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 :)
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
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.
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.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
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 asHan 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, andSlag 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.
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
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.
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
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.
Monday, January 19, 2015
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.
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.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays from the Dakka household! Nothing new and exciting to report on any gaming-related gifts that I received (no new microphone, oh well) but the big news is the PC that I got for JollyChaos:
Case: Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case
CPU: AMD FX-9370 4.4 GHz 8-core processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ motherboard
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 1866 SDRAM
GPU: HIS IceQ X2 Boost R9 270X 2GB
SSD: Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
PSU: Rosewill ARC 750 Watt PSU
Cooler: Corsair H100i closed-loop liquid CPU cooler
I also threw in a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and wireless networking adapter, as this is his first gaming desktop (he's coming from a dirt-cheap laptop from a few years ago).
I had wanted to record a video of the build process, but it ended up not working out that way. I also didn't have time to worry about pictures.
Most of the build was no big deal. The main issue was installing the radiator for the H100i. The holes drilled into the radiator did not match up with the screw holes at the top of the case, and after much difficulty, I was able to jury-rig it on there. A couple of screws go through the actual screw holes, while the other 2 I was able to get on there go through the vent holes. Still, it's on there and isn't moving, so I'll take it. But be warned if you ever get the H100i.
As for performance, I have not been able to benchmark it, nor overclock it due to time constraints (it's what I get waiting until the last weekend before Christmas). As I understand it the 9370 is not a great overclocker so I'm not holding out high hopes. Also strangely Dawn Of War caused the system to lock up on install.
Anyhow, JollyChaos will be heading to YouTube fairly soon, as he also received a Razr Kraken Pro headset and a Blue Snowball microphone.
Case: Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case
CPU: AMD FX-9370 4.4 GHz 8-core processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ motherboard
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 1866 SDRAM
GPU: HIS IceQ X2 Boost R9 270X 2GB
SSD: Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
PSU: Rosewill ARC 750 Watt PSU
Cooler: Corsair H100i closed-loop liquid CPU cooler
I also threw in a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and wireless networking adapter, as this is his first gaming desktop (he's coming from a dirt-cheap laptop from a few years ago).
I had wanted to record a video of the build process, but it ended up not working out that way. I also didn't have time to worry about pictures.
Most of the build was no big deal. The main issue was installing the radiator for the H100i. The holes drilled into the radiator did not match up with the screw holes at the top of the case, and after much difficulty, I was able to jury-rig it on there. A couple of screws go through the actual screw holes, while the other 2 I was able to get on there go through the vent holes. Still, it's on there and isn't moving, so I'll take it. But be warned if you ever get the H100i.
As for performance, I have not been able to benchmark it, nor overclock it due to time constraints (it's what I get waiting until the last weekend before Christmas). As I understand it the 9370 is not a great overclocker so I'm not holding out high hopes. Also strangely Dawn Of War caused the system to lock up on install.
Anyhow, JollyChaos will be heading to YouTube fairly soon, as he also received a Razr Kraken Pro headset and a Blue Snowball microphone.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
More WoW and Power Rangers
My warrior has reached level 98 and all of my garrison buildings are upgraded to level 2 (Mine, Herb Garden, Fishing Shack, Barracks, Lumber Mill, Storehouse, Gem Boutique). All that remains is getting to level 100 so that I can upgrade my garrison to level 3. I have the resources and gold necessary to do so, it's just a matter of leveling. My wife has reached level 100 with her druid and has upgraded her garrison so she only needs to upgrade her buildings now. Of course, getting the level 3 blueprints isn't as easy as buying the level 2 blueprints...
I am currently questing in Spires of Arak. I could simply move on to Nagrand now that I am level 98 but I like to run the storyline quests and Spires has a lot of them. I think I've wrapped up 5 or 6 of the 9 storyline quests. I think the quest to get the blueprints for the Salvage Yard is in Spires as well so waiting to come across that.
