Joe Gamer

With that grand title, I begin my mini-review of Starcraft 2!

Starcraft 2 has been a long time coming.  The original Starcraft was released on PC way back in 1997 and continues to be one of the gaming world’s giants.  People still play the multiplayer game.  South Korea holds tournaments that rival NFL games in the US.  There are TV channels that show replays of games!  Easily one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Starcraft 2 does not disappoint.

I will admit it, I suck at RTS games.  Real Times Strategy games (or RTS’s) involve management of troops and resources to outmaneuver the other player.  On a minor level (like the one I play at) this involves building buildings, amassing troops, and throwing people at the opponent until one or the other gives up.  On a more professional level this involves macros (button combinations that do multiple things at once) and a nice stat I like to call “apm” or actions per minute.  Yes, professional Starcraft players measure how many actions they can perform in a minute.  When I say “enough” they say “200″ or some other number I can’t imagine.  Thinking on that as well as my… 5:4000 win/loss ratio (similar to most anything I do), when I say I enjoy Starcraft 2, I really mean it.

I have played a great deal of the single-player Vs. AI segment.  Wanting to get better in multiplayer, I figured I would attempt to practice against the computer.  Let’s just say I haven’t been able to eke out a win on “medium” yet (but I feel like I’m improving!).  Other than the new units and buildings, the three races of Stacraft, the human Terrans, the buglike Zerg, and the technological Protoss, all play just like they did back in 1997.  The beauty of the game is in polish and production values, though, which really shine in the single player campaign mode.

Unlike the original Starcraft where you play through all three races, Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty have you playing as Terran renegade Jim Raynor as he fights the evil Terran Dominion and its leader Arcturus Mengsk.  Lasting around 30 missions, the single player missions provide various objectives that tend to go above and beyond “kill the other player” and often give you a choice that effects the outcome of the story.  Between missions the player can explore Raynor’s ship, play minigames and experience entirely optional exposition on the story that a singularly bloody-minded player may ignore, but a more story-focused player would definitely enjoy.

I have certainly enjoyed my time sucking at Starcraft.  The single player (both against AI and story mode) have been excellent so far and I want to continue in order to get the full experience.  When I get in to the multiplayer aspect, they actually have a 50 round “training bracket” for losers like me that are either terrible enough to warrant some training time or people who are new to the game.  I’ll let you know how I do with that as soon as I start playing multiplayer for real, but it may be a while before I gather up the courage!

I entirely recommend Starcraft 2 with a 9/10.

© 2010, Jeff Hollingsworth. All rights reserved.

So as those of you who read Joe Gamer on a regular basis know, I fight real hard for the acceptance of 4th edition as a suitable form of D&D.  Fighting against cries of “it’s just a wargame” and “might as well play World of Warcraft,” I sometimes get exasperated and flustered trying to make sure people know I’m not just a “pretend” gamer, but someone whose opinion matters in the public square (good luck on that, eh?).  Well today, while picking up the Campaign Guide for 4th Edition Dark Sun, I saw a new book from Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood!

For the whole 2 of you that don’t know, Forgotten Realms is the premier Dungeons and Dragons setting.  It is an idyllic world of high fantasy and magic, often beset by evil deities, monstrous creatures and vile masterminds.  The Realms had always been protected by its legendary heroes, such iconic fantasy heroes as the wizard Elminster and the drow (dark elf) Drizz’t Do’Urden.  However, with the release of 4th edition D&D the mechanics of the game changed a good deal and (to the developers) required the Realms to change.  Thus a catastrophe called the Spellplague erupted with the death of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra.  Now the world is scarred and the massive amount of deities vying for power has been cut down drastically.  Faerun (the continent most of the Realms’ stories take place on) is a darker place, the roads between the cities much more dangerous.  Needless to say, many people were upset with the changes to their beloved setting, and it was one of the many reasons people bring to me against 4th edition.

I’ve long since wondered what Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Realms, thought of the new version of the setting.  Despite being on the cover as an author of the updated setting, there were rumors he was unhappy that his beloved world had been harmed.  I am here to tell you, this is not true!  He has recently begun writing articles for Dungeon and Dragon magazine called Realmslore, where he describes an event, person, group or item in the new Realms.  By that I mean Ed Greenwood not only created the Forgotten Realms, but he was integral in the newest update as well as continues to support this new product!  I read this interview relating to his newest novel, Elminster Must Die! that shows just how not angry he is with the new setting:  http://www.flamesrising.com/elminster-must-die-greenwood/

I’ve heard people say the new edition in general spits on the traditions and ideas of the past, but Greenwood’s continued support of the Realms gives me hope for the future.  It’s nice to know I am not the only fan of the edition or at least the background info that accompanies the edition.

Am I completely off base?  Is Greenwood just pretending?  Have I made a good point?  Tell me in the comments!

© 2010, Jeff Hollingsworth. All rights reserved.

I’ve just started playing a paladin in a Pathfinder game my friend Shaphan runs. Every time I play a paladin I have this theme music playing in my head. So I thought I might as well adjust it slightly to fit. Enjoy.

Sung to the theme of the 50′s/60′s western, Have Gun Will Travel.

© 2010, Joseph Little. All rights reserved.

