I HAS PC

I have been introduced to so many exciting, fun, and new words since I started blogging. Blogosphere. Blognation. Bloggery. Blogkind. On and on. You could probably put the word ‘blog’ in front of any noun, verb, or adjective and create a fun new word. I could see how it would get a little redundant.

I noticed this as I expanded my blogbrary and started reaching out to be more participatory in blogs. I quickly learned the more you put out (reading, commenting) the more you received in return on your own blog. Not that I’m a blogwhore or anything, but a lot of the fun part of blogging is when people read – and make their own comments – on your thoughts. The rest of the fun part is just writing in general.

The not-so-startling trend I notice, after only a few months of blogging, is that already when I read other blogs I am thinking “I wrote about that 2 weeks ago”. Of course my own posts are probably met with a lot of the same with the longer travelled, more established blogs.  This brings me to a few thoughts on blogging – and gaming in general. After the break.

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This is a cheap post. Just linking one of my older posts that wasn’t really ever read. Well, it WAS read, but only by people who were searching for rap lyrics on the internet. I was going through my google search links (always fun) to see what has driven people to the site and this was a big one. For rap. Not for marketing.

So, bringing it back to life because I am especially curious what people think about it who are now reading this blog.

I apologize in advance to anyone who is offended by rap and forced to read it, or for any links that may not be working within the rap context.

*I noticed some Google searches pushing people to this blog post. I DID find a solution (all on my own) and I posted it in my 2k9 forums thread – linked in the article below. GOOD LUCK if you are having the same problems!*

Customers suck, right?

We bitch and moan about EVERYTHING! Go read technical support forums. Whine whine whine. Threats – both against the company, and the people who are trying to help. Customers are impossible to please – so it is understandable that companies have varying degrees of how they do – and don’t – attempt to. I consider myself an “ideal” customer. I know things take time to remedy, and besides essential living services I give that time to be fair. I don’t make unrealistic or false threats. I know the people who are helping me are paid poorly, and have a specific job to do, in a manner that is typically scripted and must be followwed. (“Is it plugged in?” = le sigh). I am also competent enough with a PC that I generally just find my own fixes on the internet and make it work. I rarely contact customer support unless it is the last beacon of hope for me. The past three months I have contacted four different companies regarding software/hardware questions and problems and I am going to share my results with you – ranked from worst to best. There is a bit of a surprise here. After the break.

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I don’t really “review” games, and I am not going to start today either. Will keep it simple and sweet. If you like FPS’s, play L4D. If you like Co-op, it is well done. If you like opposing Co-op, it’s a great game. If you like Zombies, go buy it. If you like a base achievement system, ca-ching. If you like perfectly paced gameplay in the aforementioned settings, buy buy buy. I don’t throw the word perfect out a lot. Now that that is settled, I want to talk about the absoulte, most awesomest, fantastical gameplay mode in the entire universe that is also included in Left 4 Dead. After the break.

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Sheesh, where did the week go? It CAN’T be Friday already. I haven’t even started my week yet. I barely gamed all week, dabbling a bit in WoW, spent some good time in L4D, and attempted to workaround my Bioshock/Vista issue. Bioshock 2 – you will not be purchased. There are over 3000 replies on various threads on the 2K forums regarding the same problems I am having. You can blame FMOD, you can blame Vista, but I bought *your* product and it can’t be fixed without a patch. You are still selling the game, still support it. It was my first ever 2K game, and it will be my last if you don’t fix it (hell, at least tell me you are working on a fix instead of leaving my specific thread unanswered on your official Tech support boards for a week.) Just tell me you care. That is what customer support is.

Le Sigh. More depression after the break.

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To be honest I don’t get what most people hate about Monday mornings. I tend to work weekends, so there is definitely no rest for the wicked at ihaspc. My to-do list on Mondays is as long as any other day but I tend to ease into everyone else’s typical work week – check blogs, prioritize tasks (I know, the irony, considering that comes second) and catch up on emails. Usually Multitasked. I decided Mondays will be my little themed post where I ramble off a bunch of randoms. What better way to “start” the week?

