http://www.f4g.net/blogs/ Forums4Games, where you can chat about UO, WoW and other games. Or just post random nonesense en Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:48:38 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.f4g.net/images/2008/misc/rss.jpg http://www.f4g.net/blogs/ http://www.f4g.net/blogs/moturdrn/30-new-kit.html Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:08:17 GMT So the old mouse I had was starting to grow old. I've had it about a year (a personal record for myself) and the signs of aging started to show. Like a more elderly being, it couldn't quite remember where it was a few moments ago and caring more about shouting at the teenagers on the front lawn rather than doing anything. By teenagers I mean other players, and by front lawn I mean in the game. It developed a habit of making the cursor jump on the screen, usually in the opposite direction to what I moved it.

So I did what any loving, caring, human being would do when confronted with such a being. I put it in a home. By home, I mean bin.

Now whilst I'm replacing one bit of kit, I opted to replace another. For the past couple of years I've been using a Zboard. I will be honest here and say they are absolutely great. The ability to just remove the whole top part of the keyboard and change the layout is a fantastic idea. It is however riddled with bugs. One of those being pressing Return/Enter and the G key in quick succession results in the system registering a B and then a G key depress. There are others, but that bit of kit has at least been taken to the old keyboard's home as it's still somewhat useful.

So what replaced these bits of kit? The G15 Keyboard, and the G9 Mouse.



The mouse comes with 2 different cases (well, more like outer cases for the mouse) which have different purposes. One provides better grip, the other provides a bit more comfort. Like most gaming mice, it also has a weight tuning system, with up to 28g of weights that can be used at once (the weights also come in a nice snazzy tin!)

Like other gaming mice, it also has a high dpi... 3200dpi infact. That's 3, 2, 0, 0. 100 times 32. It's mental. On the top setting I only have to breathe on the thing and the cursor has shot off across the screen, and in the correct direction!

The keyboard is taking a little bit of getting used to, but it definitely feels more up to the task than the Zboard. The LCD screen has a variety of mods for it, for Teamspeak, Winamp, whatever. It could probably make the tea if I asked it to. I expect the tea would be awesome...


But seriously. THREE THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED. That's some boom headshots right there. ]]> Moturdrn http://www.f4g.net/blogs/moturdrn/30-new-kit.html http://www.f4g.net/blogs/moturdrn/27-random-musings-iphone-gaming.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:29:14 GMT Overall I've been pretty happy with my iPhone. Granted I get the usual delays or low reception, but I'm pretty much convinced these are problems with O2 (I remember a similar feeling about O2 when I switched to Orange.) That said there are a few things which would be great, and the top of those is Copy and Paste.

I happened to be talking to a workmate, when he mentioned he'd Jailbroken his iPhone... Again. He'd done it previously, but the potential gain from the 2.2 update meant having to restore from a backup, and upgrade to a version which at the time was not Jailbroken. However, he's now done it again, and seems rather chuffed with himself. To be fair, I don't blame him.

On one hand you have Apple, a large corporation with the motto, "You really don't want that, you want this. You want what we want, and don't care about yourselves. Look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes..." On the other hand you have a community of developers salivating to be able to expand upon this platform, and expand they do.

With his Jailbroken iPhone he managed to get hold of a keyboard extension through Cydia (essentially one of the the jailbroken app stores) which allowed copy and pasting. Granted, it only worked for editable text boxes where you could place a cursor, but it was there. It also came with the ability for templates, so those "I'll be late" texts can be sent with only a few touches on the screen.

If Apple have no wish to develop such an application then fair enough, but allow developers a little more freedom. You can always pull apps from the store, or reject it from the start if you so wish, but the ability could then be there without other resorting to jailbreaking their iPhones.

Gaming... I was sent an email from CCP about an EVE account I had open ages ago, telling me I could re-activate it for five free days (why did you not tell me about this, becy?) After playing game after game where you levelled up, I felt in the mood for something different. My recent trip back into UO hadn't done much else except make me realise that I was losing so much a month to a game I didn't play but kept the account open. So I decided to take up the offer. I re-activated and started downloading and installing before I went to work. 2 days later I started it up to play. Not that it took 2 days to download and install, that was done fairly quickly. The screen gets past the login prompt, and I'm soon treated to my ship in the spacestation where I left it. I took a moment to re-adjust to life as a space pilot again, and undocked. I set course for a random asteroid belt, partly because I remember low level npc rats (pirates) would sometimes appear and harrass miners, partly because I really didn't know what else to do at the time. I found nothing so set course for the space station where I'd stashed surplus ammunition incase I needed to reload, or got the ship destroyed. 15 jumps later I'd started talking to a friend I got playing over a year ago. He'd turned Pirate, although I was disappointed with the low bounty on his head. After 6 more jumps, and telling him off for not being more notorious, I went off to get a drink and some food. I didn't return, and got booted out.

