Real (low level) Tanks of Genius: Mr. I Don't Need Mail To Tank Guy

Unnecessary Blogage Presents: 
Real (low level) Tanks of Genius: Mr. I Don't Need Mail To Tank Warrior Guy

(Real [low level] Tanks of Genius)

Today we salute you, Mr. I Don't Need Mail To Tank warrior guy.

( Mr. I Don't Need Mail To Tank warrior guy)

Some would say that you shouldn't tank in leather, but for you it's all about the stamina.

(I got more HPs now!)

Those leather DPS classes in the group complaining about your new shiny loot? They're just jealous!

(They were plus crit legs)

While people try to explain to you why mail is better for tanking you cough up some phony mathematical equation to prove why you're right and they are wrong.

(Look at me with my numbers!)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Mr. Leather Tanking warrior. You may not have good armor for tanking, but you sure got a lot of HPs now.

( Mr. I Don't Need Mail To Tank warrior guy)

So recently I've been guilty of leveling up another alt. With the new LFG system I've heard from lots of the other WoW Bloggers I talk to that it's pretty fun to do. So a few days ago I cleared a character space on my server and started a little hunter. Yesterday I got a group for the Deadmines. The group seemed to be full of people who actually knew how to play.

Our group started with a druid tank, a dps warrior, a healing paladin, an ele (?) shaman and myself. As we progressed the druid tank actually had to leave and the warrior became our tank. It just so happened that the switch was made in the foundry right before a boss.

That is where the fun comes in. We downed Gilnid and he dropped Smelting Pants (76 armor, 8 stamina and +7 crit rating). You may recall that in the last patch, there is no longer a armor class limitation on rolls.. The shaman, the warrior and myself rolled Need. The warrior won them. Of course this was met with indignation.

The warrior explained that he needed the legs for tanking. I couldn't believe it.. I knew he couldn't be that much of a noob I mean.. he had Bind of Account items so this wasn't his main. I calmly explained to him that he would be MUCH better off tanking in mail than leather and expected him to hand them over to the highest roller on the item, I was horribly mistaken. This guy HONESTLY believed they were better for tanking because of the stamina on the item. I informed him that as someone who played a tank for the main I knew what I was talking about and although the item did have a good amount of stamina it was just silly to choose HP over armor, since with more armor you'd take less hard hits and this would be better than just more HP. He replied that his main was also a tank and spewed some mathematical formula as to why he was correct and I was wrong.

I was stupefied, really there are not people this uneducated playing WoW.. I thought for a minute and considered that maybe his main was a druid tank and he might be a bit confused. I asked him what his main was and he replied a Death Knight.
I died inside at those words. I too play a Death Knight.. my main is a Death Knight tank. Anyone who plays WoW also knows how most DK tanks (or just DKs in general) are horribly bad at their class. The cliché really bothers me because it is hard to win people over especially when it comes to tanking, and here I was conversing with one such idiot who perpetuated the stereotype.


There was no winning, this guy was just an idiot. For the good of the group and for the sake of getting my stupid quest done I shut up and just continued the group. At Mr. Smite I was tempted to roll need on a 2 handed axe, Smite's Reaver, just to irk the Warrior and claim that I needed it for hit rating.. but it's just not really my style. I'm no ninja. I did however throw in a comment about how if I used "warrior logic" I'd roll need on the item even though the rest of the stats were useless for me.

At the end of the instance I also realized how much of a waste the legs were on the warrior even more so because the quest reward for him was Chausses of Westfall which were surely better for tanking than those leather legs. So I said the following:

Well duh I was sad because I didn't get the crit; IT'S A STAT THAT HUNTERS USE FOR DPS their main and only reason for existing! But honestly what was the most painful was that his main was a Death Knight tank.

Oh well a pity for the legs, it gets better because this guy is actually still wearing them (he must not have taken the mail reward) or it could be the REAL reason he needed on them was for DPS as he is currently specced to arms.

Optìm of Shadowsong EU, you sir are either incredibly stupid, or just a ninja. Either way, I hope I never have the displeasure of grouping with you again.

I'm in ur Hyrule, Raidin' ur Tombs

Doing: Thinking about a dollar store walk
Listening: White Wizzard
Feeling: Like rocking out! YEEAH!

Many apologies for my lack of review last week. Post midterms, kinda blah. To make up for it, I'm doing a double review today!

