Week of Warcraft

It has been one week since I've blogged. I haven't been doing anything interesting besides staying home and playing both the Warcraft III Campaign and DotA.

*Cries* I need to go out more.

But I'll probably end up buying something to stay home and play again.

WarCraft III: DotA @ Home

I managed to get the Warcraft III Battle Chest from Sim Lim (at a reasonable S$68, too!). Now I have the leisure of playing/testing the game at home on BattleNet instead of having to go to the LAN shop all the time.

I am having quite a difficult time with the game. The learning curve is very steep. I've cycled through a quite few heroes before I settled on trying out the Medusa. Since I've heard she's supposed to be overpowered, she can somewhat buffer my inexperience as I learn until I find a character I really like. I find it very hard to get any kills so I'll just settle for dying as little as I can.

However, every time I chose the Medusa, people will automatically expect the player behind her to be an expert. They'd ask stuff like, "Medusa, are you pro?", but of course, I am an honest guy, so I just say, "No". Then everyone will go like "Then why the hell are you playing Medusa?" or "You playing Medusa is a waste". It happened several times already and my last game had the worst insults hurled at me ever. I guess I can't carry on using the Medusa if I don't want to give myself a bad name as 'the newbie who tried to act pro by playing an imbalance character'. It's quite demoralizing if I can't play a game in peace.

I guess I'll try to look for a hero that does not stand out too much (like in the case of Medusa here). I wouldn't want to be the centre of attraction in every DotA game I play.

My Weekend

I went to the VS PCQ today but I didn't join it. The format was Marvel Modern Age and I had no confidence in using a deck that I did not seriously play-test prior to the tournament. Instead, I've been enjoying myself playing Golden Age.

I arrived at Suntec at around 2:00 pm and went straight to the usual room. It was then I realized that the location had been changed to a different room. I tried calling Orchi but ended up finding the room myself since it was hard to miss the gigantic Wolverine standee.

Amerell and Fengokill both joined the Sealed deck event, whereas Jeffrey and KelvinSoh both participated in Constructed. I heard that Jeffrey managed to get into top 8. That lucky guy is probably happy with his EA Teen Titans Go. I left halfway with Amerell and Fengokill because we all had nothing to do.

I wanted to hunt for the Warcraft III Battle Chest. None of the shops in Suntec had it, so we went to Funan Centre. They still didn't have it, so we had dinner at Pastamania. After that, I wanted to play LAN. Amerell wanted ice cream. Fengokill just wanted to go home. So we all left for AMK.

I played more DOTA at Raiders. This time, I learnt a few simple item receipes to try out. It was a 5v5 game and pretty fun. I used the Drow Ranger, but somehow, I think I don't know how to use it well. I guess I am just not used to ranged characters. Perhaps I should choose a melee character. I hate running away like a little girl every time I get hit a few times.

The X-Men

I have been spending the past few days watching the old X-Men cartoon series that I've borrowed from Amerell. i never realized that it was sooo old (aired from 1992-1996)! It's 5 seasons long and I found the story to be surprisingly good, even by today's standards. I also enjoyed playing 'spot the character that has a VS card' with myself whenever a new character appeared. It was fun to learn the story and flavor behind each character, too. The big downside was the show's final 6 episodes which had atrocious animation quality because Marvel filed for bankruptcy at that time and had to contract a cheaper studio to do it. I fast-forwarded most of these episodes because they disgusted me.

With that aside, I started watching X-Men: Evolution. I was rather surprised when I realized that the main characters had become high school kids/teenagers. The only adults were Xavier, Storm and Wolverine. Sabretooth looks cool with his clothes straight out of the movie, but some of them has undergone major re-designs and seem very very wrong. Avalanche is a cool-looking delinquent; Magneto is portrayed as being very sinister and evil. It's all very weird, yet very cool at the same time. All the characters have a cutesy look. I can't imagine how Apocalypse or the Sentinels looks like (provided they appears in the series).

Today is Thursday. It has been weeks since I have been to Midpoint Orchard for their Thursday VS tournaments. Today, I went with Amerell. We had dinner at Burger King to satisfy my craving for Taro Turnover. Incidentally, they had a choice of a free side dish with any deal, so I got my taro for free today. It was very filling and I felt my tummy almost bursting.

