstein: The New Order not delivered just such a promise (or so I've heard at least; tough getting a lot of new games when you have a family to support after all).

So here's a list of what I want to see: my favorite thing about shooters. THE WEAPONS. Basically, revamped versions of the classic DOOM weapons, not so much new weapons. Anyway, here's my list.

CHAINSAW: Really, not much to change about it. it's a chainsaw. Unless they want to make it a chainSWORD, which will probably run into legal issues.

PISTOL: While I wouldn't mind seeing the pistol go away (see below), revamping it into a futuristic version of the Colt 1911 .45 ACP pistol would be fine. It's a last-resort weapon anyway. Alt-Fire: Probably none. Maybe it can be a melee attack (HUMILIATION)

ASSAULT RIFLE: Borrowing from the fantastic Brutal DOOM mod, the pistol would no longer be the (only) starting weapon. Marines are typically equipped with some kind of assault rifle, so a futuristic version of the M16 or maybe F2000 would be appropriate. Perhaps limit it to 3-round burst mode. Alt-Fire: Semi-auto I guess.

SHOTGUN: And not the old backwoods wood-stock shotty from the old game, a proper tactical pump-action shotgun, though it would essentially function the same. Whether it will still be Ol' Reliable like the old days remains to be seen. For those not in the know, the shotgun was your best friend in DOOM. Most of the weaker enemies could be killed in 1-2 hits, if all the pellets hit, and had a reliable fire rate. 50 rounds of ammo was not much but shotgun shells tended to be plentiful. Alt-fire: Hold down to keep the barrel pointed while racking and firing maybe?

SUPER SHOTGUN: Introduced in DOOM 2, presented as an upgraded shotgun. For the price of 2 shells instead of one, it dealt 3 times the damage (slightly more than a rocket) if all of the pellets hit. It was debatable how much it was worth using over the standard shotgun, however, as it had a much slower reload time. Anyway, I want to see Quake 2's massive super shotgun return for this one. Alt-Fire: Primary fire is both barrels, so maybe alt-fire can be fire them alternately, creating a rapid fire effect at the cost of some damage.

CHAINGUN: Let's face it, DOOM's chaingun was underwhelming. It was essentially a full-auto pistol. It used the same ammo, and dealt the same damage if I recall. We can do better. Quake 2's chaingun had the right idea, it spun faster the longer you kept shooting. Admittedly both had limitations due to the technologies of the day, but that's not the case any more. Let's do a proper man-portable minigun. .30-caliber ammo firing about 3,000 rounds per minute. There would be a firing delay while the barrels get up to speed, and would  run out of its belt-fed ammo in a few seconds of sustained fire (and the barrels would probably be pretty hot, but we don't care about that), but the carnage would be GLORIOUS. Most enemies would be ripped (AND TORN) to shreds. Alt-Fire: Spin the barrels without firing, like The Heavy in TF2.

ROCKET LAUNCHER: If alt-fire modes are possible, I would like to see this modeled after the rocket launcher in Unreal Tournament. Primary fire is the standard "launch a rocket and watch something explode" more, while alt fire is effectively a grenade launcher. Maybe even keep the UT version's ability to simultaneously launch multiple rockets!

PLASMA GUN: I'm iffy on this one. While I'm OK with it being an energy assault rifle (like the old days), I also wouldn't mind if this became a proper beam weapon. OK, so here are my options: It fires "laser projectiles" (encapsulated plasma) on full auto that explode on impact. The beam could be an alt-fire mode (so I get both wishes) that's basically a laser flamethrower (probably at a cost of quicker ammo consumption).

THUNDERBOLT: Returning from the original Quake. It's a really cool weapon, seeing as how it throws lightning at monsters. Can be used (and I think even Quake allowed this) to fry a bunch of enemies if they are standing in water or swimming. Not sure what an alt-fire mode could be...

BFG 9000 10k: Yes, I am deferring to Quake 2 here. I love DOOM, and the BFG was an amazing ultimate weapon for its day, but I think Quake 2's BFG was sooooo much better. While the BFG 9000 would fire a single massive burst that would kill several enemies at once, the 10k could clear entire rooms. Perhaps an upgraded version could be made: The primary fire is a large burst useful for taking down bosses, while the alt-fire mode is a wide dispersal that can clear roomfuls of smaller monsters.

More Gran Turismo

I apologize for the lack of videos. it's not just parenting; it gets really hot on the second floor of my house, which is where my PC is located. So when I get a chance to play it's much more comfortable to do so downstairs in the living room on the PS3. I could play on my wife's computer, but it's not set up to record video of my games.