I still haven't returned, my ship will have flown off in a random direction before disappearing from the game world, and my free time has run out. It just didn't grab me like it once did.

Unlike another game. I quit WoW last year. I'd be on for a day or two a week, then get burnout and not play again. I literally couldn't bring myself to logon, and I began to feel that I only played due to the people I knew. It began to feel pointless, and like 'that' South Park episode.

So there I was, happily outside the game. I managed to offload an account, although I kept my main one. I had no intention of returning, I just didn't want anyone else with that character. Fast forward a while. I'd been asked constantly if I'd be returning, and MSN windows would pretty much all be looking like "so you want to group up again in WOTLK?" I laughed them off, I had no intention of playing again.

WOTLK was released, and I didn't jump out and buy it, not straight away at least. Those who know me, also know now and then I really can't sleep. It's not constant, but I can't relax and rest when it happens, I need something to do. My mind began drifting back to things I'd previously done when this happened, and WoW was in there. 1 moment of being unable to sleep, 1 moment of weakness, and I bought the upgrade online. Within next couple of hours the game had been installed and patched, and the account was active and ready. I went in feeling this would be a waste of money, that within the week I'd be gone again. I'm still playing.

I don't see it as a grind, and I don't see it like 'that' South Park episode either. I play when I want to, not when I feel I should. I don't play for others for the sake of it, or feeling they depend on me being there (being pretty much the only geared Tankadin at the time I quit, with a guild doing Hyjal) to play. I can play and have fun. Most importantly, I can put it down and go away.

As it stands, I've not been in for almost a week. I've been spending time being social, and also being with the other half. She's even said that I can play if I want to, and she'll watch and be nosy asking questions, but even then I've not had the pressing urge to play, yet in the next few days I will (not because she's gone, but because I want to play.)

WOTLK brought a refreshing aspect of the game to me, and I really enjoyed the levelling experience. The way quests were strung together, the way phasing was used to advance quests or change the landscape as I saw it due to my actions. When I first went to Icecrown, the only hubs available were the Argent Vanguard (just outside of the main Icecrown area), and Orgrim's Hammer (the Horde's giant floating warship.) The Argent Vanguard changed as I progressed through the quests, and shortly thereafter I was helping to establish a new foothold in Icecrown which became a new quest hub. All in all, it doesn't feel like the WoW I quit and planned never to return to. ]]> Moturdrn http://www.f4g.net/blogs/moturdrn/27-random-musings-iphone-gaming.html http://www.f4g.net/blogs/snubson/16-wotlk-start.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:31:54 GMT So far...played a bit on the deathknight and it looks good, usable and easy enough to get used too. Blood spec tends to be the favourite for 99% of... So far...played a bit on the deathknight and it looks good, usable and easy enough to get used too. Blood spec tends to be the favourite for 99% of people from the looks of it..purely for the 2h damage and self healing stuff its capable of doing. The questing start area and areas surrounding, seem good and well made, even some damn good lore and ingame cutscenes involved..

...now heading for northrend with snub ]]> Snubson http://www.f4g.net/blogs/snubson/16-wotlk-start.html http://www.f4g.net/blogs/the-c-i-a/11-what-wonderful-world.html Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:20:27 GMT I see trees of green........ red roses too I see em bloom..... for me and for you And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world. I see skies... I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
Theyll learn much more.....than Ill never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world ]]> The C.I.A http://www.f4g.net/blogs/the-c-i-a/11-what-wonderful-world.html http://www.f4g.net/blogs/aeribian-iv/10-jim-dragon.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:52:07 GMT Jim was a farmer, he didn't like being known as a farmer, so he went out and slew some dragons.

Then he became known as Jim the Farmer who slew Dragons

The Morale is, no matter how many dragons you slay, you'll always be a farmer. You loser ]]> Aeribian IV http://www.f4g.net/blogs/aeribian-iv/10-jim-dragon.html