When it was time, we went up to the shop (whose name I still don't know cos' they don't have a signboard). I was rather surprised to see Bahamut, Orchi and Jeffrey there, and Kyo joined us later. I was using my TNB Blitz deck today instead of the usual Common Enemy because I did not want to stress myself out too much. Playing TNB is great fun; I think I am beginning to like these bad guys. I guess it probably had something to do with all the X-Men cartoons I've been watching.

I shall conclude my blog entry here, but I'll leave the VS game snippets for those who want to read it below. Penguin signing off.

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Match 1: Vs. KelvinSoh (Curve Sentinels)
I joked with him that I was using his old deck (he used to play TNB, too) cos' Magneto wants revenge for abandoning him for Sentinels. He replied, "I still play with Magneto; he's just bigger." Nimrod on the 5th turn was rather difficult to handle; I ended up having my entire board stunned in an attempt to stun Nimrod and the Mark V. I popped Genosha 3 times without any Magneto in play and I died a natural death when his 'bigger Magneto' came out. I'm gonna add Flying Kicks next time; Sentinels formations gives me problems in my attack.

Match 2: Vs. Timothy (Sinister Syndicate/Crime Lords)
He was using a Modern Age deck, so I couldn't consider it a fair match. I had 2 "TNB"s in play by turn 2 and he joked, "If you flip up a 3rd one, I'm calling the judge." I thought I was in great trouble when he got Latverian Embassy out. I kept pondering over it before I stupidly realized that I cleanly forgotten about Avalanche's ability. His Geraci Family Estate kept me at bay for a few turns (I felt I was in trouble when he still had 40+ life on turn 3), but I managed to win.

Match 3: Vs. Orry (Rigged Elections)
Now I finally know who Orry is; his nick on VSRealms is so similar to his real name. Before the match began, I suspected that he was playing Rigged Elections already because KelvinSoh told me about an opponent who played such a deck at CharKwayTeow last weekend. During the game, I Not-So-Fasted his Wild Ride. He asked me why did I choose to counter it and I replied, "It's probably the only thing in your deck that can be Not-So-Fasted." He was like, "Damn, I was gonna search for Mikado & Mosha". I discarded The Mutant Menace for it, which I kinda regretted later. It was hard to damage him through battle, so any extra burn would've helped. Anyway, I attacked as much as I could, but he won on turn 6 during his Build Phase.

“I would like to thank the voters, who have made their choice clear.”

Match 4: Vs. Reno (Teen Titans)
He Overloaded me on the 2nd turn which got me worried that he had more while I didn't draw any Not-So-Fast. Nothing exciting happened. I only remembered using Destiny, Savage Land and Sabretooth. Played normally and won on turn 5.

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TNB Blitz is fun. At first I thought it'd be another one of those '30-minute' decks I make, but right now, I am considering playing it as main.

Quiet Monday at AMK

I went to AMK today and only Amerell was there. There was no other soul in sight. We played some VS and he bought a box of Marvel Knights. Andy opened it together with us and we agreed that it was possibly the best box of MMK ever cracked opened. It had 2 Wild Rides (one of which is foil), 1 Weapon of Choice, and all the MK high drops (Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, Luke Cage). I playfully grabbed both Wild Rides, looked up at the sky and said, "I demand an explanation for this!" Andy also teased him, telling him that he could resell the box to the store if he wasn't happy with it.

Uncle and Auntie weren't around today so I didn't have a ride home. The shop closed early and I didn't feel like going home so soon. (I only reached there at like 6:30 pm.) He suggested going over to his home for a while, to which I agreed. I was gonna take back my Spiderman: Maximum Carnage comic books and borrow his complete X-Men and X-Men: Evolution CDs. The CDs came in a little binder and neatly organized according to episodes with labels, too. I didn't expect it to be so orderly; I thought he was just gonna give me a pile of CD cases. hehe. I watched him play some DOTA before I left. It seems like such a fun game and not as deeply complicated as the regular RTS mode. Perhaps I can try it out at LAN shops for fun since no more really plays Counterstrike much anymore.

I was having a hard time thinking what to do for the week so good thing I have the X-Men cartoons to keep me busy now.

Weekend Wrap-Up

[ Saturday ]

I went to AMK. Wasn't interested in watching the DM tourney because I dislike seeing a game of who can overrun his opponent with more gayish imbalance luck. In DM, skills and strategy get thrown out the window when the moves you make are governed by the power of the broken cards that you draw. While DM is a fun distraction, I don't regard it as a serious card game anymore. And not to mention the quality of good-manners DM players are decreasing; compared to them, Reno looks like an angel.