To start off, I told my good friend that I was writing these spectator reviews and he demanded that I watch him play through the first Tomb Raider game, declaring it to be one of his favorite games of all time. So I spent the week of my spring break watching him get through half of Tomb Raider.
A few notes before I begin this review: I only watched through half of the game, and my friend insists that I watch through the entirety before doing a complete review. The other thing is that when I watched, I was watching somebody who practically has the game memorized. Now on with the rankings!

Graphics: These graphics are part of the early CG era, so I can't complain about the quality. At its time, Tomb Raider was very cutting-edge. Now its low res graphics and huge polygons have a nostalgic look about them. 4/5

Storyline/Cutscenes: As you know, I have only gotten though half of the game, so I cannot make an analysis of the entire story just yet. Once again, though, the cutscenes have a nostalgic quality. I adore the way that the cutscenes slowly reveal the storyline as you go along and genuinely keep you hanging for the next part. I am unable to score these just yet.

Soundtrack: I love, love, LOVE the way the music is used in this game. Essentially the levels are quite quiet, but then a musical phrase will play at certain points. For example, I adore the ambush theme. It's very pulse-racing. This game does not just have good music, though, but the sound effects have a very rythmic quality that is fun to improvise tunes to. 5/5

Variety: This game is a wonderful example for a varied game. Every level has a new and unique layout, the enemies always change, and the trap-laden passages keep you guessing around every turn! It's never boring! 5/5

So far, the game ranks as a 14/15. It's up to the story to give the final scoring.

And now for review number two. In my college, there is a small room called the Game Room. Here, all the nerds come and hang out while playing Yu-Gi-Oh, Brawl, Flight Sims, and other sorts of games. I come here when I don't have classes and have some wonderful conversations. One such conversation was on Game-Based movies and which games would make good movies.

Of course, the April Fool's Day Zelda trailer came up during the discussion. Of course, that pissed everybody off. But then I found out that college age nerds weren't the only angry ones- BMB Finishes, a small independent film company, was also frustrated by the fake trailer. So frustrated that they started work on their own Zelda film- The Hero of Time.

Well, I managed to get myself a copy of this film that only had a five theater run, and I watched with my friend (the Tomb Raider friend) last night. Since this is game-related, I thought I would share my thoughts on it. It's the same format as the Spectator review, only I changed a few things accordingly.

Special Effects: This was an indie film, so it did not have any super-awesome big budget special effects. The ones that they did have were a mixed bag. Some of them were really nice-looking, Din's fire, Volvagia and the Poe for example. While others, like the big octo and one beheading scene, looked really cheesy. Because of the inconsistency, 3/5.

Storyline: As with all game-based movies, do not expect an exact retelling. There are no Zoras, and the Gorons are changed to a tribe of mountain men. The most glaring inconsistency, though, was the Gerudo. They were all MEN! There were no females! That was the only one I didn't find excusable. Though I sound angry, the things that they do get right they do with stunning accuracy! For example, remember the scene in the game where Zelda introduces you to Ganondorf? It was SPOT-ON! Even the expression on the Ganondorf actor's face was amazingly accurate! It's this attention to minor detail that makes the differences in the storyline not matter as much. 4/5

Soundtrack: The music that was written for this movie is spectacular. It is beautifully majestic and truly captures the spirit of Hyrule. The thing I liked the best about the music, though, was the addition of little melodies from the video game. My personal favorite was when Link was leaving the Kokiri forest, and you could hear a slow, sad variation of Saria's song playing in the background. If they ever decide to make the soundtrack available for purchase, I want it! 5/5

Acting: The three main characters were played amazingly well, especially Ganondorf. I can't get over how perfect Ganondorf was- from the appearance to his voice and even little things like the way he entered a room. It was amazing! I mean, just look at him:The Link in the movie was an amazing reluctant hero, and the Zelda/Shiek portrayed her characer wonderfully. The supporting cast was varied in quality. My personal favorites were Impa, who played the stern guardian really well, and Darunia, a fat Asian guy who was only in the movie for about five minutes, but he really did a good job. Some of the actors, especially Ganondorf's main minion and the shopkeeper Honest Ivan, were a little hammy, but not bad. 4/5

Altogether the movie got a 16/20, or a B-. It's a wonderful movie with beautiful scenery and an impeccable eye for detail, but do not go in expecting a perfect retelling.

UPDATE: I just recently found out that the Hero of Time is not available on DVD, thanks to Nintendo forcing BMB to stop showing the movie. You can, however, get it through torrenting. In fact, that's the only way to get it. So feel free to download the movie to your heart's content!

Megaman X

No, not Megaman X, but Megaman 10 (X=10 in roman)!

Now first of all, I would like to say that this game is AWESOME! I just beat it today, and the final boss is no letdown.

