LoL!!

So, for all of my blog posts, I'll be following a particular format. First, I'll link to my favorite video of the week/one I discovered recently. Next,I'll post a synopsis of my article, and then I'll have the article. Afterwards, I'll put anything else in that may be of interest/related to my post.

Video of the Week: Darth Vader vs. Hitler. Epic Rap Battles of History 2

Synopsis: A discussion on the DotA genre, League of Legends, other DotA games, and what the definition of a "hardcore" gamer is.

So, a couple of the (former) blog authors on this site, including myself, have recently gotten into a game called League of Legends. It is essentially a DotA clone. Basic gameplay includes 2 teams of 3/5 champions that go around the map, level up, kill people on the other team, and ultimately try to destroy the other team's base. The premise is trite, but the delivery is fresh and unique which makes it a very enjoyable game. So, for this post, I'm going to talk about the DotA genre of games.

Defense of the Ancients (DotA) was a very unique mod of Warcraft III. Unlike the lackluster RTS that it was attached to, DotA focused on simply building your hero's stats and abilities and buying items instead of commanding armies and other typical RTS elements. Each hero has their own unique skills that they can learn. At level 6, they can learn their ultimate (or "ult" for short) that is insanely powerful/useful but has high costs.

Specifically, League of Legends builds off of this but adds a few new elements. Most champions go off of the typical mana system (each ability has a cost and a cooldown, or wait time), but some of their new areas go off of unique systems. 3 characters, Kennen, Shen, and Akali, all of which are ninjas, go off of an energy system. It works very similarly to mana, but it has a fast regeneration rate and cannot be replenished by items. Mordekaiser is unique because he doesn't even have mana. Instead, he charge a shield by using his abilities which allows him to tank damage very well.

On a side note, Heroes of Newerth is another game that plays similarly to DotA. It bears more similarities to DotA and takes less chances than League of Legends, but it is still a great game. However, there are quite a few differences. Without going into a lot of detail, basically, here's the bottom line. League of Legends is a fun game that isn't as challenging to learn as HoN, but if you're a gamer who plays competitively, then you'll want to go with HoN.

Before I go, I feel compelled to explain what a hardcore gamer exactly is. A hardcore gamer is not necessarily someone who plays in every video game tournament. A hardcore gamer is one who spends a majority of his time playing video games. Here's a good definition from Urban Dictionary:

Someone who plays video games as a primary hobby. They tend to spend large amounts of time playing games, often in excess of two or three hours a day. Hardcore gamers tend to care less about graphics then casual gamers. While some specialize in a single genre, they typically have fairly diverse taste in games, frequently playing a wide variety of games from different genres. They'll often seek out obscure and older games, based on word of mouth or positive critical reception. Hardcore gamers put good gameplay above all else, and don't mind if a good game has poor (or even nonexistent) graphics, sound, characters and plot. The stereotypical hardcore gamer is out of shape, and has poor hygene. They spend a lot of their disposable income on video games, consoles, or PC upgrades, and a large percentage of their free time either playing video games or discussing them, online and off. They wear either black clothing, or T-shirts with geeky pop-culture references, often to video games. Their social skills may be sub-par, and they may be less likely than others their age to have many friends, a jobs and a girlfriend/boyfriend. Some of these stereotypes are negative, and they certainly don't apply to all hardcore gamers, but there's a fair amount of truth to them.

 Essentially, competitive gamers are hardcore, but a hardcore gamer doesn't necessarily play games competitively.

I hope I've enlightened you to a new genre of games, and I encourage anyone who has not played any of the games mentioned to try one of them out. They're all great, and it is definitely a great genre.

Heroes of Newerth
League of Legends
Defense of the Ancients

Signing off,
ACRONYM of the Blog

Oracle for Hire

Webcomics: the heartbeat of nerd-dom on the internet. Through webcomics, you can see what's going on in the world of the socially shunned, watch for the latest and greatest in memes (sometimes you even see them created), and be entertained by some of the best artists and comedians the free internet has to offer. However, I will the the first to admit, there is a whole lotta crap out there. Some webcomics are poorly-drawn and incomprehensible. Some are poorly-written. Some are specialty webcomics, designed for the pleasure of a very few people, while everyone else is lost in the dark. Some are just plain stupid. Some are excuses for the artist to draw naked people (if you find a comic labelled 'NSFW' (Not Safe For Work), find a different comic). All that aside, there are some great comics out there, and I'm making it my goal in life for the next few months to educate you fine people on some of the ones I've come to love.

