I downloaded the Left 4 Dead demo through Steam today, and I am very impressed. Not blown away, but definitely impressed. The demo only allows you to play the first to parts of one of the "movies", so i played it a couple of times on single player campaign mode, and it was hella fun. The AI Director works wonderfully, each time I played it was like a new experience. I am going to play it a lot more over the next couple of days, and buy it as soon as I have some spare cash.

My computer has some problems with it. I can only run it smoothly at low resolution, but even then it doesn't look horrible, mind you that is my laptop, so I may tear open my desktop and see what I can do with it. It may make the difference between impressed and blown away if I can get it to run with a higher resolution.

I have to get some people together to play the co-op mode as soon as possible, like...now...I want it to be people I know, and I have to get my microphone working.

Nice! The commercial for Left 4 Dead just came on Spike TV, which I believe can only be a sign from god that I must own this game.

My wife brought up something about Lego Star Wars II that I forgot to mention. In Chapter 2 of Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back), you are traveling through the swamps of Dagobah when suddenly you build...a green, presumably John Deere, tractor.

From what I could tell, the tractor didn't add anything useful to the scene. It didn't help me accomplish any task that a more...Star Wars-esque vehicle wouldn't have done. While I did get a great laugh watching Yoda bomb around the swamp on a tractor, it removed any possibility of the game feeling like Star Wars.

It came up again in Episode VI, again serving no purpose that an AT-ST couldn't have done, and again completely removing me from the feeling of being in a galaxy far, far away.

I finished the story mode in Lego Star Wars II (The original saga) last night. There are some games, such as Bioshock or Assassins Creed, where I play the game, immersed in the story, and I just can't wait for the ending, even though I will be sad when it's over. Lego Star Wars wasn't like that at all. I suppose it is hard to get wrapped up in the story, I have only seen it eleventy billion times. Still, getting to fly the Falcon, blowing up Death Star Part Deux, defeating the emperor, returning peace to the galaxy, all of these things should be great to play through, even in lego form.

I guess my complaint is that the game isn't bad, but it also isn't star wars. It follows the story fine, but there is something elsewhere...elusive...I can't put my finger on it. I think the game may be more lego than star wars.

By comparison, Lego Indiana Jones was amazing. It was both Lego, and Indy, and the two blended beautifully. It made me want to watch the movies, I want to go back and play through all the levels, just to complete the "Treasures". I absolutely don't want to go through Star Wars again to get the extras...I still may, for the piz-oints, but I won't enjoy it.

I will probably pick up the Lego Batman game at some point, I don't think you will catch me picking up Episodes I-III of Lego star wars though.

It's been a little over a month since my last post, which is something I told myself I would not do. There are a thousand possible excuses, and rather than bore you with mine I will let you make your own.

My Play by Post campaigns are starting to lag, and I am trying to figure out what I can do to revitialize them. My Pen and Paper game has missed a few sessions as well, but I don't think it is in any danger of dying out completely just yet.

The bane of my existance as a DM is my imagination. I am a storyteller, and when I design a campaign I am trying to tell a story, I am trying to make the world I set my players in reflect the actions they choose. I want it to have meaning. All of this makes for exciting campaigns, I like to think. My problem is that when I miss a session or two, my mind wanders. I start thinking of other campaigns, other stories, that I want to run. I get so wrapped up in those other campaigns that I get disinterested in my current one, and my players suffer. Since I began playing with my current group, we haven't seen a campaign run it's course. Right now, I have too much on my plate to begin thinking of other campaigns, so my players are safe (for now).

Aside from D&D, most of my time is taken up with playing Team Fortress 2. I haven't been so wrapped up in an FPS since my old Counterstrike/Day of Defeat days. If you play Team Fortress 2, check out the [Double][Dead][Redux] servers. There are two, which always run the Orange x3 map and have 100% crit chance on. It makes for a deadly game, but be warned, once you get used to 100% crit chance, it's hard to go back to a regular game. I find myself using the sniper and hitting someone and when they don't immediately die I assume they are cheating, then I remember that I need to actually get a headshot to crit in a regular game.

I also tried my hand, finally, at some of the Lego branded games on the 360. Lego Star Wars II and Lego Indiana Jones to be specific. Both are tons of fun, especially the cut scenes, but if I had to choose just one to bring to a desert island it would be Indy. Playing it made me want to watch the movies again. I don't have the movies on DVD. I had to set up my VCR to watch them on VHS and I felt very old and slightly dirty.

November has some amazing, amazing games coming out, none of which I will get to play. I have so many games to get through before I can justify buying any other games. I still have to finish Lego Star Wars II, Gears of War, even Beautiful Katamari which we got the same week we got out 360. I also have a bit of hankering to play some Viva Pinata...we will see.