I think Vol'jin's Pride in Talador is my favorite outpost so far. Nothing like having access to a cannon to rain hell on large groups of enemies. The Smuggler's Den in Axefall (Spires) has been underwhelming thus far, while the Lumber Yard at my Gorgrond outpost allows the summoning of a shredder that is a lot of fun.
The other day I found that the remaining episodes of Power Rangers Super Megaforce was on. Specifically I was looking for the finale, "Legendary Battle", which would feature the return of many past Rangers, including Tommy (who will never be rid of this franchise it seems). SPOILERS Unfortunately, there was little point in their presence, as they appeared briefly helping out civilians (unmorphed, of course) in the aftermath of an attack by the Big Bad (which apparently destroyed the Zords at the end of the previous episode). If you weren't sure who they were, the producers helpfully briefly overlaid a transparent helmet on each of them.
Tommy was a bit of a curveball, as he could have (theoretically) shown up as one of 4 of the 5 Rangers he's served as (the Red Turbo Ranger was obviously not possible, having turned that over to TJ partway through that season). He was teased as the White Ranger, making his initial appearance in a white T-shirt, and even carrying Saba. But when he appeared at the end he was morphed into the Green Ranger.
But it still seemed silly. The Big Bad and his armada were taken down by the Red and Sixth Megaforce Rangers. For some reason there was still an army of mooks left, and that's when the Legendary Rangers (as they've been called throughout the season) finally decided to show up.
See, this is the 20th anniversary of the show (well, technically that was last year, but due to some hiccups, I think this was the 20th season), so Saban had to do something big (the 10th anniversary featured the excellent "Forever Red", while the 15th was "Once A Ranger", the only bright spot in a terrible season). They decided to tease the Legendary Rangers by having the Red Ranger have a recurring dream of all previous Ranger teams showing up, and by giving the Megaforce Rangers access to the powers of Rangers from previous years. This meant that once morphed, they could transform into any previous Ranger.
But the actual Legendary Rangers felt wasted. Sure, it was an army of mooks, but Rangers mow these guys down by the hundreds before breakfast. While it was cool to see every previous Ranger team show up (in a bit of a quirk, some teams were appropriately missing the Rangers whose role Tommy had filled, as he can't be the Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and Black Dino Thunder Ranger at the same time, but both the Turbo and Space Ranger teams were there, even though both teams were mostly composed of the same people and therefore it would have been impossible), only a handful of the original actors appeared. This was likely a money issue, as there are dozens of actors to call back and they would all need to be paid. But the ones that were there barely got any face time. It probably would have been best left as a 2 part episode to try to give each veteran Ranger something to do.
Here's the list of old-school Rangers who appeared (unmorphed or helmetless; the stunt workers in costume obviously don't count):
Jason David Frank as Tommy (Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, though teased as White Ranger)
Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Power Rangers in Space Blue Ranger)
Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Power Rangers In Space Pink Ranger)
Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Red Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Reggie Rolle as Damon Henderson (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Green Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Melody Perkins as Karone (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Greyson (Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger)
Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins (Time Force Red Ranger)
Hector David Jr as Mike (Power Rangers Samurai Green Ranger)
Brittany Pirtle as Emily (Power Rangers Samurai Yellow Ranger)
Chris Auer as Robo Knight (Megaforce Sixth Ranger from Season 1)
I am currently questing in Spires of Arak. I could simply move on to Nagrand now that I am level 98 but I like to run the storyline quests and Spires has a lot of them. I think I've wrapped up 5 or 6 of the 9 storyline quests. I think the quest to get the blueprints for the Salvage Yard is in Spires as well so waiting to come across that.
I think Vol'jin's Pride in Talador is my favorite outpost so far. Nothing like having access to a cannon to rain hell on large groups of enemies. The Smuggler's Den in Axefall (Spires) has been underwhelming thus far, while the Lumber Yard at my Gorgrond outpost allows the summoning of a shredder that is a lot of fun.