Today's spotlight is on one of the best-known comics on the web: Dominic Deegan.

The comic is set in a fantasy world, a land of magic, monsters, evil politicians (whoops, said the same thing twice), and puns. LOTS of puns. The comic's creator, Michael Terracciano, has a great sense of humor... even if it is a bit broken. The comic typically centers around a seer named Dominic Deegan (gasp! I'm sure you didn't see that coming). Dominic is a practitioner of Second Sight magic, which is used to watch events from far away, see the past, and attempt to predict the future. The most common and most derided application of this is fortune telling. Fortune tellers are often mysterious and cryptic in their messages... this is usually because they have no idea what they're seeing. Second Sight is not an all-powerful art, it only allows the viewer to see events from a different perspective than they normally would. Anyway, enough on magic, back to the main character. Dominic possesses one of the most powerful minds in existence. He was even selected as the Champion of Balance to combat a Chaos cult set on destroying the world. He's fought demons, defeated extra-planar superweapons... twice, dueled (briefly) a centuries-old necromancer, and once, even taught a college course. His mind is a fortress, and nothing can break it. Nothing.

Lately the comic's focused on pretty much every character except Dominic, but that in no way diminishes the quality of the product. Since we last left our hero, we've seen one of Dominic's star students study abroad, we've seen Dominic's younger brother, Gregory, start his own band, and we've seen an old nemesis of Dominic's work his way through the Wild Edge (a scar on the land caused by an ancient magical conflict between two archmages). The current story arc follows the Third War in Hell (the third one we know about, anyway). Usually, though, Dominic is the star.

Even in terms of family and friends, he seems to have interesting tastes. His mother is an archmage of the Fifth Circle, his father is a renowned bard and retired swordfighter. His younger brother was a white mage before losing his magic to an Infernomancer, and now has his own band. His older brother, Jacob, is a necromancer. His fiancée is under a curse unleashed by an orcish black mage at the end of the last war between Callan (human nation) and Maltak (orcish nation). One of his best friends' hobbies is to break things with her face. Another one of his best friends is a werewolf (sorry fangirls, no vampires. And thank goodness for that). His mentor as a wizard is a ball of slime that tastes like jelly. Needless to say, he leads an interesting life.

To give this comic a rating, I'd have to say PG-13. Some parts of the comic are a bit graphic, some are downright gruesome (what, do you expect a war in Hell to be pretty?). There's also some language, a bit of innuendo, and the occasional raunchy joke (artfully censored, but anyone with half an imagination can figure out what was said. Also, any dolt with half a brain could see that human kind has gone insane, but that's another story). It's not something you would want your little kids or grandmother to read, but I can't really think of a reason it wouldn't be ok for the average reader.

Dominic Deegan gets an A+ in my book. Great art, great writing, great humor. Great job, Mookie.

-Defender of the Blog, RTB

NOTICE

I thought I should let all of you know, in case you haven't noticed, that we're playing around with the blog colors at the moment. It won't be affecting the blog posts, but it may end up looking a bit odd until we all agree on something. I apologize in advance and hopefully we'll get this fixed soon.



Now go read the King's post.



~Entropy

It Is Not Yet Dead

The blog is back and I’m here to claim Tuesdays before anyone else does. I will be posting about music seeing as that’s my specialty (or obsession, whichever you prefer). As a warning, I will probably have a post or two on random topics that I find particularly important that day and a few may be college-related simply because I’m gathering a good many hilarious stories and quotes from classes.

On to the real post!

This and next week I will be sharing my new and improved rave playlist for your entertainment. It’s served me well so far in keeping me awake while doing homework and, of course, solo dorm raves when I’m bored. Disclaimer: This playlist does not grant you the ability to dance. Trust me, I’ve tried.

Dreaming by Fun Factory
Despite the fact that I always put this on shuffle, this is a good song to begin a playlist with given the overly-serious introduction. The actual song, like many in the genre, is repetitive and not remarkably outstanding, but enjoyable.