The one game that I do plan to get, as soon as humanly possible, is Left 4 Dead. I was mostly undecided, but then I saw the opening video and my mind was made up for me.

Yesterday was my birthday, bringing me a year closer to being fertilizer. The day started off well, with a visit from some neighbourhood raccoons. They come to our back door from time to time, and my wife fed them pita and avacado, ensuring they will come back often. We got some pictures that turned out poorly, and I may put some up here eventually. My wife put up a nice post on her blog about the experience.

My son is sick, so I didn't do much in the way of true birthday celebration, however, a friend of mine got me Team Fortress 2 (for the PC) and it runs beautifully on my machine, which is a relief. It is a bit of a change playing it on PC instead of Xbox, but a welcome change since now I have access to the heavy update, and soon I will be knee deep in Sandvich.



After the boy went to sleep, we watched Sweeney Todd. It was excellent, and even as a musical it was easy to follow the story. I wasn't expecting it to be so graphic, but I wasn't disappointed either. We made cupcakes, and I quickly inhaled 3 of them, then took my time and savored the 4th. I still have a few left over, but the chances of them making it through the day are slim.

As soon as I get some birthday money (from my mom...naturally), I will be picking up the Adventurer's Vault, which I have perused and found to my taste. There are no D&D supplements out this month that I am interested in, so I will probably wait for Martial Power, which comes out in November.

My forums are up and running, with two play by e-mail games going concurrently, a third (non-D&D) game may be starting up soon, which pretty much brings you up to date with my life.

It's never a good sign when I have to log into my blogger account again...means i've been away for far too long. I've been busy, not so busy that i couldn't throw a post up now and then, but busy nonetheless. So a bunch of short stuff for today I think.

(On an unrelated note, it always amazes me that nonetheless is a word.)

I am on my second or third week of the play-by-post campaigns. You can take a look at the progress at the Myrador Forums. There are two PBP games going on, and both are going well (near as i can tell).

My actual D&D campaign is going very well also, and takes up a great deal of my off time. The main Myrador site has fallen behind, with no major updates in a while, but I aim to change that shortly by finishing the overland map and getting it up this week.

Music - Flight of the Concords (if they can be considered music). Specifically, I have repeatedly been watching the video for "If you're into it".



Books - Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" series. I just finished book two, and I am really enjoying them, probably only because they have Vampires and Werewolves (SPOILER!). Honestly, if you can get past the 90210 high school dramaz, and the "OMFG this is so Cliché", there is a really deep and interesting book about...well...vampires and werewolves i suppose, and the difficulty of having relations with said entities.

There is a lot of stuff I really need to get around to, that I just can't seem to get off my ass and get done (*cough* blogging *cough*). So that is all for now. I am making a commitment to you right now that I will update at least twice a week, for a whole week! (this post counts as one of them)

ok...so, long story short, i forgot i had a blog...it happens, life is busy, i've been working a lot on a campaign setting for 4th edition dungeons and dragons, as well as making sure i am up to speed with my pen and paper campaign, planning two play-by-post campaigns (which started today) and playing in a Qin campaign sunday nights.

I have everything pretty much ready for the Play by post campaigns, the pen and paper one is ready, and the sunday night one is doing good too, so i think I am getting back on the blogging horse...or wagon...or horse drawn wagon.

you will have to forgive me, it's been a while.

i am still perpetually web-stalking sweetafton23. I now follow her on twitter, lj, youtube, and wordpress (but not myspace...never myspace). She is a little young for me I know, but then I am a little too "married with kid" for her, so i think our relationship could work out...at least in parallel-dimension comic form. (neil gaiman could write it, and it could be illustrated by sam keith). Maybe that's a little too creepy for this blog, so i will skillfully change topic in a way that will make you forget i wrote that.

I haven't bought a new video game in a long time. I thought long and hard about soul calibur 4, but yoda is just weak sauce compared to vader.

Did you know Keira Knightly was in Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace? She played Sade or whatever her name was (padme's twin/clone person). I had no fucking clue! Seriously, I have always said that they looked alike, but to put her in a movie as someone's twin, that's balls right there. (bravo lucas...bravo).

Back to games. Too Human was something I was going to wait for reviews on, and i'm glad i did. I thought briefly about spore, but then i remembered that i only like will wright for his random knowledge, and that i generally don't enjoy his games. i think i am saving myself for fable 2.

Rock Band 2 came out today I think...lemme look that one up...ok...yesterday. Whatever. I can't afford that just yet, i will wait until i can walk into a store and just buy one, instead of searching all around the city "wii-fit" style for a copy.

I never finished gears of war, and actually didn't even enjoy the small bits of it i did play. I will go back to it eventually, maybe.

my paragraphs are getting shorter and shorter, which means i am probably running out of interesting things to say, so i'll cut this short.