So it's been all about Gran Turismo 5. I am glad that I don't have to go crazy getting the game's various licenses, as it's a pain in the ass and takes away from the actual racing (I'm sure there are benefits to acquiring the licenses; perhaps access to certain races or cars that otherwise can't be acquired, and certainly 100% completion).

I finally have a car that I want to use for the Gran Turismo World Championship race series. I had originally planned to use my 2010 Camaro SS with the racing modification, but that car will not be sufficient. Instead I will be using a racing modified 2009 Corvette ZR-1. I ran the first race with the ZR-1 I bought for JollyChaos and won handily, despite the fact that it had serious issues with understeer (sheer power won the day). So I bought another ZR-1 (a 185k credit high-end sports car) and applied the racing mod (another 385k credits, ouch! But it includes some upgrades, such as the full customization transmission and suspension) and then the remaining upgrades to make this an 880-horsepower monster.

Racing modifications add some performance upgrades, reduce weight (more so than the typical weight reduction upgrades), and repaint the car to make it look like a professional race car; it's only available on a fairly limited number of models. As I have a preference for American cars with a muscle car heritage (the 2010 Camaro SS, 1969 Camaro Z28, 1970 Challenger R/T, and several Corvettes are eligible), I went with the 'vette.

Lucky for me, there haven't been any cars in the used lot that I really wanted (almost bit on a 1998 Ford Escort rally car, but I generally stick to classic muscle cars), so I was able to just focus on making money and upgrading the Corvette.

JollyChaos' ZR-1 actually came about when I planned to buy him the Lamborghini Aventador, but turns out that that car is paid DLC which is no longer available (I imagine you can still get it if you buy the XL Edition, I have the standard edition). After some consideration he chose the ZR-1, which then led me to decide that I needed one myself (I could easily with the GT championship with my GT-R or R8, but without the racing mod they would look rather out of place).

On another note, Redshirt Brigade is back for Extra Life, but we will be live streaming the weekend after Extra Life Day due to the recently-married mysterysquick going on his honeymoon. We will be broadcasting on his Twitch channel starting at 8 AM on November 14. For the first time we will actually be at his (new) apartment, so there will be some logistics that need to be worked out (previous years have been at my house).

Finally, a new update!

OK, four months between updates is bad.

I mentioned on one of my videos that my daughter (now 1) is very active, so I can't really just leave her to go jump on my computer. My 6-year-old son can keep an eye on her, but he's not always great about it and working the overnight shift means I have very little energy. I may be going through a shift change in the near future so we'll see how that affects things.

Anyhow, when I have been playing it's been Grand Theft Auto V, as evidenced by my last several videos. Twitch has a new direct export to YouTube feature, which is why the live streams I uploaded lack my usual intro. The annoyance being that it wasn't able to upload it all at once, hence the 15 minute bits.

I recently acquired Gran Turismo 5 for PS3, as anyone who follows my Facebook page knows. God I forgot how much I loved that series (though I probably could have just read my old blog post about it as a reminder). It was rather funny trying to drive a car in GT5 (a fairly accurate simulator) after spending so much time playing GTA V (and its arcade-y driving model). But I made the necessary adjustments. I am by no means a great driver, but I'm better than I used to be.

One of my missions in Gran Turismo is to collect every classic muscle car possible. Here is my list so far:

1969 Chevy Camaro Z28
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
1970 Dodge Charger 440 R/T
1970 Plymouth Superbird
1970 Chevy Chevelle SS 454
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1966 Shelby Cobra 427
1962 Buick Special

Of course, old school muscle cars have a tendency to be very poor track cars (though they get better with tuning and upgrades) so for races outside the confines of 1979 and earlier, I have a few favorites:

2010 Chevy Camaro SS (700 hp, all upgrades)
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STi (508 hp)
2009 Nissan GT-R SpecV (850 hp, all upgrades)

Recently I also purchased a 2009 Audi R8 5.2L FSI Quattro for races requiring German makes. I'm not fond of it as the rear mounted engine gives it a certain quirkiness at times (i.e. I spin the hell out on it a lot, not easy to do on an AWD vehicle). It's mostly upgraded (870+ hp) needing only the weight reduction and chassis reinforcement upgrades..