The Vulture by Pendulum
This is a new one I’ve gotten into. The beginning is a bit annoying and has very little musical merit, but the main melodic line is addicting.

They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard by Erwin Beekveld
I must include this as a tribute to an epic car ride where this was blasted and sung by all those involved. Doing that with just about any song greatly improves the musical experience and it is further improved if the song is nerdy and gets you strange looks from people on the street. This has been tested recently with John Williams is the Man, Dream Land (Kirby) and various other video game songs. Also, this song is quite good/hilarious on its own.

Move Your Dead Bones by Dr. Reanimator
This song is a bit weird and extremely good for dancing.

Sandstorm by DaRude
Sandstorm is the classic rave song and the first one I ever heard. This is the original version rather than the shortened one. It is the most melodically and rhythmically diverse techno song I’ve come across thus far that I would want to listen to again.

Welcome to the Club by Manian
This song is absolutely amazing. A friend of mine introduced me to it a month or so ago and I was able to use it in my English paper on techno (side note: choosing your own topics in a class with a geeky teacher is epic). It has the most complex lyrical line I’ve seen in this genre and, more importantly, the melody is simply great. If any of you are interested in writing techno music, use 16th + 8th note patterns. I can name at least three songs from my favorites that all feature similar rhythms.

Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat) by The Immortals
It’s a video game theme and techno. I can think of few better combinations. Oh, and there’s that pattern again.

You Know by Pimp! Code
I’m beginning to love the synth sound in techno songs. This one does it well and uses it more for color on a strong melody than as the melody itself. The overall sound is very upbeat and fun.

Levas Polka by Basshunter
Most people either love this song or hate it. Personally, I think it’s great and it grows on you. It’s a very effective tongue exercise if you try to sing it. I am guilty of singing it repeatedly for that very reason. I’ll take all the practice I can get for La Forza del Destino (my flute part, aka the violin part on the recording, is insane for articulations).

We Are the Best by Pimp! Code
This is likely my favorite techno song and definitely in the top few if not. It’s organized much in the way of a traditional orchestra in regard to how the melodic and harmonic lines come in and out of the music. The effect is a perpetually building song with a ton of energy and a cool collection of synths.

Raver’s Fantasy by Tune Up!
Another rave classic, this song doesn’t have quite as much energy as We Are the Best, but it’s close. The music itself is a bit more complex, but there is a single melodic line, two rhythmic backbeats and no counter-melody to speak of apart from when the lyrical line is introduced (when the melodic line takes counter-melody).

Dota by Basshunter
I can’t, in good conscience, leave out Dota. It may not be particularly deep musically or lyrically, but you can’t deny it’s fun.

Hold Me Tonight (Alex K Mix) by Manian
To be honest, this song annoyed me in the beginning due to the female voice lead, but it found its way onto the list nonetheless. Once again, I’m caught up in the synth and the syncopated backbeat. Maybe it appeals to me since I’m a band kid: it’s very well subdivided (ok, that’s not it, but it does make it easier to dance to).

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk
This is on my list more for the others on the blog than myself. I don’t have any particular attraction to this song because it borders on minimalist (all techno does, but it is more apparent in some than others). Still, it’s fun to listen to and/or mime once in a while. At an actual rave it would work very well. At my desk doing calculus, I need something a little less robotic to keep me going.

In the Hall of the Mountain King (Techno Remix) originally by Mozart
Mozart is good in all forms, as shown by this remix. It isn’t in my favorites, but I like it. I’m not sure what else can be said.

This concludes my contribution this week. I hope you find something in this list that you haven’t heard before and go listen to it. If any of you have contributions to make, they are welcome in the comments. I’m always looking for more music. On a related note, if any of you have ideas on a paper topic I can use as my final for English, I would love to hear them. I’m having an awful time coming up with something that I haven’t already used (aka techno and Fire Emblem).

In other news, I’m changing my tag on here to Entropy for various reasons including that I won’t forget it. In the event that you don’t see a post from me next Tuesday, it’s probably because I’m dead from attempting sodium fusion at my job.

~ Entropy (former Minister of Silly Posts)

BLOG AUTHOR used Phoenix Down

As long as we're getting back into the swing of things, I might as well start posting again too. I'll be taking care of webcomics, the oft-ignored and quintessential representation of much of the nerdiness on the internet. I'll be updating Thursday afternoons, because Monday-Wednesday are exceedingly busy for me, Friday was taken, and Saturday and Sunday seem to be off-limits for real posting.

