Massive Nerd

It's been a while since I participated in a blogging-meme-thing.

Tamarind over at Righteous Orbs started it:

I notice that it’s a season for gift-giving, mulled wine, the warm fuzzies and what not … and, putting aside my bah humbug inclinations, I got to thinking, well, how can we can spread a little festive love around here? And, given how connective blogs are and how much we like tagging each other to write things, I came up with a Cunning Plan…

It’s basically a blog-content gift exchange (and it really needs a catchier title), and here’s how it works. If you’d like to play, leave me a comment and in return I’ll give you a subject, or ask you a question … and then you go away and blog about it. It doesn’t have to be a whole blog post, this is meant to be low pressure gift-exchange, but, you know, a comment or a paragraph, or a corner of a post (or a full post, if you want to really indulge me, or feel inspired). And if I suggest something crap or boring in which you have no interest, you can look at it as the equivalent of a pair of novelty socks, say “thank you very much, Tam” and throw it away entirely, and I’ll pretend not to notice and make a mental note not to get you novelty socks next year….

And then, if you feel like it, you can throw it open on your own blog, inviting people to comment if they’re will to blog on a subject of your choosing

Of course, these things spread, so here's my Christmas gift for Syrana.

She asked: "BESIDES Optimus Prime… who is your favorite Transformer and why?"

Soundwave.


First of all, he was the coolest toy. A tape deck (remember those?) that held OTHER Transformers shaped like cassettes. Since the cassettes were relatively inexpensive, I had crap-tons of them, but I never got my hands on the big guy himself.

In the show, he was the embodiment of "actions speak louder than words." But when he DOES speak, you better listen. Loyal to the end, he was Megatron's right hand.

Instead of blabbering on, here's a video:



I'll try to give ideas to any willing, but I fear socks may be in your future.

As previously mentioned, I'm pitching in with Sideshow and Syrana as part of Azeroth United's Child's Play charity drive through the #IBlameSyrana hashtag on Twitter.

We have met our original goal of 500 Tweets, so it's time for Syrana and I to pay up.

As a thank you for all involved, Swag Dog has donated several coupon codes. So, head on over and use code "childsplay455" to save 25% on your purchase between now and Saturday the 29th.

But it's not over, folks. Fulguralis and Fuubar have raised the bar, sponsoring the next 500 Tweets, and recently Pix has recently offered to sponsor a FURTHER 500.

We reached our first goal rather quickly, but have until December 13th to blame Syrana almost 1000 more times.

I know she's done plenty of things to everyone out there, so step it up, people!

The new patch is available for Torchlight.

A Borderlands PC tweak here. Items in the game can have more stats than displayed. Use this to decrease the font size and make them visible.

Joe (LodurZJ) posted a review of Champions Online over at For the Lore. Seems pretty in-line with mine, though he's played more extensively.

It's been a long time since I've done a weekly links post, and I think it's about time I got back into the routine.

70 Tips about Torchlight for Newbies, Part 1 and Part 2. Read it. Play it. Love it.

Announcement: World of Warcraft Raid for the Cure - Join BBB in the fight against breast cancer.

Assassin's Creed - Lineage (Part 1) - An awesome video bridging the gap between the first and second games.

Also, check out Episode 7 of For the Lore this week for me and the boys talking about Borderlands.

Time to man up.

Azeroth United has started a charity drive sponsoring the amazing Child's Play charity.

Granted, I don't write much about World of Warcraft any more, but I'm still Uniting with Azeroth in this one. Child's Play is an amazing charity that is worth it. Rarely do you find a charity where literally EVERY DOLLAR makes a difference.

I assume anyone reading this blog is familiar with Syrana. Her and Sideshow have stepped up to the plate, offering to pledge up to $100, based around the success of the #IBlameSyrana hashtag on Twitter. Every time someone tweets using that hashtag, it's money in the bank.

This puts me in an interesting situation.

I CREATED #IBlameSyrana

So, I have decided that I will match the contributions of $0.10 per tweet, up to a maximum of $50. It's the least I could do.