The Camaro was really my go-to vehicle for quite some time, up until I reached the Expert series races. There's a series for turbo-powered cars with a race on the High Speed Ring track (very easy) that rakes in $36k for a win, against cars in the 300+ hp range. The Camaro is a normally aspirated vehicle (albeit with a supercharger) that's ineligible, while my modestly upgraded WRX sedan was already running over 400 hp. I made sure to upgrade the suspension and transmission (the full customize transmission is one of the most important upgrades for your vehicle; for money I took my Camaro to the Supercar championship race on Daytona. $17k per win!) and went nuts. This was around the time I decided to get the GT-R, as it's one of the best cars for the money imo.

At some point I'll tackle the Gran Turismo and Polyphony Digital championships, but I haven't decided what car to run yet. I want one with a racing modification, or at least a full-on race car, but we'll see what unfolds. I need to stop blowing money on muscle cars for a while though.

Possible future build

OK, so one blog post per month isn't terrible right?

I think the problem is a combination of my computer being on the second floor and my inherent laziness, although having small children doesn't help.

Anywho, my youngest son's computer has been having weird issues lately (it likes to just shut off, usually during gaming. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know). This is also the computer that JollyChaos uses when he visits, so it's a major annoyance, since we basically can't game together, unless I use The Official Wife Of MythicalDakka's computer and he uses mine.

The silver lining is that if the computer fails, there's a chance I can order a new one for myself. And so I have priced a reasonable build (sub-$2000) on Newegg as a replacement for my current rig, which either would become The Official Wife's PC (moving hers to my son's room), or would become my son's PC (with my wife keeping her current system, as she hates change).

So here's the parts list, with an explanation of why I chose each part.

Omega Game Tech "Thor" 2015

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K

Admittedly somewhat overkill for gaming, a Core i5 or even an AMD FX would be fine, but I am currently using a Core i7 so I'd hate to step down to an i5. Besides, now that I am into producing videos it can't hurt to have the extra processing power. And I'm sure games will start taking advantage of more cores before long. Unlocked for overclocking too.

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VII HERO

I've cheaped out on motherboards in past builds. They've been fine, don't get me wrong, but they tend to be really lousy at overclocking or they lack features (my current board does not support SLI. Always read the specs, kids). So going with a solid foundation this time around.

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i

I used this on JollyChaos' computer. Seems pretty solid, runs quiet. Only issue was that I had to kind of jury-rig the radiator on the top of the case, as the screw holes simply didn't line up (it's a ThermalTake Commander G42. Quite a nice case actually, this was a minor annoyance).

RAM: G.Skill RIPJAWS X DDR3 2400 8 GB

G.Skill makes good, cheap RAM. I've used it in most of my builds (I think...). I was originally going to use Corsair Dominator RAM, but this knocked $50 off the total. I originally wanted 16 GB but I can always upgrade down the road.

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2 GB FTW Edition

I've used EVGA cards before but got turned off a bit as they seemed slow to update their cooling setup. They seem to have done so since then, so no reason not to here. I'm currently using a GeForce GTX 570, which initially had me fixated on getting a GTX 970. But since I'm playing on a single 1080p monitor (I technically use 2 monitors but I game on one while using the other to keep an eye on OBS, Audacity and such), a GTX 960 should be plenty sufficient, and it's quite a bit cheaper to boot. Plus the FTW version is heavily overclocked at the factory.

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB

Having one of these as your system drive is a beautiful thing. Load times are reduced to almost nothing. Windows loads in seconds. And 500 GB at this price is a coup. Only wish i could install 2.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 3 TB

Because SSDs still aren't big enough to hold everything yet, most systems still need a hard drive. 3 TB is pretty reasonable (I currently have a 1 TB, due to the original 2 TB dying, plus an external 1 TB I had bought for a previous computer that had run out of hard drive space years before). Any excess games can go on here, as well as the videos I produce, and all my music.

PSU: Corsair CX600 600-watt 80 plus Bronze PSU

Corsair makes really good power supplies. The GTX 960 only asks for a 400-watt PSU so this one has power to spare (perhaps to drop a second GPU in the future).

Case: Cooler Master HAF 922

This is my favorite mid-tower case. My current system is built into one of these, no reason not to use it again.

Optical Drive: LG Blu-Ray drive

I can't think of a good reason to get a Blu-Ray burner.

OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1

My experiences with Windows 8.1 have not been bad. Plus Windows 10 is a free upgrade and I've heard good things about it.

TOTAL with SHIPPING: $1581.04 (cheapest shipping option, most parts will arrive the next day).

Of course, the price is subject to change (I believe some parts are on sale). I also would consider moving to a HAF 932 full-tower case as it more readily accepts the H100i.