So, what will I be saying about webcomics? I have no idea! Reviews, updates, plugs, flames, whatever the heck I feel like. Who knows? As the blog (hopefully) gains momentum and notoriety, you might even get a few interviews from some of the artists (I have my sights set on Mookie Terracciano, Chris Hastings, Ryan Sohmer, Garth Graham, and maybe even Brian Clevinger). I'll of course deviate into other topics occasionally... I'll most likely remain the main voice for RTS gaming here, but there's been a lack of outstanding games in that genre as of late (that I've heard about anyway), with the possible exception of StarCraft II.

I might also rant about filler posts on occasion (the fact that this is one not withstanding... actually, it doesn't even count as that, given that it's not a Thursday. Hooray for narrowly-dodged hypocrisy!).

Anyway, enough of this. I'll get back to you fine folks on Thursday.

-Defender of the Blog, RTB

It Lives!!

So The King of the Blog decided to revive this blog. In order to celebrate, I'm going to correct information on my previous posts that is either wrong or out of date (mostly the latter).

"The Contributors on this Blog are Lazy" (Oddly fitting):

• Facebook no longer has as many errors, and you can now filter individual posts.
• For the record, Facebook is still bad.

"Mario: Does he live up to the standards?":

• I take back what I said about Super Mario Galaxy. I replayed it and got every star, and I have decided that it is actually a pretty beastly game. I really need to play Super Mario Galaxy 2...

"Nerdology 101: Mathematical Constants":

• The format is fine now; ignore the sidenote at the end.

"Failblogging":

• HeartGold/SoulSilver is out, and it is an awesome slice of childhood. If you like pokemon, or haven't ever played one before, this is a good place to start! (Just don't get Chikorita).

Apparently, I need to make some sort of posting schedule.... I'll post on Friday afternoon/evenings, and then we'll see what happens.

Later,
ACRONYM of the Blog

If you're reading this, the blog IS/WAS dead

TBCRH was completely devoid of posts from August until November when the king revived the blog. Even before August, many of the bloggers had checked out and had not posted in months, which resulted in myself declaring the blog dead. This is no longer the case, and therefore I urge you to enjoy what we have here at TBCRH.

As of January 2011, I have once again declared the blog dead. Enjoy the wealth of content produced in October/November/December.

Enjoy~
ACRONYM of the Blog

Some people are just stupid

ACRONYM here, trying to make amends for his long and untimely absence. This post is actually a review/rant of a game of one of my favorite game series: Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is an excellent game; there's no other way around it. However, some people think it's a bad game. Let me be perfectly clear: while Fire Emblem is DEFINITELY NOT A SERIES FOR EVERYONE, it is by no means a bad game. Some people like to think otherwise, however, and for me, it's upsetting.

Search "Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn Review" on google, and the first result is the Gamespot review that gives it a measly 6/10 (They gave the GBA games 8.9/10, so it's not the series). Their reasons for not liking are complete bull. The second reason really made me laugh: they basically said "It's too hard." USE THE DIFFICULTLY SETTING YOU {insert infinitely long and explicit string here}!!!" I mean seriously, it has a difficulty setting; I personally liked that it was hard, but I guess the people at Gamespot are a bunch of lame casual gamers. They also said that the plot was bad: granted, it isn't an amazing plot, but it's not terrible either. Another complaint they had was that it didn't utilize the motion controls of the controller. How do you apply the Wii's motion controls to game where you control units from an overhead view in a practical way that makes sense? You can't. Their final complaint was that it's graphics weren't that great; they looked fine to me, but they weren't spectacular.

You want to know why I'm right? Gamespot gave it a 6/10; the users gave it an 8.6/10 (Metacritic says that it overall got an 7.8/10 with a user score of 8.9/10 [for comparison purposes]). Gamespot really screwed up that review big time, and the gamers know it. Oh well, it gives us more to laugh at. To be fair, sites that rate games have a hard job; they have to somehow honestly rate a game that people are going to consider in their purchases. Unfortunately, game ratings fall into 3 categories when compared to the general consensus: Complete agreement (Think something like Bioshock or Mario 64), Overhyped (Think Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2), and Underhyped (Think Psychonauts or Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn).