Alrighty, let's do this.

The game starts out with your usual megaman intro, in the meaning of "In the year 20XX, everyone is at peace, until suddenly... But this game centers around a strange disease that only affects robots, known as Roboenza (influenza, roboenza, get the pun? Ha...ha...?) which, at first, is just a robo-fever, but in the later affects of the disease, it makes robot go crazy and want to take over the world! Fairly soon after the breakout of this virus, Megaman's sister, Roll, comes down with the symptoms of it. During all of this nonsense, Megaman's arch nemesis, Dr. Wily, makes a crash landing in his UFO right in front of Dr. Light's lab. He says his robots have been malfunctioning due to the virus but can't do anything about it even though he has a prototype cure. Why is that? Because some of the robots have stolen the pieces to it. SO you have to go and find them yourself.

Are you lost? then watch this

So, just like in every megaman game (except for the first), there are 8 robot masters that you have to defeat. This one has a lot of variety in it, ranging from an electrically charged sheep, to a guy with a miniature sun on top of his head. If you want to know them, the names are as follows:

Sheep man
Pump man
Solar man
Chill man
Nitro man
Commando man
Blade man
Strike man

Each one has his own unique ability for Megaman.
-Sheep man allows megaman to shoot out thunder clouds that flies up into the air and shoots a lightning bolt directly below it.
-Pump man creates a shield of bubbles to protect you from attacks. When the shoot button is pressed again, the shield expands off the screen, damaging anything it hits.
-Solar man allows you to shoot out a firey orb that stops and shoots two crescents of fire from each side of it horizontally.
-Chill man can make you shoot out a glob of, I guess, partially frozen ice that creates spikes for your enemies to get damaged on when it hits the ground.
-Nitro man allows you to shoot out a bladed saw that rides along the floor and up the wall. It can be held out in front of you, and if you approach a wall like this, it will carry you up it.
-Commando man can allow you to shoot out directional bombs that expload on impact and create a shockwave that goes for four spaces each way.
-Blade man's abillity causes you to shout out three kinves at the same time. Angles of the knives depend on if you are jumping or not.
And finally,
-Strike man's ability allows you to shoot out a ball that bounces around walls. 'Nuff said.
*****************SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!*****************
Spoiler alert! if you do not want to ruin this for yourself, then go down to the next "*SPOILER ALERT*" sign.
---------------
So when you have beaten all 8 robot masters, Megaman comes down with a serious case of Roboenza. Roll, being the kind and generous robot that she is, gives Megaman one of her daily doses of her vaccine. It seems that the perpetrator behind the roboenza virus is none other than Dr. Wily. He says that he will give any robot the vaccine if they join him and his army in taking over the world.
So then, Megaman Shoves off to Dr. Wily's fortress to defeat him once and for all.
*fightfightfightfight*
Once Megaman has defeated Wily, it seems that the Doctor has gotten sick. Megaman, being the kind, generous, and naive robot that he is, rushes him to the hospital. form there, he gets away, but leaves behind enough vaccine to go around.
*****************SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!*****************

The end.

Now, for the ratings.

Story: 4/5
Meh, it could be better. The idea was good, but it was a bit tacky.
Gameplay: 5/5
Being the hardcore megaman gamer that I am, I had no prblem whatsoever with the controls, seeing how they stayed as true and blue as the Blue Bomber himself.
Difficulty: 5/5
HARD! but a fun hard, if you know what I'm saying. I still have to play it on hard difficulty, but for now, it's still a 5/5.
Graphics: 5/5
No change from the original. True and blue, just how it's meant to be.
Replay Value: 5/5
YES I WILL REPLAY THIS.

so, all-in-all, this game recieves a 24/25; 96%; A
Now that I look back at it, I'm sad that it didn't get a full 100%, but that story line isn't the best. Oh well.

That concludes this review.

Continuing on with the Saboteur

Playlist for the Lets Play

In this video set we to go a cemetery and fight some nazis. Then we find our rival. Do we catch him? Do we kill him? How do we get to that point? You'll have to watch the videos to find out.

Playlist Consists of 34 videos as of this post

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dubbington1221

Final Fantasy 13 thoughts on chapters 2 through 4

Okay, I woke up today and decided to start the second chapter. I was disappointed with the first one. I am glad i kept going. Things are starting to make sense. This story is okay so far. What i have gathered so far as to keep from mentioning spoilers. Your world is Cacoon. A world of peace, then a world below called Pulse, is like a hell from what is being told in the game. Pulse has invaded, and anyone that has been in contact with the Pulse Fal'ci (which i am still not to clear on what one is, i think its a type of person) is being sent to Pulse. That is what is being told anyway. Cacoon is "Purging" everyone into exile to Pulse. In reality its more like an extermination of the people. Then people rebel. Okay, i will stop there on the plot, but here are some things i have noticed.