Fulgualis and Fuubar have also pledged their support. Between the lot of us, this brings the potential total to $0.50 per Tweet.

So, get out there! If you aren't on Twitter, there is no better time to join the party. If nothing else, revel in the fact that you're costing us money.

Calm down, ladies, none of the fun parts. However, you can now possess my voice, free to listen to at any time of your choosing.

Due to my incredible awesomeness, Roger was able to upload yesterday's podcast a full day earlier than usual.

Head over to For the Lore for the full information. The podcast is available on iTunes, as well as a direct download. Please leave some comments on the iTunes page to show these boys how much you love me.

Guess what, kids?

Spooner is busy doing... whatever it is that he does.

That means there's an empty chair over at the For the Lore Podcast. An empty chair that yours truly will be occupying this week.

So, TOMORROW, Monday, October 26th, I will be co-hosting the podcast alongside Roger and Joe. The pre-show starts at 6:45 PM Eastern, with the recording at 7... ish.

So, head on over to the Ustream channel and join us. Sign up if you want to chat, and let's show these boys what ol' Sammy can bring to the table.

I've had this post kicking around in my head for a few weeks now. So, why drop it now, in the middle of all my Aion coverage? As usual, I blame Syrana.

Yesterday, she wrote a wonderful post about online interaction, followed up by another good read from Byaghro.

What makes it so much easier to drop out of sight over the internet and not in real life? Well, I'm going to take a more sideways look at things. Strap in kids, because even I don't know where this ride is heading.

Many people just don't understand how people can form bonds over the internet, over the phone, or by any means of communication other than face-to-face. Honestly, they come from a different universe than the rest of us. By "us" I mean anybody taking the time to read this post of their own volition. This conversation is naturally going to attract the more... connected among us.

Let's face it, someone who takes the time to read and write blogs about freaking computer games likely comes from a different time. A time when you were DEFINED by your screen name. Back when bulletin boards and chat rooms were our primary, hell ONLY way to contact each other, you weren't YOU. You were your screen name. You were unique. You were who you wanted to be. If you actually had a webpage, it wasn't about YOU, it was about what you liked, what you were interested in, in hopes of attracting like-minded individuals.

For several years, I WAS Prometheus. Prometheus was not a role I played. That was me. Prometheus was all the parts of myself I wanted the world to see, without everything else attached.

Prometheus became Ralken, and Ralken was soon Samodean.

Am I Samodean? Yes. Is Samodean me? Not really. Samodean is my persona. Samodean is the mask that I show the world. Samodean is a part of me, but not the whole.

Today's generation of the "recently-connected" does not use a persona. (By generation, I mean in a social and technological sense, not age-related.) They are online as themselves. Their MySpace, FaceBook, LiveJournal, Twitter and WhateverTheHellElse reflect themselves. They're out there, with no shell to protect them. THIS is why they do not interact in the same way that we do.

Our personae allow us a certain freedom that they lack. Of course, there are two ways to use an online persona.

First, you could prove the theory. (Warning: dirty language) When unrestrained with consequence, these people choose to pursue their base instincts. They demonstrate the worst of Alpha Male (or Female) tendencies. They can be vulgar, racist and just downright sub-human. These are the people that play Halo 3 on Xbox Live. These are the people who hit on random female character in Goldshire. They don't care about anything, but rather, just want to live out the things online that they could never get away with in real life.

Conversely, there are many who take a small bit of that thinking and do something positive with it. They want their persona to be what they feel to be the best they could possibly be in real life, without certain problems holding them back. "Sam" and I are very similar. Sam is what I would be if I were more confident in life. Sam can pursue trains of thought where I would be bogged down with doubt.

There is nothing in Sam that does not also exist in me. Where does this "false life" get me? I find myself actually channeling the Samodean personality in life. These days, my coworkers get more "Sam" than they do of my true self. Does this mean, I'm acting as my persona in life? I'd like to think not. I like to think of it as me actually improving as a person. I'm actually gaining the confidence that I should have rightfully been mine my whole life.

