Opening with Aimed Shot?2010-03-16 00:00:00more often, aimed shot or not. This changes
and resets when you hit 40 because you learn a new growl again.
As long as you are not currently pulling aggro, there is no reason not to open with an aimed shot.
Hell, even at 60 I would solo really hard mobs using the tact...
PAX 2007 In A Nutshell2010-02-21 00:00:00culture,
and humor of gaming. The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) once again brought together fans of the influential webcomic for a festival that, without even trying, seems to be taking the place of old E3. Though they were expecting around 30,000 people, the word was that by early Sunday they'd already gone through some 40,000 badges. There were DSes everywhere, concerts at night, a packed exhibit hall,
and benchmark comic strips created by Mike Krahulik
and Jerry Holkins adorned almost every wall. Despite all the people
and the noise, somehow the event had a community feel to it that was hard to underst
and ...
and even harder to describe. I'll try, though, along with impressions from games on the show floor
and the incredible music of folks like Jonathan Coulton
and the Minibosses. Read on,
and All Hail Ball.
The Early Weekend
If you missed my discussion of Friday's events, it's underst
andable; it went up this past Saturday. Suffice it to say that Wil Wheaton's keynote speech was the highlight of the evening. His praise of social gaming,
and the relationship-building power of the PAX-goer's favorite pastime resonated incredibly well with the packed theatre. The after-action report on his blog says it all: "My keynote went perfectly,
and the audience (
and the gaming press online) responded to it in ways I never dreamed possible. I didn't think there would be slightly more than 5000 people in the room when I spoke ..."
The first Penny Arcade Panel featured a lot of middlin' questions, highlighted by the incredible singing power of Jerry Holkins. A description of his performance is in my weekend update, but the real surprise didn't come until after the questions were done. The end of the panel turned ugly when the PA gents left the stage for Uwe Boll to have a chance at the mike. Gabe said later that weekend that he was surprised by the crowd reaction. "You can tell when a crowd is angry,
and this was the first time I've felt that at at PAX." The unapologetic Boll was screamed at fairly mercilessly by the attendees.
Other events from the early weekend included a discussion of modern storytelling in videogames. Luminaries Ron Gilbert (Monkey Isl
and), Dave Grossman (Sam
and Max)
and Nate Fox (Sly Cooper) came together to jaw on a topic near to their hearts. The group discussed linear stories vs. s
andbox-style gameplay, user-created content, kids games,
and the importance of theme even if your core story isn't all that great: "Grossman [said], 'Well, story isn't just about dialogue
and narrative, right - I mean really you want to learn something about the human experience. I think th...
9/11 - Five Years Later2009-09-17 00:00:00some of them. While you are formulating your e-mails today take a minute
and visit our br
and-spanking new, heavy on the spanking Gods And Heroes community.--Today rather than make my usual feeble attempt at humour I will keep the main body of this column serious. Five years ago today al-Queda attacked the United States of America by flying several aircraft full of civilians into civilian targets.I am not an American. I am a Canadian, but no matter what petty squabbles we have
and no matter what is said across a cup of coffee or a mug of beer by the respective populations, Americans
and Canadians are brothers. When al-Queda attacked the twin towers in New York City they attacked our family. I can think of no two other nations with the incredible relationship that the United States
and Canada share. One needs only look to the...