Lighting is an ex soldier from the "Army" of Cacoon. Doesn't talk much at all, keeps her past secret. That sounds alot like Cloud from FF7. She also kind of has the personality of Yuna from FFX. Then you have Snow. Who is a cocky wannabe "hero" as he calls himself. Sort of reminds me of Zell from FF8. Then you have Vanille, she is a cheerful kid who is always looking at the positivity in everything. She seems like Riku alot. Next you have the most annoying person every in a FF game. Hope. He is a young kid, whos mother gets killed in chapter one while trying to help Snow out. He blames Snow for his mothers death, but doesn't have the guts to tell him once they accidentally meet up. Hope is annoying cause of the fact he grunts and whines constantly and is overly timid, but when its time to fight, he goes all out, then becomes a whinny baby once again. Final Fantasy 13 isnt' without the token black guy. Sazh. Full of worry and doubt about things and only thinks a certain way from what it seems so far. Like Wakka from FFX about the Al-Bed. Any Pulse Fal'ci is evil to him. Then wait.......well i won't spoil that for anyone who actually reads my blogs anway.

The battle system is getting more complex as in stuff to do, but really easy to understand. Does that make sense? No it doesn't, lol. Trust me on that once you play the game. There are tutorials for all new battle options as they come available. One more thing that seems like they took more ideas from past games is the Crystaliam. I probably spelled it wrong but i dont' feel like walking back to the couch to check, lol. Its almost identical to the Idea of the Sphere Grid on FFX. One amazing thing is though, after every battle, your health is restored to full. Thats very handy. No EX points to get you use that to level up. You do get CP (crystal points) after battles. The average battle takes no more than 30 seconds. The longest one was about 2 minutes so far.

Well that should keep you all informed on this game. I am getting more impressed with it as i play it. But its very predictable so far.

My Thoughts On Final Fantasy 13 so far

Okay the rest of my top 10 will have to go on hold for a bit. This is much bigger. Okay, as some of you know i am a FF nut. I luv them lots. Well tonight i finally got to start on 13. Done with the first chapter. This story is so hard to follow really. Lots of jumps from one group to the next. I won't go into detail cause i dont' want to spoil anything.

This game does go back to the roots of the series with the turn based battle system. Random encounters are no more though. You get to see your foes then they charge and a traditional battle takes place. They are really really simple at the start. As of the first chapter, you only get to control the leader of the group only. So its got a different feel as others. Battles tend to go very quick. One plus so far is that the loading times are very fast. You don't have to wait long. I know there will be lots more of things do go over in this game. I read the intro to the guide and the booklet with the game, so it told me lots of things. The graphics are amazing by the way. Very well done on the PS3. I dont' know how the 360 looks but ive heard its great.

Now my flaws with the game. The dialog between characters can be confusing. The names of things are not clear at all. I can't even spell have the stuff or know what a Fal'ci is. They keep talking about it, its it an item or a place. I am sure if i read more into the booklets it would tell me. I dont' want to read to far, so i am just going with what the games gives. In the first chapter, the map is very linear just walking a straight line. It does more at the start of the second chapter but that will be a different blog. The names of the characters are very abstract as usual. But from what the story seems so far, it really reminds me of a classic rebellion story. Hasn't this been done before in the series?????? I think so. FF 7 started out as one, and so did 12 in a sense. Id figure they would have something more in mind. I won't give up though, i will hopefully get some answers as I go through chapter 2 and onward.

Is this game worth getting if you are a die hard fan, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1337 times over.
Is this game worth getting if you are a casual gamer, not really. You would be bored quick. This game just hasn't grabbed my attention like i thought it would.

The lead character Lightning really reminds me of an ex-SOLDIER from another FF game. lol

Other parts will come as i pass chapters.


Peace out from The1andonlybigh.

Blur Multiplayer Beta Demo: A Promising Outlook

(This blog is based on the beta demo and is not representative of the final quality/product as the game is still in development)

So today I received a beta key for the Blur Multiplayer Beta Demo on xbox live. I actually didn't know anything about this game until I received an e-mail from my local gaming store offering me one a week ago. I checked out the site and thought the game looked interesting enough to give a shot.

Blur is a racing game by Bizarre Creations and Activision. I wouldn't limit it so much to a "racing game" as there is a bit more to it than that but this is the easiest genre I can find to label this game with.