As always, feel free to respond with any suggestions :)

Back on track, I hope

Shift changes are not easy. I think I mentioned previously about a temporary shift change. Normally I work 10 pm - 6 am, but as I needed training on a new process, I spent the last couple of weeks working 6 am - 2:30 pm. This week I will be back on my regular schedule, though I imagine I will be pretty exhausted for a bit while I get acclimated again.

Spent a few bucks on some games on Steam (I had leftover Christmas money, and I got more for Valentine's Day from my awesome wife). Square Enix had a big sale last week, so I grabbed the Deus Ex bundle (Deus Ex Game Of The Year, Deus Ex Invisible War, Deus Ex The Fall, and Deus Ex Human Revolution), the Thief bundle (Thief Gold, Thief 2, Thief: Deadly shadows, and, well, Thief, with all related DLC), and the Hitman bundle (Hitman Codename 47, Hitman 2 Silent Assassin, Hitman Contracts, Hitman Blood Money, Hitman Absolution with all related DLC, and Hitman Sniper Challenge). Then over the weekend there was some stuff on sale (there's always stuff on sale, especially on weekends). Initially I picked up Corporate Lifestyle Simulator (a pretty ridiculous hyperviolent game, but for $1 can't go wrong) and Magicmaker (haven't played it yet but sounds entertaining). Then through the Co-op Sale that Steam ran over the weekend (in honor of Valentine's Day), I grabbed Terraria and Saints Row IV (with all related DLC). Total? Less than $40.

Also, there is still time to grab the Star Wars Humble Bundle. I bought it for myself and Mysterysquick as it's not something I could just pass up (or allow him to pass up, and it was his birthday anyway). For as little as $1, you get Knights Of The Old Republic, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and Dark Forces. In the beat-the-average tier, you get Battlefront II, Knights Of The Old Republic II, Republic Commando, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Starfighter, and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. In the top tier (at $12), you will also receive Empire At War, The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition, and The Force Unleashed II. So basically the entire Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series minus Mysteries Of The Sith (the Jedi Knight expansion, it's only $3 and will certainly go on sale at some point). It's $137 worth (at full Steam retail price) for $12, and you get to help charity. SPOILER The current beat-the-average price is $11.53, so I would say if you're going to buy that you may as well just shell out the extra $0.47 and get the top tier so you can get all of the games. Well worth it.

Favorite films of 2014

Hi all, thought I'd throw together a little post about my favorite films from last year. Admittedly I have somewhat juvenile taste in films. I like action flicks, especially those based on comic books. So sue me :P


1. Guardians of the Galaxy

This was a tough call to make, as Marvel had a couple of really excellent films last year. But  I give the nod to Guardians for being generally funnier.

Chris Pratt was hilarious as Han Solo's nephew Peter Quill/Star-Lord, the group's leader. He always manages to step into trouble, and usually has some quip prepared for it as he tries to then dig his way back out. Bradley Cooper voices Rocket, an anthropomorphic raccoon with a bit of a foul mouth and some anger issues. On the note of anger issues is former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, who seeks vengeance for the death of his family (and has some unintentionally hilarious moments as he is incapable of understanding metaphors). Uhura Neytiri Zoe Saldana is Gamora, an assassin raised by Thanos (still currently a background player, and is the Bigger Bad for this film as he was for The Avengers. He gets lines this time though). Finally we have Groot, a humanoid plant voiced by Vin Diesel (who surprisingly can say a lot despite only being able to say "I am Groot"). Somehow this motley bunch has to learn to work together to stop the villain, Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire (played delightfully hammy by Lee Pace).

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This was Marvel's other excellent film, with a darker tone than Guardians, hence the 2 spot.

Chris Evans reprises his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America, now working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in preparation for the next Avengers film. Scarlett Johansson also returns as Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson also also returns once again as Nick Fury. New to the franchise is Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, an Army veteran with an experimental exoskeleton capable of powered flight. Robert Redford appears as Alexander Pierce, a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. official, and the Winter Soldier is played by Sebastian Stan. Nasty things are happening within S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Cap and Black Widow on the run trying to stop it...

3. How To Train Your Dragon 2

I am a huge fan of the first film, and went into this bracing myself for Sequelitis. Fortunately, the film did not disappoint.

The cast from the first film reprise their roles, now set 5 years later, with all the kids grown up. Hiccup went through a mighty growth spurt, and while still very lean (by Viking standards), he is no longer a scrawny weakling. Things are great in Berk, with the dragons fully assimilated into the Vikings everyday lives. But all this about to be shattered by a new threat, as someone is out to gather an army of dragons, which means capturing as many as possible. Naturally this includes the dragons of Berk. there are a couple of surprises in store for Hiccup, not all of them good. There are some terrific action sequences in this film. It can get a bit predictable but is no less enjoyable.