The other day I found that the remaining episodes of Power Rangers Super Megaforce was on. Specifically I was looking for the finale, "Legendary Battle", which would feature the return of many past Rangers, including Tommy (who will never be rid of this franchise it seems). SPOILERS Unfortunately, there was little point in their presence, as they appeared briefly helping out civilians (unmorphed, of course) in the aftermath of an attack by the Big Bad (which apparently destroyed the Zords at the end of the previous episode). If you weren't sure who they were, the producers helpfully briefly overlaid a transparent helmet on each of them.
Tommy was a bit of a curveball, as he could have (theoretically) shown up as one of 4 of the 5 Rangers he's served as (the Red Turbo Ranger was obviously not possible, having turned that over to TJ partway through that season). He was teased as the White Ranger, making his initial appearance in a white T-shirt, and even carrying Saba. But when he appeared at the end he was morphed into the Green Ranger.
But it still seemed silly. The Big Bad and his armada were taken down by the Red and Sixth Megaforce Rangers. For some reason there was still an army of mooks left, and that's when the Legendary Rangers (as they've been called throughout the season) finally decided to show up.
See, this is the 20th anniversary of the show (well, technically that was last year, but due to some hiccups, I think this was the 20th season), so Saban had to do something big (the 10th anniversary featured the excellent "Forever Red", while the 15th was "Once A Ranger", the only bright spot in a terrible season). They decided to tease the Legendary Rangers by having the Red Ranger have a recurring dream of all previous Ranger teams showing up, and by giving the Megaforce Rangers access to the powers of Rangers from previous years. This meant that once morphed, they could transform into any previous Ranger.
But the actual Legendary Rangers felt wasted. Sure, it was an army of mooks, but Rangers mow these guys down by the hundreds before breakfast. While it was cool to see every previous Ranger team show up (in a bit of a quirk, some teams were appropriately missing the Rangers whose role Tommy had filled, as he can't be the Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and Black Dino Thunder Ranger at the same time, but both the Turbo and Space Ranger teams were there, even though both teams were mostly composed of the same people and therefore it would have been impossible), only a handful of the original actors appeared. This was likely a money issue, as there are dozens of actors to call back and they would all need to be paid. But the ones that were there barely got any face time. It probably would have been best left as a 2 part episode to try to give each veteran Ranger something to do.
Here's the list of old-school Rangers who appeared (unmorphed or helmetless; the stunt workers in costume obviously don't count):
Jason David Frank as Tommy (Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, though teased as White Ranger)
Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Power Rangers in Space Blue Ranger)
Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Power Rangers In Space Pink Ranger)
Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Red Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Reggie Rolle as Damon Henderson (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Green Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Melody Perkins as Karone (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Greyson (Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger)
Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins (Time Force Red Ranger)
Hector David Jr as Mike (Power Rangers Samurai Green Ranger)
Brittany Pirtle as Emily (Power Rangers Samurai Yellow Ranger)
Chris Auer as Robo Knight (Megaforce Sixth Ranger from Season 1)
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Steam sales and World of Warcraft
As I mentioned previously, I had $50 on my Steam account to put towards GTA V as soon as Steam lets me preorder it. Then a Steam sale hit last week. I thought for sure I was doomed.
Fortunately, the Official Wife decided that the kids' Christmas gift to me would be $60 for my Steam account. Hooray! I haven't added the money yet but I have time. Meanwhile, it was time to go shopping. Here's what I got:
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara This classic arcade beat 'em up is something I have been pining for, ever since the movie theater that had the game got rid of it (note to movie theaters: arcades are still awesome, get better games). I played it Thanksgiving night with JollyChaos, but he hated it. Guess beat 'em ups aren't his thing.
Scribblenauts Unlimited JollyChaos has Super Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. I messed around with it a bit, it's a fun game. Then it was ruined when I watched TotalBiscuit's video on Scribblenauts Unlimited.