So, where does all this chatter about personae get us? When I meet someone online, I am not meeting them. My persona is meeting their persona. The BEST of me is meeting the BEST of them. It is much easier to form a bond, as we do not fear any repercussions from it. If I am rejected, what does it matter? It's merely Sam that has not made a friend, not me. Sam gets over stuff like that easier.

The FaceBook crowd have no personae to put out front. They are who they are, and are such less likely to risk embarrassment or rejection.

When you meet someone in real life, you don't instantly put yourself out there. You slowly give out small parts of yourself, your personality. Does every person I meet know I love comic books and anime? Does everyone Syrana talks to know she's a closet Jonas Brother fan? No, there is a certain stigma attached to those things, and I refuse to suffer their judgment. Now, once I've gotten to know someone a little better, sharing small bits of myself, and learning bits of them as well, I may feel more comfortable sharing things with them. This is how people become friends.

This long, personal process is so valued, the connections we make so valued, we strive to keep them intact.

The e-friends we meet? Our Twitter followers and guildmates? Without the time and devotion of forming that personal bond, we really don't think twice about what happens when we lose contact. This does not mean we cannot form meaningful relationships online, it merely means we are less likely to. There are very, VERY few people I've interacted with online that I have ever shared anything personal with. When there was a final logout or server change, when they connection was lost for whatever reason, I felt it, the same I would if a real life friend moved away.

Author's Note: This post is being published unedited, with the exception of grammar and spelling. I want this preserved as what I think. Whether it makes sense to a reader or not, I cannot confirm. Whether it's actually informative to the issue presented, I hope. This is the inner thoughts of myself, not "Sam." It will probably be one of the few, perhaps only times I write as such.

I fail at many things.

I fail at not being completely awesome.

I fail at not being the best-looking person whenever I walk into a room.

Apparently, I also fail at quitting World of Warcraft.

A couple weeks ago, I announced that I had canceled my subscription, after several months of apathy.

Well, my account finally expires tomorrow. One small issue: I resubscribed yesterday.

What brought this about? Freaking Syrana. Her and several other bloggers had decided to form a Guild. Now, I will admit, Cataclysm has resparked a little interest in WoW for me. I always knew I'd get back into it at some point, I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

So, why so soon exactly? The idea of a fresh start. A new home for a new character on a new server with new friends. Despite my love for alts, I've never leveled one past 10 outside of Azjol-Nerub. So, the thought of a group of us starting fresh, without a stack of Gold in our pockets, without Heirlooms, without bloody Recruit-A-Friend was very enticing.

Now, this brings me to the concept of Brigwynism. You see, every time an expansion comes out, Brigwyn deletes his character and starts over again. Now, this may seem to be rather stupid, but I'm starting to see the appeal to it. For the last 2 expansions, and Cataclysm to follow, Blizzard overhauls large amounts of the game. New Talents, new stat usage, new Professions. For most of us, it's just click, click, click, let's-a go! However, by starting anew, Brigwyn gets to see these changes from the ground up. He gets to experience each one of them as it comes along.

How does Brigwynism affect me? Well, I've leveled about everything I want to: Warlock, Paladin, Hunter and Shaman. The other classes each have small hangups that prevent me from really getting into them. Well, starting fresh on a new server is my way to experience my classes anew. I almost wish I had done this on some of my characters previously. My Shaman was a wreck when 3.0 changed Strength to only grant 1 Attack Power instead of 2. What about my Warlock? In 4.0, he'll need Intellect. I NEVER gear for Intellect on my 'Lock. How much regearing will he need? Now, I can just roll a Worgen Warlock (say that 3 times fast) on Gilneas and really get an appreciation for how the class has changed in 4+ years.

So, to Syrana, Sideshow, Spooner and the rest of The Order, thank you. Thank you for making me realize why I fell in love with this game in the first place. This past weekend was the first time I've honestly, TRULY had fun in WoW in at least a year, probably more.