Anyway, I watched the movie, The Pacifier, with everyone. It was a nice and enjoyable show, but for some strange reason, I was a bit prejudiced once I saw that it had "Walt Disney" in the title. From then on, I knew that there would be no fatal violence (you know, like guy gets bashed in the face by a heavy object and still lives without any injury). Other than that, the comedic elements were pretty good.

At night, Shadow-chan came to surprise us all. (I almost thought he was a legend that only existed on MSN. *gasp*) Oh, well. I didn't do much except to look into his bag of goodies and saw the PS2 games that he brought for Miyamoto.


[ Sunday ]

I woke up in the afternoon. I had nothing to do, so I went to the Pasir Ris Library. This was the first time I've been in a public library in probably a very long time. The reason was because one of the VS players told me that he has been borrowing Marvel comics from the library. The place was pretty nice but I checked the computers and realized that this particular branch didn't have any comics. What a boring place. At least they have a cool little cafe.

I dropped by at Orchard after that to pick up another issue of Tuxedo Gin. I also checked to see if they had the newly-released Shining Force Neo manga. I was told it'd arrive probably a couple of weeks later.

I arrived at AMK in the evening. Drafted more than 3 times with KelvinSoh & friends since I kept getting crap and thought that my luck with rares will change. I got all crap in all 3 drafts, whereas KelvinSoh & friends kept cracking open power rares like The Source. Our draft lasted late until after the store closed so I had to take a cab home. I don't think I'll ever dare to draft again.

Completed SFNeo

I woke up today and decided to play Shining Force Neo to the end. The fun thing about the game is that it keeps an 'adventure log', so you know what you did during which point of time in the game. I realized that I actually spent 20+ hours training for the final few dungeons. Oh, well. Time of completion: 55:57 HRS, Level 131.

The ending was good. I am the sort that gives minimal spoilers, so feel free to read on. But if you absolutely loathe spoilers, then shield your eyes and skip the text in red.

Following the final battle, 'something' happens to Max and Vandolf. They are both alone and starts a heartwarming conversation. We get to know more about Vandolf; his past, his motivations. Finally, Vandolf does his first (and last) good deed before he... Well, let's just say all villains always come to no good end.

All this was accompanied by some touching music. With such a compelling and heartwarming plot to the end, I guess that is why most game advertisments touted the game as a "an RPG that calls out to the heart". I felt all choked and slightly teary as I tried my best to follow the ending.

Other than that scene, the rest of the ending was pretty blah. It left me wondering if the rest of my party members were 'extras' that didn't deserve any screen time.

Oh, well. the game is over. I had a blast playing throught he game for the past week. I am back to being bored again. Need to find new distractions to keep myself entertained. *Sniff*

Friday Bloggie

I finally managed to get to the final dungeon in Shining Force Neo. The pace picked up again and my interest got rekindled since it was no longer just mindless training to level up (which I've done for the past 20+ hours of game time). Kudos to the writers who can still come up with a cool & touching plot twist at this point in time. I must mention that Hoshi Souichiro (Kira, Gundam SEED) is in the game and he voices the main villain, Vandorf. Mr. Souichiro is doing an excellent job; it has been quite a while since I hated a video game character because he has done so many friggin' evil things and deserves to die.

Anyway, I only played Dark Castle (yup, practically every Shining game has a 'Dark Castle') a little before I decided that I should spend the rest of my day going out. I didn't want to rush and finish the game too soon. It's quite ironic - a few days ago, I was dying to finish the game, but now, I am afraid of finishing it cos' it'll mean that I'll have nothing to play after that. *Sigh*

I dropped by at Absolute Comics at Bugis Junction. Was planning to get the complete set of Tuxedo Gin, but since I was going to AMK, I didn't want to carry all of it around. I just picked up the latest issue of Darkstalkers instead and even bought an old issue that I already have just because it had a cooler cover. *drool* (... at Talbain, not Felicia. I'm not a perv. Really.)

When I arrived at AMK, the usual VS TCG bunch were there. David (the office guy) brought his friends, too. I'd usually join them in draft but I just felt lazy. (I also didn't really like some of the 'noisy' people.) My draft luck has been horrendous since the beginning of time anyway. Oh, well. At least Darius won, so now I know who to buy an Extended Art Doomstadt from.