Sweet, unassuming slacker Scott Pilgrim recently had his heart broken.  The 23 year old Canadian has lived in a slump for nearly a year, but things are looking up!  His band doesn’t suck as bad anymore and he recently brought home a 17-year old Chinese-Canadian girlfriend, Knives Chau.  Things are easy and life is simple… that is until the vibrantly fashionable Ramona Flowers rollerblades her way into his dreams, literally.  Suddenly confronted with true love, Scott has a choice: grow up and date the woman of his dreams or continue to be the lackluster slacker he has always been.  However, dating Ramona has a caveat: Scott Pilgrim must fight and defeat Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes!

Combining a cute 20-somethings romance with insane video game references and off-the wall humor, the Scott Pilgrim series by Canadian cartoonist Brian Lee O’Malley is one of the biggest surprises this year.  A few months ago I had never heard of the quirky graphic novel.  I happened upon it while watching the movie Kick-Ass in the theater where I saw the trailer for the movie adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, named after the second book.  I was a little taken aback; the trailer began as a sweet, breezy romance about a normal guy and a girl with pink hair… until the guy flies in from the roof during Scott’s first concert and challenges him to a battle.  Yes.  He flies in.  Literally.  Not only that but sound effects are emoted like the old Adam West Batman series (thock! smack! pow!) as well as an announcer that bellows “KO” at the end of a fight!  It seemed a little too goofy and I put it in the back of my mind.  I steadily started to see more about it and after the second trailer that shows Chris Evans and Brandon Routhe as Evil Exes, I was sold.

I purchased the first two graphic novels and read through them both in an evening before proceeding to do whatever I could to get my grubby hands on the others.  I don’t read many graphic novels due to the cost and length of many series but I certainly made an exception for Scott Pilgrim.  I now own all six volumes and do not regret it, not one bit!

The series is pretty light-hearted with good moments of mature themes as Scott matures into his ill-conceived relationship with Ramona.  Video game references litter the stories, from a “pee” bar when he uses the restroom to the name of his bands (old band is named after an old Sega Genesis game “Kid Chameleon” and his new band is “Sex Bob-omb”).  Logic is thrown right out the door with Japanese roboticists and vegan psychics and all with a kind of tongue-in-cheek reality that seems to ask the reader “What?  Your world isn’t like this?”  It’s all really funny and spastic but the author does not let the witty banter and pop culture references get in the way of telling the story of young love.  Young, stupid, wonderful love.

I admit I liked Scott Pilgrim because I can relate to him.  He’s my age with my sensibilities.  I’m not as lazy or stupid as him, but I get the references and humor as if he were a good friend of mine.  I’ve read that people over the age of 25 would not like it because it feels like an “ADD induced MTV product” but since I neither have ADD or any love for MTV, I don’t really get it.  Instead I would say anyone who enjoys funny stories about the humor of love written by a nerd for nerds, please please give these books a try.  Besides, I know several guys over 25 that love the series anyway!

Comments?  More Scott Pilgrim reviews and previews to come!

© 2010, Jeff Hollingsworth. All rights reserved.

With a fierce roar, the five headed beast melted from this reality, first its body and tail, then each of its five chromatic heads.  Quiet settled on the ruins of Drellin’s Ferry and the weight of their accomplishment fell on the party.  The two giants fell honorably against the Aspect of Tiamat but peace had finally come to the Elsir Vale.

Death, however, could not hold the Heroes of the Elsir Vale.  Trellara Goldenbrow prayed to the Sun God Pelor to revive the fallen heroes: Longstrider and Dustwalker.  The kind hearted god of compassion granted her request and returned the two to the material plane.  In reward for the adventurers’ accomplishment, the city of Brindol granted Vraath Keep to the Heroes, and several villagers agreed to help build a settlement around the keep to establish a guard for the Northern Pass.  Not content to settle down, however, most of the group split ways.  The bonds they developed while traveling were too powerful to keep them apart and therefore they never left each other for long.

Umon the psion stayed at Vraath Keep to rule the new settlement and continued to develop his mental abilities.  Aisha the Dragon Shaman returned to her Copper Dragon patron to bring him the heads of the dragons she’d slain and to continue to serve her liege.  Imzy the kobold druid, satisfied that killing the Aspect of Tiamat really had made her a ‘dragon’, accompanied Dustwalker to his desert home, marveling at nature as she went.  Dustwalker had found the psionic crown that had been stolen from his people.  He returned to his home in the far desert to wrest control from the weak leadership that had plagued his tribe for years.  Finally Longstrider, the contemplative goliath whose ever step worshiped the carefree god of travel, Fharlanghn, began to walk.  His steps took him to lands far and wide, and his fists protected the weak of world for as long as he could move, never sleeping under the same roof for long.

I hope you excuse this little aside here from me.  We just finished the module “The Red Hand of Doom” and I had an itch to write the epilogue on paper.  This is the most closure I have ever felt in a D&D game.  Though my character, Dustwalker, died during the final encounter, knowing he was able to be resurrected and finish his expressed goals meant a lot to me.  JoeGamer and I will be starting Pathfinder this week and it will be my first encounter with the system.  Look for thoughts on Pathfinder later this week.

Also, for those of you that will be playing 4e Darksun with me in the next few weeks, start thinking of a character concept.  Be wary of arcane classes, as magic is considered extremely taboo on Athas, but I will not ban them.  We will be rolling stats instead of using point-buy (since that’s what everybody is used to and likes) and I will only allow classes, races, feats, powers, and items from books I own.  So if you read a char-op thread somewhere that has something from a book I don’t own or an issue of Dungeon or Dragon magazines, it is not allowed.  Have a great week!

© 2010, Jeff Hollingsworth. All rights reserved.