Democracy 3 Another TotalBiscuit video based purchase. Partly because one of the countries he is playing is The Imperium Of Man.
Hammerwatch This is a fun little hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. I haven't spent much time on it but it's a fun time waster. I'll be making a video on this soon I think.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition Finally replaced Oblivion from my late Xbox 360 (another recent replacement was from EA offering Dragon Age: Origins for free on, well, Origin). Only better as it includes all of the DLC (or at least close to it), which is actually more than I had on my Xbox. Previously I had Knights Of The Nine, Fighter's Stronghold, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, and Thieves' Cave (I think that's what they're all called). This also adds the Shivering Isles expansion and more. It's also highly moddable on the PC.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Yes, I have a thing for classic games. This gem I had purchased years ago (over Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II no less!), and some mixup led to its disappearance. So it's nice to finally replace it. It runs on the very old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset (which I am no longer familiar with; 3rd edition D&D came out in 2000 I think. For comparison, Neverwinter Nights is based on the 3rd Edition rules, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online run 3.5 Edition, and Neverwinter is based on 4th Edition. 5th Edition has just been released). Good for fans of Dungeons & Dragons or loves deep RPGs.
On to WoW...
Leveling is slow, given my somewhat limited playing time. I am up to level 95 and I also upgraded my rings to ilevel 540 pieces, and made an epic ilevel 650 necklace, made possible by my Warrior being a Jewelcrafter (I made rings for my wife's druid as well). I mainly want to upgrade my garrison to level 3 but that can't happen until I get to level 100. I may also not be able to stick with my guild as their raid schedule seems to be Sunday nights and weeknights which is right before I go to work.
Fortunately, the Official Wife decided that the kids' Christmas gift to me would be $60 for my Steam account. Hooray! I haven't added the money yet but I have time. Meanwhile, it was time to go shopping. Here's what I got:
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara This classic arcade beat 'em up is something I have been pining for, ever since the movie theater that had the game got rid of it (note to movie theaters: arcades are still awesome, get better games). I played it Thanksgiving night with JollyChaos, but he hated it. Guess beat 'em ups aren't his thing.
Scribblenauts Unlimited JollyChaos has Super Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. I messed around with it a bit, it's a fun game. Then it was ruined when I watched TotalBiscuit's video on Scribblenauts Unlimited.
Democracy 3 Another TotalBiscuit video based purchase. Partly because one of the countries he is playing is The Imperium Of Man.
Hammerwatch This is a fun little hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. I haven't spent much time on it but it's a fun time waster. I'll be making a video on this soon I think.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition Finally replaced Oblivion from my late Xbox 360 (another recent replacement was from EA offering Dragon Age: Origins for free on, well, Origin). Only better as it includes all of the DLC (or at least close to it), which is actually more than I had on my Xbox. Previously I had Knights Of The Nine, Fighter's Stronghold, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, and Thieves' Cave (I think that's what they're all called). This also adds the Shivering Isles expansion and more. It's also highly moddable on the PC.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Yes, I have a thing for classic games. This gem I had purchased years ago (over Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II no less!), and some mixup led to its disappearance. So it's nice to finally replace it. It runs on the very old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset (which I am no longer familiar with; 3rd edition D&D came out in 2000 I think. For comparison, Neverwinter Nights is based on the 3rd Edition rules, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online run 3.5 Edition, and Neverwinter is based on 4th Edition. 5th Edition has just been released). Good for fans of Dungeons & Dragons or loves deep RPGs.
On to WoW...
Leveling is slow, given my somewhat limited playing time. I am up to level 95 and I also upgraded my rings to ilevel 540 pieces, and made an epic ilevel 650 necklace, made possible by my Warrior being a Jewelcrafter (I made rings for my wife's druid as well). I mainly want to upgrade my garrison to level 3 but that can't happen until I get to level 100. I may also not be able to stick with my guild as their raid schedule seems to be Sunday nights and weeknights which is right before I go to work.
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