I know this is all technically my opinion, but frankly, I'm a Mother Panda so your argument is invalid.

ACRONYM of the Blog

Gamepot's Review: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/rpg/fireemblem/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review

These people were high when they came up with this...

Hello, it's me, ACRONYM of the Blog. You may have forgotten about me, and that's not okay; to refresh, I'm one of the many blog posters on this site (I'm Jonathan THOMAS [not to be confused with Jonathan Davis or John Hicks]).

Anyway, this is a review of an online flash game that I discovered yesterday. I'm going to be blunt, and just say that this game is high on an improbable amount of drugs; however, please refrain from judging the game until the very end. The name of the game?

Robot Unicorn Attack

Take a wild guess what you do in this game. Are you a gunman who is shooting a bunch of robot unicorns that are attacking something of general importance? Are you a robot unicorn that is attacking things? Nope. This game isn't even violent. At this point, you may be wondering what exactly you do in this game; I'll tell you. You are a robot unicorn that is running infinitely to the right by jumping on a bunch of floating land masses with purple grass. While you are running infinitely to the right, you can also collect fairies for more points while dashing through giant stars that will kill you if you touch them while you aren't dashing. Making sense yet? Good, now take some Acid and let's dive in.

If you've ever played one of those games where you infinitely head right while dodging obstacles, you'll know what I'm talking about (vaguely). If not, play a quick round of Canabalt; it will help you understand what I'm talking about. Unlike in Canabalt, you have the option to dash through the deadly obstacles in addition to being able to going around them (or jumping over). You can also collect the fairies for more points.

What really sets this apart, however, is the music; IT'S INSANE!! The chorus alone should explain itself: "Always, I want to be with you, and make believe with you, and live in harmony harmony oh love!"

See, it's just trippy. There's really no other way to describe this game. You really won't understand the appeal (Believe me, this game is strangely awesome) until you actually play it:

http://games.adultswim.com/robot-unicorn-attack-twitchy-online-game.html

Rating: 8/10

Fun with a nice replay value, but it's not "EPIC" worhty

This comic explains why this game is so good better than I can

ACRONYM of the Blog

EDIT: comic was removed because of some language and such. we'll be sure to put warnings or something next time. sorry all

Guide to Proper Use of Some Commonly Misused Words

If you're ever confused about how to properly use words like their/they're/there or to/too/two, you can refer to this little story:

When the Kraken attacks, ships tend to sink. One ship was attacked by the Kraken and promptly sank. After it had sunk, an archaeologist was asked to recover it. He was reluctant, but had to accept the job. It would be relatively easy, except for the part about being in the territory of the Kraken. It was widely known by this point that the Kraken tended to adversely affect ships. The effect of the Kraken on this particular ship was that it had been capsized, one of the Kraken's favorite means of sinking ships.
Suddenly, a woman appeared in the waves. She was followed by several other women. The principal reason they had been there was to lie in wait for ships to come along. They would lure the ships into the Kraken's hideout, where it lay in wait. Their strategy was based on the principle of ships piloted by men to be attracted to them. They would then move gradually away, forcing the ship to move closer. When it came within less than 50 yards, they would begin swimming away faster.
This strategy was to prove ineffective though. The captain and two other men had gone belowdecks to quench their thirst. They went to the fridge, but the door was too heavy to open. Thus they headed to the nearby wine cellar to drink. They drank deeply. So deeply had they drunk, after an hour had passed, that they passed out. Their brains intoxicated, they lolled on the floor in a stupor. There they remained for several hours. (They're not good at holding their liquor.)
Suddenly, there was a massive bump - the ship had run aground after the helmsman, whose judgment had been clouded by drinking earlier, steered it into a rock. "Who's there?" the captain stammered, waking up.
Suddenly, the ship was torn apart by the Kraken! The captain was struck by a part of the mast, which the Kraken had torn off. He suffered only a minor concussion, and before long the Kraken had filled its appetite and left. "It's a miracle!" the survivors exclaimed, relieved.
(However, they were still drunk and floating helpless in the middle of the ocean...)

By the way, "definately" is not a word. You're supposed to spell it with an I: definitely.