RIP – Burning Crusade: Much how mauve is the new pink, Burning Crusade is the new Azeroth. Empty. Of every class except Death Knights. If you play by your tune and have a healer alt in the 60’s now is the optimum time to level that toon up – there are hundreds of Death Knights begging – and paying – for healers to work with them through instances. One group offered 100 gold for a basic Ramparts run. Of course, his name was Chucknorus so you might hold out for 200 gold. With everyone in the mad dash to be the first 80 (most classes/races have already hit that mark on server firsts on Whisperwind) I wonder if destroying old content areas such as Azeroth and BC gives Blizzard cost savings on server loads, etc. – that resources normally held to hold high populations in those zones. Perhaps abandoning that content is as much a business as a stupid move? On a side note, how in the hell is the Wow Armory service STILL in beta?

More after the break.

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Alternative title: So close yet so far.

I finally got by the WoW queue on my server and was able to experience the Death Knight class. The hour and a half quest chain in the Death Knight area was without a doubt one of the best Blizzard gaming I have ever enjoyed. The quests were fun, the storyline and lore were well done, heck, I was reading books on the ground in Ebon Hold. So how does Blizzard follow up the best hour and a half of gaming they have produced in a long time? With Epic Fail, of course! More after the break.

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I have a dirty little secret – I freelance some articles for a PC magazine (nothing cutting edge like, uhm, this blog or anything, but class and levelling guides and the like). I will write a different post about that experience as it has been fun and interesting at the same time. But for now, in typical freelance writer fashion, I am pushing a couple deadlines (that are pushing back) and I need some models. No previous experience necessary.

I am out of town on business and this laptop doesn’t allow me to play anything half decent. Which means, while my articles are pretty much all spiffed out and done, I can’t get the necessary pictures to accompany them. Which is why I am calling out for a little assistance.

I need in game pictures of Ironbreakers, Engineers, Runepriests, and Magus – (which one of these kids is doing their own thing?) In action, standing around, in compromising positions – whatever! High resolution preferred. Cleaner the better – no UI’s/Names etc where possible, but at this point I’ll take a good look at anything. I bet you are wondering what you will get out of it, besides helping such a great person such as myself <pause for laughter> and the definite global karma bonus - I will caption your character’s name in (everyone wants to be famous!) unless you want to remain anonymous. Please email action shots to founts@gmail.com.

Since I just published my gmail account I am sure I will end up on a bunch of spam-lists too – hey, with great responsibility comes great sacrifice.

And, no Tesh, Puzzle Pirates characters don’t count. Not for this month anyway.

You need treatment. You can wait two hours for a doctor to see you, or move to a low population hospital for free, where you were certainly see a doctor and get treated much faster on a more regular basis. 

The free ambulance ride to the other hospital takes 24 hours. If you pay us $25 bucks we will get you there in less than half the time.

Guess it’s true, you really get what you pay for.

Sorry, working on my Fox News type headlines.

With all the fun stuff going on in the markets, it’s nice to see the US banks getting a 700 Billion bailout package while continuing to freeze credit lines and stop lending credit altogether. It’s a good thing these guys didn’t help create their own situation with terrible lending practices, or that would be a kick in the nuts to the average citizen. (I did my major in Economics, so before you call me a complete noob, I do understand how it works. It is the perception that is going to piss off the average person.) The no strings attach approach is very short sighted though. Next up? The big 3! I wonder if the unions will go on strike if they don’t get a pay raise once Ford, GM, and Chrysler get their loans from the US government. (At least they are loans. Hey, it made the US people 300 million when they loaned out to almost bankrupt airlines, so this one has a chance of being sensisble. *chance*.)

In completely unrelated news, Blizzard got their 555 million dollar bailout package today, cleverly codenamed ‘Wrath of the Lich King’. Those financial folks crack me up with their fun little names. Let’s see if the servers hold.