4. Transformers: Age Of Extinction

I might take some flak for this one, but I love Transformers. As a child of the '80s I grew up watching the cartoon, and back when the first live action film was in production, my skepticism ended the moment Peter Cullen was announced as the voice of Optimus Prime once more (this is arguably the moment the series became a financial success). I realize the scriptwriting can be brain-dead at times and the plot rarely makes sense (seriously? Why is Earth always the center of the damn universe???). But I watch these movies to see giant robots voiced by Peter Cullen smash giant robots voiced by Frank Welker (the original voice of Megatron, and many others, for those not in the know). This entry FINALLY brings us the DINOBOTS, my all-time favorite Transformers. Sort of, anyway, as Michael Bay likes to dick around with things. While Grimlock was a, well, lock to return, and Slag He's Slug now He'll always be Slag That's a bad word in England so he was renamed Slug the Triceratops one (my favorite) is present, Swoop (the pteranodon) is replaced by totally-not-Swoop Strafe )the difference being Strafe has two heads), and a Spinosaurid Dinobot named Scorn. Snarl, the Stegosaurus, gets left out (again), as does Sludge, the sauropod (but I doubt anyone misses him).

Anyway, giant robot dinosaurs, smashing stuff, explosions, YAY!

5. Big Hero 6

This was a pleasant surprise. I took my 6-year-old son to see this and he absolutely LOVED it.

So this tech-genius kid Hiro gets accepted to a rather prestigious tech school (his older brother, Tadashi, who is also a student there, is instrumental in this; he mainly wants Hiro to stay out of trouble). Shortly thereafter, Tadashi is tragically killed, and Hiro uses Baymax, Tadashi's robotic nurse project, to try and find his killer, teaming up with Tadashi's friends along the way. OK, that may not sound impressive, but go watch it anyway.

Trying to get back on schedule

OK, so producing videos has been tough lately.

Every year around this time, my employer initiates what is known as "inventory". This isn't a simple matter of taking stock of the company's product, it's a comprehensive cleanout of all work areas. In order to expedite this, we are expected to work 5 days at 10 hours each for two weeks, and usually some time on the weekend as well. As I work third shift (10pm-6am), weekend work usually means 8 hours Friday night into Saturday morning. So added up, that's 58 hours. Add to that my family obligations, and I wind up working close to twice as much as sleeping.

Typically I leave at 6, and arrive home shortly after 6:30, so I'm in bed by 7. I usually get up at 2, shortly after my wife leaves for work. The last two weeks I've been at work until 7 or 8 (there are a couple of days I was able to get in by 9; I had one day each week I was able to go in for 8) and still generally needed to be up by 2 (although if my daughter was all set and still napping I would doze on the couch until I needed to get up to get my son off the bus).

So averaging 5 hours of sleep during the week did no favors for my YouTube channel, especially when it's right after the holidays, which in itself makes it tough to produce videos.  But barring the occasional Friday night I should be back on regular 8 hour shifts now.

I have been able to play some World of Warcraft, which lately has been mostly about leveling my Death Knight. He is level 91 now with his level 1 garrison featuring a barracks and a forge (his professions were originally skinning and mining, but recently I dropped skinning for blacksmithing). I had also built a forge in my warrior's garrison, but it turns out the only gear i can produce out of it is part of the Warlords Crafted set, which is limited to 3 items worn. As a jewelcrafter, I already had a necklace and 2 rings on, so no level 630 weapons/640 armor for me, and I replaced the forge with an alchemy lab. Back to my Death Knight, I also changed his specializations. While his off-spec remained Unholy, I dropped Frost in favor of Blood. I think I just like using 2 handed weapons with a Death Knight, and Blood offers pretty good survivability for leveling (I originally ran him as Blood back in Wrath of the Lich King, though that was before Blood became the dedicated tanking spec).

Also I was rather disappointed with the release date for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V being pushed back to March. I was initially excited at the prospect that Rockstar was offering $1 million of in-game currency if you preorder it, and now they are also offering a free game (from a small list, but free is free); however, the way it works is they charge a 15% non-refundable deposit at the initial time of order. This is at least partly because you get your bonus game at this point, but also makes it so you think twice about cancelling your preorder if they push the release back again, as you are now out that money either way. Anyhow, I will now not be preordering. Hopefully when I put the money on my Steam account I will not blow it on a sale that pops up before March 24th.