I reached home at night and played more SF-Neo. I thought I'd just play till I reach the room before the final boss room, then turn in early for the night. Little did I know that I actually took 3 & a half hours to get there. I'll probably continue on Saturday. I'll probably wake up real late again. Unhealthy sleeping habits. *sigh*

Games, Games, SFNeo

I've been playing Shining Force Neo every day from dawn to dusk ever since I got it. The game is very tough. The maps are massive and the enemies are very challenging (or cheap?). I am beginning to develope thumb cramps and a big headache.

The story is great. It's what keeps me going, but now I'm at the end. No more plot twists/fascinating developments equals to less drive to play. I am 30+ hours into the game, but some guy on GameFAQs claimed that he had to train to near 70 hours just to level up to beat the last few bosses. I really hope he's either exaggerating or he's bad at the game.

But I really should go out more. A little bit of sun once in a while is good for the health.

Week in Review

Stuff I did this week.

Wednesday

I was a bit disappointed that Max didn't manage to find SFN for me, so I stayed home to kill time by playing Devil May Cry 1 & 2. Finished both games within a day. DMC1 was still pretty cool by today's standards whereas 2 was still lame. I also realized that Dante didn't speak much in DMC1 & 2. DMC3 has given him soooo much character development with all his lines.

Thursday

It's my birthday. I had no plans whatsoever so I went to AMK. Chris told me that my SFN will be arriving the next day. It seems that he had ordered it for me last month already because I posted the pre-order in his forum. *Gasp* Talk about excellent service. Looks like I don't have to buy the game off Lik-Sang.com after all.

Friday

While surfing the net in the morning, I came across a joke topic at the GameFAQs DMC3 boards. It was a topic entitled "Replace any word from a line in DMC3 with crotch". Such jokes are supposed to be a lame waste of time, but I found myself laughing like a madman. My eyes were watery and my sides were splitting. It's absolutely hilarious if you associate the scene in which the original line was spoken.

Oh, well. I went to AMK. Strangely, when I was crossing the road from the MRT station, someone wished me "Happy Birthday, Kelvin". I turned around and saw a kid. Unfortunately, I don't know who he is, but apparently, he knows me. I wonder if he was one of the new forum members (Kira? Benjamin?). I thanked him anyway.

I bought my SFN. I took it home and played it non-stop throughout the night. I was surprised when I saw that I had clocked 6+ hours on the game and told myself it was time to go to sleep.

Saturday

Dental appointment in the afternoon. I missed last month's appointment because I had cleanly forgotten about it, but I just said that I had to go for IPPT. I reached the place in time for my appointment at 3 pm, but the dentist didn't see me till 4 pm. Looks like things never changed.

I reached AMK and realized that so many people I know have bought PSPs. I wonder when will it be my turn. I have more or less saved up enough, but I'll wait a while more because I feel uneasy with parting with so much money at one go just like that.

I went to watch Miss Congeniality 2 with Orchi & friends after that. It was an average movie. Oh, well. I really shouldn't be complaining since they treated me to it after they realized my birthday was a few days ago.

At night, I went home and fired up more SFN. Mum bought some sandwiches which sustained me throughout the night as I clocked an additional 4+ hours on the game. Right now, I am 10+ hours into the game, and I think I am around 1/3 through. My thumb hurts from playing, but I'll leave the SFN stuff for another blog. Wee~

From Pissed to, er, Pissier™

Max has failed in his mission. Looks like decorating my desktop with SFN wallpaper and thinking positive thoughts all through the night could not result in any form of divine intervention.

I'm on my own.

PHUCK Singapore. Why are non-mainstream stuff so hard to get compared to the overhyped overpopularized overtouted mainstream titles*?

*Don't answer that; the question answers itself.

Feeling Pissed.

I am having a most frustratingly horrendous time trying to get Shining Force Neo. Chris tells me that none of the local suppliers have imported it and from my own scouting around, I learnt that most of the video game stores don't even know it is out, let alone know that it exists.

I hope Max can help me get the game on such a short notice while he is still in Hong Kong. I am keeping my fingers crossed. The main character is called 'Max', too, and with this, I hope our Maxie is bound to the game by fate and manages to find it. Yes, I know I'm talking nonsense, but in desperate times, one can only hope.

I still feel very pissed that none of the local stores had the foresight to get the game. I feel even more annoyed that I was soooo looking forward to the game after my dreadful IPPT and it was the only motivation that kept me going.