At first glance (and even after playing it) I'm reminded of some old games I loved to play with my brothers: Extreme G racing (1 and 2), San Fransisco Rush 2049 battle mode (both N64 games) with a mix of Burn Out Revenge. This is actually a good thing as I have a lot of fond memories of multiplayer mode on these games and probably why I'm already looking forward to the full release of Blur.

If you're not familiar with any of these games you might liken it a bit more to Mario Kart but with clickly less "cheesienes" (not to say that cheesy is bad, I like Mario Kart).

Blur boasts 4 player split screen play, 50 ranks and 60 challenges with over 30 tracks from L.A. to Japan. You can unlock new cars and new mods (will go into mod detail in a bit) along with the ability to customize both.

I was also a bit excited to see that you could authenticate with your twitter account to tweet your skills. It doesn't seem to be working in this beta demo version, but it sounds awesome as long as it won't get too spammy.

In Blur multiplayer you have special "power ups" that will allow you to attack/slow down your enemies, protect yourself and gives your car some boost to finish the race.

POWER UPS


Shock- Fires 3 EMP fields in front of the race leader.
Mine- Throw it ahead of drop it behind! A mine spins vehicles out.
Barge- a close range attack that blasts vehicles away from you (think the giant speakers in Rush 2049 battle mode)
Bolt- Shoot 3 energy rounds to nudge your opponent off course (a bit disappointed in this one, I think they need to maybe up the number of rounds to make it viable)
Shunt- A powerful homing missile that flips cars into the air (my personal favorite)
Nitro- Intense burst of speed! Fire backwards to use as an airbrake! (pretty straight forward)
Shield- Protects from power up impacts and collision damage. (very useful)
Repair- After all the punishment a quick fix is always helpful (no lie!)


These are the power ups you will find along the race tracks during online play, they add some lovely spice to an otherwise boring race. You are able to hold 3 power ups at any given time, you can cycle through them to reach one you want to use and even ditch them on the track if you don't want them.

For the most part these power ups are deployed in front of your vehicle with the exception of the mine. You can however alter the default direction by pushing down on the left thumb stick to aim and shoot it at someone behind you, or do the opposite to throw a mine in front of you.

You can also use power ups to avoid incoming damage, and I'm not just talking about the shield. Other than being nimble you can employ a barge to destroy a shunt that is headed your way! This gives a bit of strategy to the game as well making it even more fun!

Along with the damage from power ups you also take damage by colliding with cars or obstacles around the track. If your car takes too much damage you will be "wrecked" and suffer a 3 second penalty, this is why repair is a very handy and useful power up. You also take a penalty if you end up spinning out of control (and therefore facing the wrong way) on the track as the game places you back on the track in a forward facing position. I am unsure whether this is intentional but I would much prefer to be able to correct my facing position myself rather than the time it takes for the game to correct it as the delay is a bit much as punishment.


RANKS

Ranks are gained via "fans" in online play by placing in races (higher place means more fans), damaging your enemies, doing "tricks" (long drifts, fastest lap etc) and avoiding power up damage (by dodging nimbly or using a power up to block damage).

At the end of each race your fan total will be counted and you can increase in rank. New ranks unlock more cars, races and mods.

MODS

Your rank can unlock mods.

Mods are modifications you can add to any of your vehicles that will either modify how much damage you do/take, how you gain fans, and whether or not you start with a power up. (one mod has a "bribe" modification that allows you to start with a non-offensive power up)

There are default mod sets such as "aggressive", "defensive", "show off" and you have the ability to modify the 3 actions each mod applies to your vehicle for further customization. This gives you the ability to adjust your vehicle to your play style which I find to be a great thing (I'm personally a "defensive" user).

CARS

Cars are unlocked with ranks.

As with nearly all racing games you can unlock new cars that have different handling, speed, acceleration etc. From what I have seen there are 4 sets of cars and only 1 set allowed per track. You are free to choose your car at the beginning of each race but only from the allowed set.
It is also possible to customize your car visually with different paint jobs that include not only color but some more special options which I currently do not have unlocked to test.

My Thoughts

Overall this game looks promising. I'm really enjoying the multiplayer mode and the screams and laughter that ensue from attacking your enemies or narrowly escaping an incoming shunt (I prefer to just call them homing missiles really..).
Everyone I played with seemed to also be having a good time and laughing it up. I honestly spent most my time in last place (even though I tend to do really well the first lap) but still enjoyed myself. It seems like one of those games where half the fun in getting attacked and plotting revenge, and that is the kind of fun I enjoy.